WILL DON KING FACE TOUGH TIMES REGARDLESS OF JURY VERDICT?

          During closing arguments in the government's trial
     against Don King for wire fraud, King's attorney, Peter
     Fleming, said that the contract "at the core" of the case
     "reflected a verbal agreement" with Julio Cesar Chavez and
     "was not the calculated fraud alleged by prosecutors,"
     according to Richard Sandomir of the N.Y. TIMES.  King is
     being charged with fraud following the cancelation of a '91
     Chavez-Harold Brazier fight, in which he obtained a $350,000
     insurance payment from Lloyd's of London.  The case "may go
     to jurors late today" (Richard Sandomir, N.Y. TIMES, 7/1).
          KING A COURT JESTER? In N.Y., Michael Katz writes that
     regardless of the trial's verdict, King "has been a big
     loser."  Katz: "He lost Mike Tyson and Felix Trinidad.  He
     lost the Evander Holyfield-Henry Akinwande fight at [MSG]. 
     Right now, not a single fight is on the planning boards at
     Don King Productions" (Michael Katz, N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/1).