King Takes Legal Jab

A handwriting expert testified that a boxer’s signature on two copies of a contract with promoter Don King were identical, supporting a government theory that King faked a contract to collect insurance.

The testimony came as prosecutors in federal court in Manhattan considered whether to rest after a month of testimony meant to prove King collected $350,000 illegally from Lloyd’s of London.

King is charged with nine counts of mail fraud in an indictment that alleged he faked a contract with Julio Cesar Chavez in 1991 so he could collect training fees that he had never paid to the boxer.

On Tuesday, handwriting expert Gus Lesnevich testified that the signature of Chavez on one copy of the fight contract was identical to that on a copy that prosecutors allege King faked.