When asked if he had any advice for Tyson on how to deal with the flamboyant promoter, Holmes smiled.

And like the marriage, the arrangement with the flamboyant promoter seems to be headed for court.

He wants nothing less than to restore boxing - now a scandal-tainted sport dominated by a handful of flamboyant promoters - to its glory days.

It combines tales of encounters with flamboyant promoters like Bernard Cornfeld, who paid salesmen bonuses in shares of his Investors Overseas Services fund in the 1960's, with wry observations about the nature of man and markets.

"It's something that makes this nation better than any other nation," said the often flamboyant promoter, who was sounding rather subdued today.

Speedway Motorsports, another publicly traded company, is controlled by Bruton Smith, a flamboyant promoter who is thought to be a rival to Bill France Jr., Nascar's president.

King's appearance to lead off the defense's case was a surprise and was geared to rebut accusations leveled against the flamboyant promoter last week by Joseph Maffia, a former accountant with Don King Productions.

After that first season, McGraw caught on with the traveling team of flamboyant promoter and fellow player, Al Lawson.

Gilbert's professional inclinations as a financial representative and his reputation as something of a flamboyant promoter, these people said, left Bonilla excessively focused on money.

The two Lawson Air Liners are renowned due to their size (for the time) and the ambition of its flamboyant promoter, Alfred Lawson.