LEGENDARY boxing promoter Don King has been jabbed with a £2.4BILLION lawsuit over a second Rumble in the Jungle.
Last October marked the 50th anniversary of the historic heavyweight title fight between the late Muhammad Ali and George Foreman.
King promoted the epic bout in the Democratic Republic of Congo and was keen to pay homage to it with a Rumble in the Jungle 2 in Africa.
The 93-year-old is said to have enlisted the help of BYD Sports CEO Cecil Miller to put on a boxing bonanza in Nigeria, which was set to feature performances from musicians Alicia Keys and John Legend.
But Miller has filed a $3billion lawsuit against the Hall of Famer for allegedly pulling the plug on the event after he was asked to co-promote.
According to the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Miller and CYD are suing for fraud, defamation, breach of contract and other allegations.
Miller’s lawyer, Anthony J.M. Jones, claims King decided to scupper the event as it inched towards coming to fruition.
Jones told Fortune: “It’s confounding when you look at how many people were working on this.
“This is just a sad day for the sport.
“We are now in 2025 and there will never be a chance to do a 50th anniversary of a fight between Foreman and Ali – and to do it in Africa.”
According to Fortune, King has yet to respond to the accusations.
Court documents, however, have shown the American – who allegedly went radio silent after it emerged he doesn’t own the rights to the first Rumble in the Jungle – sent Miller a cease-and-desist letter.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”The heartbreaking chance meeting between Muhammad Ali and Colin Hart where boxing legend revealed ‘I’m not scared to die’” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6354936294112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]In the letter, King accuses Miller “of falsely representing to government officials” that he authorised him to stage a 50th anniversary event.
Miller’s lawyer has vehemently denied the accusations, branding King’s claims as an attempt at “sabotage”.
Miller – who is said to have sought out several world champions to appear on the card – is seeking a whopping $3billion in total.
This is made up of $600million – how much the $100m the fight grossed at the time would be worth today after inflation – and $2.4bn in prospective damages.
But he’s also after a formal written apology from the controversial salesman, who is still, to this day, one of boxing’s most recognisable figures.