CHAVEZ TESTIMONY SEEN AS DAMAGING TO KING

     WBC super lightweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez hit his
promoter, Don King, with "damaging testimony" in the insurance
fraud trial yesterday in federal district court in Manhattan,
according to NEWSDAY's Greg Logan.  Chavez said he never received
$350,000 in "nonreundable" expenses described in the contract for
a canceled '91 fight which King delivered to Lloyd's of London as
part of his claim.  Chavez revealed "limited understanding of
contracts" and explained how he is in constant debt to King.
Logan notes that defense attorney Peter Fleming "scored some
technical points regarding the contract's authenticity, but in
Chavez, the prosecution found a 'victim' far more compelling than
an insurance company" (NEWSDAY, 10/18).  On ESPN's "Up Close,"
Jimmy Roberts noted "the only point of friction during the day"
came when Fleming asked Chavez: "Has Don King ever cheated you?"
Chavez:  "It's not that he has cheated me, it's just that he
hasn't kept his word" (ESPN, 10/17).