Wordsmith and bombast aficionado Don King made an appearance in Corpus Christi yesterday to promote a bout this weekend in Texas' City by the Sea, and delivered a rambling lecture that the Corpus Christi Caller-Times says drew gasps from the audience.

Those gasps mostly came from this line:

We even brought in a Mexican-American to give him a chance to get out and be at the front of the forefront. No more wetbacks running up and down picking the fruits and things. Now, we're rolling, you know what I mean.

(King later tried to clarify, stating that "We all wetbacks, baby.")

Other subjects touched upon in King's characteristic rant include Texas history (drawing heavily, if inaccurately, on the Mexican-American War), philosophy, theology, and a bit of anatomy and physiology. Throughout, King (dressed in a bedazzled and Mount Rushmore-airbrushed jean jacket) waved Texas, American, and Mexican flags clutched in his fist alongside an ever-present cigar.

It's hard to tell if Don King is losing it, because it seems he's always been this way. But King's always seen himself as somewhat of a civil rights voice, so it's surprising he'd use that term in perhaps the least-appropriate situation.

h/t to Jeff