"I don't get it," says an increasingly frustrated Jameel McCline, during an exclusive interview with FightWorld. "The more I try to play the game, the more they try to change the rules."

The game McCline is referring to is that of agreeing to the rules and conditions set forth by the IBF and Don King in his attempt to secure a summer title fight with Byrd. For years, everyone in the boxing game has been asked to believe - or at least pretend to do as such - that the IBF is not in fact a puppet for Mr. King, and that they set the rules for him to follow, not the other way around. Like many others, McCline questions if in fact the latter is really the way it is.

"Am I supposed to believe that the IBF has been slow to act for reasons other than the fact that Don King is involved? Come on, man. People are scared to talk bad about King. Fighters are afraid that they won't get their next fight unless they kiss his ass. Writers are afraid that they won't get interviews, or access to his next fight card unless they kiss his ass. The bottom line is that in order to play ball with King, you have to kiss his ass. Well, the kissing stops here."

No ass kissing from this writer, either. While many go out of their way to hail Don King as the greatest promoter of all time, they fail to mention that he has as much (if not more) harm than he has good, especially in the heavyweight division. This latest string of events is certainly no exception.

Rewind back to April, when Byrd squared off against Andrew Golota. That fight was made partly due to the fact that McCline refused to accept what was offered at the time - $100,000 plus options should McCline win. When McCline refused, and many scoffed at the thought of Byrd facing Derrick Jefferson, Virgil Hill or Gerald Nobles, King searched frantically for an opponent.

It turned out that the opponent came to him, when Golota's handlers came knocking on his door in search of a promoter to help aid his comeback. King welcomed Team Golota with open arms, and offered far more than Team Golota had anticipated at the time - a title shot. The only problem was, Golota was unranked by the IBF. A mere oversight, insisted the IBF, as Golota's name magically appeared in the rankings issued the month after Golota signed with DKP.

That road has been well documented in the past, so need to rehash. Especially when Golota offered a surprisingly strong showing against Byrd in Madison Square Garden (or MSG, in sticking with the acronym theme). So strong that King pumped out a four-word phrase that he has made oh so famous through the years: "Let's do it again!"

The IBF seemed to agree, conveniently forgetting a promise they had made to Jameel a mere two days prior, after he blasted out Wayne Llewlyen in less than a round. With James Toney on the injured list (which came shortly before and canceled his then-scheduled Showtime bout with Jameel earlier this year), and the top two slots in the IBF rankings belonging to "Not Rated," it was decided that "Big Time" receive his crack at the big time, in the form of a title shot against the man who would leave the ring as champion in the aforementioned title fight.

When the three judges could not agree on who won and came up with a draw (a fair call, though many proclaim that Andrew deserved the nod), and Don began hollering rematch, Team McCline began hollering "B.S." and demanded that they receive an offer or else be prepared to take it to the courts. For the moment, the IBF agreed, and had requested that Byrd's camp make McCline an offer for a title shot within 60 days, with the fight to take place no more than 120 days following Byrd-Golota, or else be prepared for the potential tilt between friends to go to purse bids.

King made an offer - but not to McCline. Instead, he offered $20,000 to the IBF, reportedly as a "fee" for requesting a mandatory exemption in favor of a rematch with Golota, July 17 being the intended date. It is called a fee because it is intended to be an application-type request more so than a guarantee for approval. Johnny Tapia was once asked to pay such a fee, in order for the IBF to consider Marco Antonio Barrera as a more suitable opponent than the IBF featherweight mandatory at that time. For King, there was no such fear of his request, and no sooner was the "fee" paid that the request was granted.

One small problem: it is noted in the rules and regulations of the New Jersey-based organization that the request come from or at least be approved by the champion himself. Byrd made sure to note that he had never given any of it his blessing, but still the IBF ignored the right thing in favor of the Fight King. Just like that, McCline was out in the cold, leaving him to wonder if his 2002 loss to Wladimir Klitschko - his lone loss in the past eight years - would wind up serving as his undeserved legacy rather than the hiccup he has insisted and attempted to prove was the case.

"For the past eighteen months, all anyone has been asking me about is that one damn night in Vegas," vents a frustrated McCline. "I have one bad night, and have tried to prove ever since that one loss is just that - one loss. It was my first loss in seven years, and I haven't searched for cream puffs since then. I wanted to show everyone that I am still a force to be reckoned with. I took on (Cedric) Boswell, who was undefeated at the time and supposed to be a future star. I beat him, then almost immediately afterward, I sign to take on James Toney. He winds up getting hurt, and that fight isn't even a consideration now."

"Go figure - he (Toney) gets hurt, and people ask me when I'm going to fight someone. Don King plays games and keeps me out of the title picture, and they question why I'm fighting someone on ShoBox instead of a real opponent on Showtime or HBO."

Determined to fix that, Jameel and his longtime promoter, Cedric Kushner, once again brought forth their threats of a lawsuit if the IBF dared entertain the thought of Byrd - Golota II. Plans for that fight eventually got squashed, thanks to a close friend of the McCline family - Byrd himself. Chris decided that since the IBF and King decided what would be next for his career without even allowing his input, that he will no longer compromise the originally agreed upon title fight purses.

Byrd took a pay cut in consecutive fights (the Golota fight, and before that his September 2003 tilt with Fres Oquendo), but decided that the "Yes, Don" act stops here. When the Golota rematch was "offered" to him, he agreed - so long as King comes through on the $2.2 million that is GUARANTEED to him for his next fight, no matter who the opponent. Oddly enough, Golota wound up getting injured, and medical reports indicated that he would not be able to recover in time to fight in the summer. After months of waiting for a break, McCline finally received one and was reinserted as the mandatory challenger to Mr. Byrd.

King finally made an offer to Team McCline - the exact same offer he made earlier in the year, this time sans the options. Promoters can no longer demand options on a fighter's career in exchange for a title shot, so basically King was offering $100,000. Many expected McCline to once again reject it, but realizing that the door being slightly ajar would be the closest he can get to an opening, Jameel stunned all by accepting the offer.

"Don King never expected me to take that offer, one of the lowest offers in the past 40 years for a HVY title fight. But, since he has three of the four major titles, and (WBC titlist) Vitali Klitschko has other ideas in mind (currently negotiating for a title defense against Monte Barrett), I said screw it and took the shitty offer. If that is what it takes for me to get what was legally and rightfully mine anyway, then so be it. So long as I can get back in the ring sometime soon, I said 'F*** it' and took what was offered."

The hard part was over - or so he thought.

"So now here I am, #1 contender to Byrd, accepted the offer, and I haven't heard nothin' in almost a month now. It's ridiculous. My main concern was the title shot, and being inactive. I like to fight as often as possible, but here we are, more than halfway done with the year, and I've had more fights get canceled than have been made. I was promised a fight by the end of the summer, but at this rate, I doubt if I will even hear an answer by then."

Though inactivity is a concern, a tune-up bout is not in the foreseeable future either, much to the chagrin of Jameel.

"I asked Cedric (Kushner) about that, but he feels that our best way of ensuring we get this shot is by taking this to court. I support whatever decision my promoter makes, as he has always acted in my best interest. But to be honest, sitting at home holding my breath for King to grant us our dam shot isn't getting my bills paid any quicker.

So far to date, the last mention of this fight was King presenting an offer to Byrd. King has yet to make any form of announcement. The IBF has yet to step in and demand that matters get sped up and resolved within the time frame that they set forth. HBO and SHO continue to fill up available TV slots.