The Black Godfather’s boxing ties with Al Haymon are unpacked in a new Netflix doc.
While the Netflix world is devouring the intense real story of the male victims of the Central Park 5 case, there is another life story not to be missed.
The Black Godfather tells the story of an influencer who had hands in both the entertainment and political fields, Clarence Avant.
The savant of entertainment and politics groomed many of Black America’s heroes. From Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis to Hank Aaron, Avant’s track record of success is mind-boggling.
Avant’s Blessing Lead To The Rise Of Al Haymon
Interestingly, during the documentary, Avant shares how he mentored boxing impresario Alan “Al” Haymon to be his uber protege.
After guiding Michael Jackson through a legal issue regarding the E.T. storybook album, he approached Avant to promote a tour for his now historic BAD album.
Avant gets introduced to Haymon through talent manager, David Lombard, who then was more known as a show promoter and the rest is history.
“So you know I said, ‘there’s one person that I know who knows what to do with this,’” said Lombard, “who knows all the ins and outs of every building that is important for this tour in America, and that’s Al Haymon.
”So we brought in Al and that completely locked it down. Al could do everything that was required of the position they put Clarence (Avant) in. Clarence looked upon Al as the high achieving son.”
Bad was the first solo concert tour by Michael Jackson. Sponsored by Pepsi, the tour spanned 16 months, included 132 concerts and serviced 4.4 million fans across 15 countries.
Although Haymon already had a name in the music industry, the blessing of Avant catapulted him into the entertainment stratosphere.
Avant was staunchly behind the scenes and made deals fearlessly. Haymon, between his work with Floyd Mayweather and Premier Boxing Champions, Haymon was groomed for greatness.
Boxing’s most enigmatic power broker is still shrouded in mystery. However, The Black Godfather provides a glimpse into how a future impresario would gain more insight into the bigger entertainment world.
