Turns out the weirdness of 2020 lingers well past its timely demise.
According to Marquis Johns and Jake Donovan, Don King has “filed to stage” a January 29th tripleheader at Hollywood, FL’s Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. The card, presently listed on BoxRec, would see WBA “world” champion Mahmoud Charr finally face interim champion Trevor Bryan in the main event, while “world” cruiserweight champion Beibut Shumenov take on #8 contender Raphael Murphy, and Bermane Stiverne open the show against Christopher Lovejoy.
This card is the greatest possible indictment of both the WBA and King himself. Charr (31-4, 17 KO) hasn’t fought since beating Alexander Ustinov in November of 2017, Bryan (20-0, 14 KO) hasn’t fought since stopping BJ Flores in August of 2018, and Shumenov (18-2, 12 KO) hasn’t fought since finishing Hizni Altunkaya in July of 2018. All three garbage mismatches were for vacant garbage WBA titles, and despite these layoffs, all three still hold their belts.
The Charr-Bryan saga is particularly grotesque; the pair originally came to terms in 2019, then King won a purse bid a year later, and now they’ve got a new deadline.
King’s malfeasance and incompetence is also on full display in the opener. Stiverne (25-4-1, 21 KO) was last seen getting brutalized by Joe Joyce two years ago and King intentionally destroyed Lovejoy’s (19-0, 19 KO) biggest fight to date against Dave Allen last year.
Odds are that this event doesn’t happen, but hopefully this article will serve as a further reminder to not associate with Don King in any capacity. Looking at you, Ilunga Makabu.
