By O’Ryan Johnson
Boston Herald
BOSTON — In this round of Rodney King vs. the police, King won by unanimous decision.
King, whose videotaped beating by Los Angeles cops touched off three days of riots that killed 53 and wounded 2,000 after the officers involved were acquitted by a white jury in 1992, whooped an ex-cop in a boxing ring near Philadelphia on Friday night, promoters said.
King, 44, who has struggled with drugs and alcohol since his beating, pulled it together to win after three rounds against tattooed and mohawked ex-cop Simon Aouad at the Philadelphia airport Ramada.
“This is a new chapter in my life,” King said, according to a statement by the promoter. “I am sober, fit and now a winner.”
The former Chester, Pa., cop defeated by King was arrested on gun and drug charges in 2006 and goes by the ring moniker Renegade.
The three-round boxing match was put on by Celebrity Boxing, which has promoted fights such as Jose Canseco vs. Danny Bonaduce, where the former child star defeated the once-juiced slugger.
“The fans were clearly behind Rodney as he fought tooth and nail with Simon,” the promoters said.
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