Emile Griffith

Emile Griffith
Statistics
Real name	Emile Alphonse Griffith
Rated at	Welterweight Middleweight
Nationality	American
Born	(1938-02-03) February 3, 1938 Saint Thomas, U.S.V.I.
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	112
Wins	85
Wins by KO	23
Losses	24
Draws	2
No contests	1

Emile Alphonse Griffith (born February 3, 1938) is a former boxer who was the first fighter from the U.S. Virgin Islands ever to become a world champion. He is perhaps best known for his controversial third fight with Benny Paret in 1962 for the welterweight world championship. Griffith later won the world middleweight title and claimed an early version of the junior middleweight world championship, a claim that has not been universally recognized although some consider Griffith a three-division champion fighter.

Career

Amateur

Griffith as a youth never dreamed of becoming a boxer and was discovered by accident. As a teen he was working at a hat factory on a steamy day when his boss the factory owner agreed to Griffith's request to work shirtless. When the owner, a former amateur boxer, noticed his frame he took Griffith to trainer Gil Clancy's gym.

Griffith won the 1958 New York Golden Gloves 147 lb Open Championship. Griffith defeated Osvaldo Marcano of the Police Athletic Leagues Lynch Center in the finals to win the Championship. In 1957 Griffith advanced to the finals of the 147 lb Sub-Novice division and was defeated by Charles Wormley of the Salem Crescent Athletic Club. Griffith trained at the West 28th Street Parks Department Gym in New York City.

Professional

Griffith turned professional in 1958 and fought frequently in New York City.

Griffith captured the Welterweight title from Cuban Benny "The Kid" Paret by knocking him out in the 13th round on April 1, 1961. Six months later Griffith lost the title to Paret in a narrow split decision. Griffith regained the title from Paret on March 24, 1962 in the controversial bout after which Paret died. "detailed below"

Griffith waged a classic three-fight series with Luis Rodriguez, losing the first and winning the other two. He defeated middleweight contender Holly Mims but was knocked out in one round by Rubin “Hurricane” Carter. Three years later, on February 3, 1966, he faced middleweight champion Dick Tiger and won a ten-round decision and the middleweight title. He also lost, regained and then lost the middleweight crown in three classic fights with Nino Benvenuti.

But many boxing fans believed he was never quite the same fighter after Paret's death. From the Paret bout to his retirement in 1977, Griffith fought 80 bouts but only scored twelve knockouts. He later admitted to being gentler with his opponents and relying on his superior boxing skills, because he was terrified of killing someone else in the ring. Like so many other fighters, Griffith fought well past his prime. He won only nine of his last twenty three fights.

Other boxers he fought in his career were the world champions American Denny Moyer, Cuban Luis Rodríguez, Argentinian Carlos Monzón, Nigerian Dick Tiger, Mexican José Nápoles and in his last title try, German Eckhard Dagge. After 18 years as a professional boxer, Griffith retired with a record of 85 wins (25 by knockout), 24 losses and 2 draws.

Benny Paret

Griffith and Paret's third fight, which was nationally televised by ABC, occurred on March 24, 1962 at Madison Square Garden. In the sixth round Paret nearly knocked out Griffith with a multi punch combination but Griffith was saved by the bell. After the round his trainer Gil Clancy got into his face and told him "when you go inside I want you to keep punching until Paret holds you or the referee breaks you! But you keep punching until he does that!". In round 12 Griffith knocked Paret unconscious yet Paret stood, still propped up against the ropes while Griffith struck Paret repeatedly over the next several seconds before referee Ruby Goldstein stopped the fight. Paret never regained consciousness, and he died ten days later.

Sports Illustrated reported in its April 18, 2005, edition that Griffith's rage may have been fueled by an anti-gay slur directed at him by Paret during the weigh-in. Paret called his opponent a maricón, the Spanish equivalent of "faggot"; Griffith nearly went after him on the spot and had to be restrained. The media at the time either ignored the slur or used euphemisms such as "anti-man". The 2005 article pointed out that it would have been career suicide for an athlete or any other celebrity during the 1960s to admit that he was gay.

While Paret was lying on the floor being attended to, Griffith told a television interviewer "I'm very proud to be the welterweight champion again... I hope Paret is feeling very good." When the seriousness of the situation become known, Griffith went to the hospital where Paret was being treated and unsuccessfully attempted for several hours to gain entry to Paret's room. Following that he ran through the streets while being insulted by passers-by. He would later receive hate mail from Paret's supporters who were convinced Griffith intentionally killed Paret.

