Don King on Mario Preskar and Croatia

With such heavyweight fighters like Lennox, Tyson and Holyfield at the tail end of their careers, are you working on cultivating a crop of new heavyweight fighters?
Absolutely! I think it's time now to bring in the young fighter. I've got a kid named Owen 'What the Heck' Beck. He's 18-0 with 14 KO's and will be fighting George Arias on Saturday for the Fedelatin heavyweight title. I also have a promising young Croatian kid named Mario Preskar who has just turned pro. He's a tremendous competitor! As far as the older fighters, who have already established themselves, they should fight each other to get the maximum of whatever they can get and to please the public before they retire. But, in the mean time, you have the new guys on the block who need to demonstrate their own talent and ability.

There is a lot of talent within the Croatian and Ukranian countries. Are you looking to tap into that talent?
Oh, definitely! In fact, I have been invited by the President of Croatia to be a guest in their country. I also received invitations from Vladimir Putin of Russia and Leonid Koutsma of the Ukraine. These invitations are not only an opportunity for me to see various countries, but it also allows me to see the talent that resides there. Talent that we can bring back to America. This is the land of opportunity and I want to provide those young men with the opportunity to rise to the occasion. But, I'm always on the move for new talent and looking for fighters anywhere I can find them. I may even do a reality TV show that will search for undiscovered talent and bring them into the spotlight... and maybe make a heavyweight champ out of someone.

September 18, 2003

By Lisa Scott