The United States Boxing Championships, a tournament designed to establish an American champion in every weight division, was launched with much hoopla last January from a ring set up on the flight deck of the Navy carrier Lexington (TIME, Jan. 31). Behind the extravaganza were Superpromoter Don King, the orchestrator of Muhammad Ali's bouts in Zaïre and Manila; Roone Arledge and ABC Sports, the tourney's bankrollers and broadcasters; Ring magazine, the "Bible of Boxing," which rated the worthiness of the tournament boxers; and New York State Boxing Commissioner James Farley Jr., who lent the championships his name. Now. four months and...
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