Rodney King says boxing is helping him stay sober.

King, whose 1991 beating by Los Angeles police was captured on videotape and helped spark riots a year later, is among a group of D-list celebrities appearing around the country as part of the Celebrity Boxing Federation.

King and former major league baseball player and steroid user Jose Canseco headline a card Friday night at a hotel in Springfield, Mass.

Others who box in the events include Danny Bonaduce (Partridge Family), Willie Aames (Eight is Enough) and Michael Lohan (Lindsay's dad).

"We're building this like the WWE of boxing," said Damon Feldman, a former professional boxer, who founded the group. "We're giving guys like Canseco a chance to stay busy, in the public eye and make a few bucks."

King will be fighting a former basketball player, Derek MacIntosh. Canseco will go against Todd Poulton, a local amateur boxer.

King, who recently appeared on the reality TV show "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew," said he understands a lot of people see this as some type of circus act, but he said it's been good therapy for him in his struggles with alcohol.

"Being sober for 17 months, I wanted to see what this old body had left in it," he said. "I'm now a bit of a regular at the gym, and it kind of feels good in there with them young cats. It's definitely helped me stay sober. It takes up a lot of my quality time."

King said he hopes to get into the ring soon with Laurence Powell, one of the police officers involved in his beating. He said Powell pulled out of an exhibition that was planned five years ago, but said he hopes something can be worked out this time.

"I could see the bigger picture in this," King said. "I could see me and him going around, educating people on that night, and then just sit around and chop it up. Me and him could turn it into a very educational moment."

In the meantime, he acknowledges there is not much educational value in celebrity boxing.

"It's all fun," he said. "This is all entertainment, and what makes it more fun is that we're not professionals. So, it's really funny."