Rodney King says boxing keeps him sober

Famed beating victim Rodney King says that brawling has helped him to stay sober for well over a year.

King is currently traveling the country as part of a D-list celebrity boxing league, and said the experience has kept him focused and dry for 17 months. During an interview in Massachusetts tonight, King told an Associated Press reporter that he hoped to one day square off in the ring with Laurence Powell, one of the LAPD officers involved in King's videotaped beating in 1991.

King said Powell pulled out of an exhibition that was planned five years ago, but said he hopes something can be worked out this time.

“I could see the bigger picture in this,” King said. “I could see me and him going around, educating people on that night, and then just sit around and chop it up. Me and him could turn it into a very educational moment.”

Here's the full AP story:

Rodney King says boxing is helping him stay sober.

King, whose 1991 beating by Los Angeles police was captured on videotape and helped spark riots a year later, is among a group of D-list celebrities appearing around the country as part of the Celebrity Boxing Federation.

King and former major league baseball player and steroid user Jose Canseco headlined a card Friday night in a local hotel ballroom in front of about 500 people.

Others who box in for the federation include Danny Bonaduce ("Partridge Family"), Willie Aames ("Eight is Enough") and Michael Lohan (Lindsay’s dad).

“We’re building this like the WWE of boxing,” said Damon Feldman, a former professional boxer, who founded the group. “We’re giving guys like Canseco a chance to stay busy, in the public eye and make a few bucks.”

The show makes only a slight pretense of being an athletic competition.

King entered the ring holding up a championship belt, and easily won his bout with a former basketball player turned actor named Derek MacIntosh. It was a three-round decision in which King threw most of the punches and his opponent spent most of his time covering up.

Canseco, who had Lohan acting as his manager, was pitted against Todd Poulton, a 45-year-old pudgy amateur boxer who had made local headlines battling obsessive-compulsive disorder. The former Boston Red Sox slugger knocked Poulton down with a jab in the first round, then seemed to spend the rest of the fight trying not to hurt him. Canseco was booed when he was announced as the winner.

King, who recently appeared on the reality TV show “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew,” said he understands a lot of people see this as some type of circus act, but he said it’s been good therapy for him in his struggles with alcohol.

“Being sober for 17 months, I wanted to see what this old body had left in it,” he said. “I’m now a bit of a regular at the gym, and it kind of feels good in there with them young cats. It’s definitely helped me stay sober. It takes up a lot of my quality time.”

King said he hopes to get into the ring soon with Laurence Powell, one of the police officers involved in his beating. He said Powell pulled out of an exhibition that was planned five years ago, but said he hopes something can be worked out this time.

“I could see the bigger picture in this,” King said. “I could see me and him going around, educating people on that night, and then just sit around and chop it up. Me and him could turn it into a very educational moment.”

In the meantime, he acknowledges there is not much educational value in celebrity boxing.
“It’s all fun,” he said. “This is all entertainment, and what makes it more fun is that we’re not professionals. So, it’s really funny.”

Comments

[ferenc]

rodney is a retarded moron, who cares what he thinks? the loser should be in JAIL.

[Mike]

Cripes...what a loser!
How do you know when an alcoholic or drug addict is lying?
HE'S BREATHING...as is the case with King.

Someone who chooses sobriety over their sickness to do what works...treatment then Alcoholics Anonymous or one of the other 12 step maintenance programs.
King's will-power will dissolve if it has not already. Would anyone treat a disease like diabetes or cancer with "will-power" or the distraction of sports...???
I hope this ridiculous article will not send too many addicts and alcoholics to a sports venue rather than an effective and treatment program.
Try focusing on the PROVEN winners (millions have recovered permanently in 12 step programs).

[not a king fan]

What a loser! Cannot even believe you cover this story. This guy has been arrested time after time for many things. The cops did nothing wrong that night. Put me in the ring with him not some old retired cop who is thirty years older now due to the stress this case put on him. Get a young lad in there...

[Mello]

I saw Rodney King on Celebrity Rehab and I have to say it's great to hear he is still sober. In my opinion Rodney King seemed to be the only one who was serious about sobriety. Go Rodney King!!!

[LA L]

As an LAPD officer who was on the job during the whole Foothill incident and aftermath, Rodney King has turned into an interesting character study. I thought for sure he'd have irrevocably crashed and burned by now, but he seems to have carried himself with a degree of dignity which was unexpected.

He's had his pratfalls, fore sure, but he's had a lot more grace than his so-called "supporters," who ran out on him, and whose "love" expired when the money and fame did. Shame on them, and good luck to Mr. King. He could have been a big-mouth like many other cop-haters, but even being used as a pawn by those aforementioned publicity hounds, he seeks to send a positive message.

[Steve]

This wife beating, law breaking, convicted felon should have been put in jail for the rest of his life a long time ago!!

[TheBigPicture]

Isn't King the same character who was driving over 100 mph drunk on the 210 freeway and later provoked an altercation with officers...That was in 1991, and he's been sober for only 17 months...

[TheBigPicture]

He got his own wikipedia page...he's been busy since 1991....

King was awarded $3.8 million in a civil case and used some of the proceeds to start a hip hop music label, Straight Alta-Pazz Recording Company.[26]
On November 29, 2007, while going home King was shot in the face, arms, back and torso with birdshot by two thieves attempting to steal his bicycle,[27] but his injuries were described as not life-threatening.
Like his father, King is an alcoholic. In 1993, he entered an alcohol rehabilitation program and was placed on probation after crashing his vehicle into a block wall in downtown Los Angeles. In July 1995, he was arrested by Alhambra police, who alleged that he hit his wife with his car, knocking her to the ground. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail after being convicted of hit and run.[28] On August 27, 2003, King was arrested again for speeding and running a red light while under the influence of alcohol. He failed to yield to police officers and slammed his SUV into a house, breaking his pelvis.[29] In May 2008 King checked into the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California, which was filmed as part of the second season of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, which premiered in October 2008. Dr. Drew Pinsky, who runs the facility, showed concern for King's lifestyle and said that he (King) will die unless his "fatal disease" is treated.[30] He also appeared on Sober House, a Celebrity Rehab spin-off focusing on a sober living environment, which aired in early 2009. Both shows filmed King's quest to not only achieve sobriety, but to reestablish a relationship with his family, which had been severely damaged due to his drinking.[31]
King won[32] a celebrity boxing match against ex Chester City (Delaware County, PA) police officer Simon Aouad on Friday, September 11, 2009 at the Ramada Philadelphia Airport in Essington, Pennsylvania.[33]

[anonymous]

everyone achieves sobriety in thier own way and if this is Rodeny King's method by which he is achieving sobriety then I say more power to him! I wish him luck, it would seem that his life has been plagued by consequences to his poor choices (probably done when he was not sober)...anyway - there have been a lot of negative comments about Rodney King and I just wanted to post something that was positive...Good Luck Mr. King, you have been given the gift of a second chance - don't let detractors take you off track!!

[TheBigPicture]

Rodney "Dalli Lama" King...Is the Times so desperate for news that they have to headline has been crackheads...

[nee]

I can't believe what negativity some people put into this world. Someone is attempting to improve a situation and all some of you can do is push him down and predict a fall. Well, not everyone fails and not everyone is full of such pessimism. Mr. King, you have people praying you through this, and people praying for the healing and compassion of those who wish you ill.