New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller created a seven-man commission to investigate the incident and the sport. ABC, which televised the fatal bout, ended its boxing broadcasts and other U.S. networks followed; the sport would not return to free television until the 1970s. Goldstein, the referee for this fight, would never again referee a fight.^{[citation needed]}

Griffith reportedly still feels guilt over Paret's death, and has suffered nightmares about Paret for 40 years. The fight, and the widespread publicity and criticism of boxing which accompanied it, became the basis of the 2005 documentary Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story. In the last scene of Ring of Fire, Griffith was introduced to Benny Paret's son. The son embraced the elderly fighter and told him he was forgiven. However, Paret's widow Lucy could not bring herself to meet him. She died in 2004.

Trainer

Griffith has trained other boxers including Wilfred Benítez and Juan Laporte, of Puerto Rico. Both have won world championships. Griffith, Monzon, Benvenuti, Rodriguez, Tiger, Nápoles and Benítez are members of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. From 1979-1980 he worked in Denmark as coach of the Danish olympic amateur boxing team.

Personal life

Luis Rodrigo Griffith, Emile's adopted son and caretaker, at the after party of the world premiere of Terence Blanchard's opera Champion on 15 June 2013.

In 1971, two months after they met, Griffith married Mercedes (Sadie) Donastrog, who was then a member of the dance troupe "Prince Rupert and the Slave Girls." Griffith adopted Donastorg's daughter.

After retiring from boxing, Griffith worked as a corrections officer at the Secaucus, New Jersey Juvenile Detention Facility.

In 1992, Griffith was viciously beaten and almost killed on a New York City street, after leaving a gay bar near the Port Authority Bus Terminal. He was in the hospital for four months after the assault. It was not clear if the violence was motivated by homophobia.

Griffith was quoted in Sports Illustrated as saying "I like men and women both. But I don't like that word: homosexual, gay or faggot. I don't know what I am. I love men and women the same, but if you ask me which is better... I like women."

Today, Griffith requires full-time care and suffers from dementia pugilistica. His adopted son, Luis Rodrigo Griffith, is his primary caregiver.

Media representations

• In January 2005, filmmakers Dan Klores and Ron Berger premiered their documentary Ring Of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. It was subsequently broadcast on television on USA Network.

• Griffith's December 20, 1963 bout with Rubin Carter (which Griffith lost) is depicted in the opening scene of the 1999 motion picture The Hurricane. Griffith is portrayed by former boxer Terry Claybon, while actor Denzel Washington stars as Carter.

• In May 2012 it was announced that trumpeter Terence Blanchard and playwright Michael Cristofer were working on an opera titled Champion (opera) based on Griffith's story, which premiered at Opera Theatre of St. Louis on June 15, 2013. The opera was directed by James Robinson (opera director) and starred Denyce Graves, Aubrey Allicock, Arthur Woodley, and Robert Orth.

