Don King’s Queen Dies
Infamous promoter Don King’s wife, Henrietta King, died early morning of Friday at the age of 87.
According to Don King’s publicity director, Alan Hopper, Mrs. King had been suffering from numerous ailments before she died at a hospice in Boca Raton, South Florida. Her unfortunate condition had been a
lengthy one but it was stomach cancer that finally caused her death.
“I received the call at about 12:20am from Dana Jamison, who is the senior vice president of boxing operations. Henrietta was in a hospice care center, and she had been there since Tuesday,” Hopper said.
“Dana told me that Don had called her to tell her that Mrs. King had passed away.”
“Don is with his family right now. It was one of those things where she just died quietly and peacefully.”
The legendary boxing promoter considers Henrietta, or Henry as he called her, as the “Rock” of the family. His wife of more than fifty years had been with him and stuck with him through his ups and downs.
According to reports, King kept saying that he had lost his best friend.
The 79-year-old, Don King, is perhaps one of the most memorable non-fighting figures of boxing history. His affiliation to boxing greats, Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson, and his flamboyant personality made his
image larger than life. While this is the case, his wife was the complete opposite.
Most of the time, Henry was not with his husband when he was promoting and attending fights. She often declined requests for interviews as she never craved attention. She is known to be supportive of Don
in her own quiet way.
“My wife is my life, you know what I mean? My wife is the greatest lady in the world.” King said of his wife.
“She’s a terrific lady. A mother, a lover, a friend. A confidant that I can talk to. She’s a woman for all seasons and all reasons.
She personifies helping me, and with her and God in the forefront, she’s just made my life worth living. She taught me to love the life that you live, and to live the life that you love. I guess we’ve been
together for 50 years or so, you know, who knows? It’s been an eternity. She’s the love of my life.”
Before her death, Mrs. King’s condition had been a tremendous distraction to the promoter. King promotes junior welterweight Devon Alexander and has been working with Gary Shaw to find a venue for the unification
match between his boxer and Timothy Bradley.
A serious businessman, King continued doing business but still tended to his ailing wife. According to Hopper, “Don has been in doing work this week, but, of course, he was also with his wife.”
Henrietta had two children with Don named Eric and Debbie. She is also survived by her son, Carl, from a previous marriage. The funeral is tentatively planned to be in Mrs. King’s hometown in Cleveland.