Don King held court this afternoon at the American Airlines Arena to announce the upcoming WBC heavyweight “final elimination” bout in Miami for Friday, December 17th. King, aged 79, dazzled the assembled media for two hours with his unique blend of hyperbole and flash. Waving an American flag emblazoned with the image of a Native American, King proclaimed “boxing is life and life is boxing” to kick off the press conference in true Don King style. The main event pits 2004 Cuban Olympic gold medal winner Odlanier Solis (16-0, 12 KOs) against Ray Austin (28-4-4, 18 KOs)

The winner of this fight will be the mandatory challenger for heavyweight champion Vitaly Klitshcko.

The card also showcases undefeated IBF light heavyweight champion Tavoris “Thunder” Cloud (21-0, 18 KOs) defending his title against Colombian Fulgencio Zuniga (24-4-1, 21 KOs). The stacked undercard features Vero Beach-based heavyweight Mike Marrone (19-1, 14 KOs) against Darrel “King David” Madison (15-1, 4 KOs) in a 10 round elimination bout.

Former three-time world champion, Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga (28-7-1, 22 KOs) will also fight in a special middleweight attraction against an opponent to be named.

The show promises to be a true Don King “production” with Miami Heat dancers and popular Puerto Rican rap star Pitbull scheduled to perform. King further plans to have former world champion Roberto “Manos de Piedra” Duran sitting with him ringside.

Other invited former champions include Jesus Cesar Chavez, Larry Holmes and Muhammad Ali.

Mr. King peppered his comments with Spanish to highlight the Latin flavor of the event and boasted:”Cubans don’t need as many fights as other fighters do”. Although no major television is planned at this point, the Spanish Broadcasting Service (SBS) plans to showcase the fight.

Mr. King envisions a grass-roots promotion for the fight through local media, adding he would broadcast the fight on the jumbo screen outside the arena if and when it sells out.