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On September 11th, Rodney King, former punching bag for the LAPD, boxed ex-police officer Simon “Renegade” Aouad, the marquee match up for a Celebrity Boxing Federation event in Philadelphia.

The newspapers reported Rodney defeated Simon in three rounds, with the crowd firmly behind the 1991 victim of police brutality, even cheering him on.

Hard to believe, because when the two adversaries appeared on the Stern Show, Simon sounded like the intimidator and Rodney the imitator.

So on a phone call, the Renegade told me he got screwed that night, saying, “It was fake and it was fixed, and I’m very upset.” He sounded it!

Simon was ready for a battle, but the night before the bell rang, he met with Rodney and promoter, Damon Feldman, in Rodney’s hotel room, where Simon was informed the fight was going to be fixed and Rodney will win. Simon said he had no choice but to play along.

The next day, Simon sparred with Rodney to go over the fake fight, saying “I met up with [Rodney] to go over his stance and basically what was going to happen because he kept forgetting. He didn’t understand.” You could hear the agitation in Simon’s voice.

But Simon admits the whole setup was crazy, telling me his dressing room was the kitchen of the Ramada Inn hosting the fight. And Rodney was just hanging around in jeans and t-shirt watching the other fights, while he was training and getting ready.

After the under-card, Simon and Rodney got in the ring. The first round starts and Simon insists he was doing his job, saying, “I started tapping [Rodney] lightly, I’m not even hitting him hard, but Rodney is actually hitting me at 90%.” Simon was okay with that.

Now, in the second round Simon explains Rodney was supposed to shove him and cause a disqualification, but before the bell, Simon noticed the promoters, Damon and his brother and father, who Simon has fought for many times before, were whispering things into Rodney’s ear.

Simon told me he had no idea what was happening or what they said, so he just started taking punches. “I was so upset in my heart that I didn’t even want to fight back,” said Simon, “I just covered up the whole time. I was so disappointed.” Simon was worried his fans were getting cheated.

In the final round everything fell apart. “At the third [round] I got so upset at him degrading me like this, that I hit him so hard in the rib,” explains Simon, “Once I heard him scream that’s when all the Philly cops jumped in the ring and completely stopped it.” Simon thinks Damon Feldman just wanted Rodney to beat up on him because Simon is a former police officer.

Simon doesn’t know why they stopped the fight at that point. So I asked him if he couldn’t hit Rodney at all, why the promoters didn’t stop the fight when he was landing all the baby punches. Why only after the shot to the ribs? Simon said he didn’t know.

Damon told Simon’s publicist, Laura, that Simon didn’t stick to the plan, and to back off. She claims he even threatened her, but later offered a tearful apology, telling Simon he can’t help what happens in the ring. Since then, Laura and Simon have been unable to reach Damon or Rodney. Simon is distraught over the whole outcome and says he still hasn’t been paid.

During our conversation, Simon kept saying he didn’t like that people spent $40 during a recession to see a fight, when there wasn’t one. So Simon wants a rematch and is willing to donate 50% of the proceeds, insisting, “I am willing to fight Rodney King again.”

Granted, this is just Simon’s side of the story, but he sounded like an innocent man pleading his case. I was hard-pressed not to believe him. It is pretty amazing, for an unofficial Howard Stern Show blog, some interesting people are talking to me. Hey now!