Professional boxing record

85 Wins (23 Knockouts), 24 Defeats (2 Knockouts), 2 Draws, 1 No Contest
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	85-24-2	Alan Minter	PTS	10	1977-07-30	Stade Louis II, Monte Carlo
Loss	85-23-2	Mayfield Pennington	SD	10	1977-07-16	Commonwealth Convention Center, Louisville, Kentucky
Loss	85-22-2	Joel Bonnetaz	PTS	10	1977-04-15	Perigueux, Dordogne
Win	85-21-2	Christy Elliott	MD	10	1977-02-02	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	84-21-2	Frank Reiche	TKO	10 (10)	1976-12-04	Ernst Merck Halle, Hamburg
Win	83-21-2	Dino Del Cid	TKO	4 (10)	1976-10-24	Cartagena
Loss	82-21-2	Eckhard Dagge	MD	15	1976-09-18	Deutschlandhalle, Charlottenburg, Berlin	For WBC World Light Middleweight title
Draw	82-20-2	Bennie Briscoe	PTS	10	1976-06-26	Stade Louis II, Monte Carlo
Loss	82-20-1	Loucif Hamani	PTS	10	1976-02-09	Paris, Île-de-France
Win	82-19-1	Jose Roberto Chirino	UD	10	1975-11-07	Coliseum Theatre, Latham, New York
Loss	81-19-1	Elijah Makathini	PTS	10	1975-08-09	Orlando Stadium, Soweto, Gauteng
Win	81-18-1	Leo Saenz	UD	10	1975-07-23	Capitol Centre, Largo, Maryland
Loss	81-18-1	Jose Luis Duran	UD	10	1975-05-31	Coliseo El Pueblo, Cali
Win	80-17-1	Donato Paduano	UD	10	1974-12-10	Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec
Loss	79-17-1	Vito Antuofermo	UD	10	1974-11-22	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	79-16-1	Bennie Briscoe	MD	10	1974-10-09	The Spectrum, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania
Win	78-16-1	Renato Garcia	PTS	10	1974-05-25	Stade Louis II, Monte Carlo
Loss	77-16-1	Tony Licata	UD	12	1974-02-05	Boston Arena, Boston, Massachusetts	For NABF Middleweight title
Loss	77-15-1	Tony Mundine	UD	12	1973-11-19	Palais des Sports, Paris, Île-de-France
Win	77-14-1	Manuel Gonzalez	MD	10	1973-11-01	Curtis Hixon Hall, Tampa, Florida
Loss	76-14-1	Carlos Monzón	UD	15	1973-06-02	Stade Louis II, Monte Carlo	For WBC & WBA World Middleweight titles
Draw	76-13-1	Nessim Max Cohen	PTS	10	1973-03-12	Palais des Sports, Paris, Île-de-France
Loss	76-13	Jean-Claude Bouttier	DQ	7 (10)	1972-12-18	Paris, Île-de-France
Win	76-12	Joe DeNucci	SD	12	1972-10-11	Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Win	75-12	Joe DeNucci	SD	10	1972-09-16	Hynes Auditorium, Boston, Massachusetts
Win	74-12	Ernie Lopez	UD	10	1972-03-30	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
Win	73-12	Jacques Kechichian	PTS	10	1972-02-21	Paris, Île-de-France
Win	72-12	Armando Muñíz	UD	10	1972-01-31	Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, California
Win	71-12	Danny McAloon	UD	10	1971-12-10	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Loss	70-12	Carlos Monzón	TKO	14 (15), 2:32	1971-09-25	Estadio Luna Park, Buenos Aires, Distrito Federal	For WBC & WBA World Middleweight titles
Win	70-11	Nessim Max Cohen	UD	10	1971-07-26	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	69-11	Ernie Lopez	MD	10	1971-05-03	Nevada Sports Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	68-11	Rafael Gutierrez	UD	10	1971-03-23	San Francisco Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, California
Win	67-11	Juan Ramos	TKO	7 (10)	1971-03-05	Lionel Roberts Stadium, Saint Thomas
Win	66-11	Nate Collins	UD	10	1970-11-10	Cow Palace, San Francisco, California
Win	65-11	Danny Perez	UD	12	1970-10-17	Lionel Roberts Stadium, Saint Thomas
Win	64-11	Dick Tiger	UD	10	1970-07-15	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	63-11	Tom Bogs	PTS	10	1970-06-04	Valby-Hallen, Copenhagen
Win	62-11	Carlos Marks	UD	12	1970-03-11	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	61-11	Doyle Baird	UD	10	1970-01-28	Cleveland Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Loss	60-11	José Nápoles	UD	15	1969-10-17	Inglewood Forum, Inglewood, California	For WBC & WBA World Welterweight titles
Win	60-10	Art Hernandez	SD	10	1969-08-15	Sioux Falls Arena, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Win	59-10	Dick DiVeronica	TKO	7 (10), 1:28	1969-07-11	Blue Cross Arena, Syracuse, New York
Win	58-10	Stanley Hayward	UD	12	1969-05-12	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	57-10	Andy Heilman	UD	10	1969-02-03	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Loss	56-10	Stanley Hayward	SD	10	1968-10-29	The Spectrum, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania
Win	56-9	Gypsy Joe Harris	UD	12	1968-08-06	The Spectrum, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania
Win	55-9	Andy Heilman	MD	12	1968-06-11	Oakland Arena, Oakland, California
Loss	54-9	Nino Benvenuti	UD	15	1968-03-04	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Lost The Ring, WBC & WBA World Middleweight titles
Win	54-8	Remo Golfarini	TKO	6 (10)	1967-12-15	Palazzo Dello Sport, Rome, Lazio	Retained The Ring World Middleweight title
Win	53-8	Nino Benvenuti	MD	15	1967-09-29	Shea Stadium, Queens, New York	Won The Ring, WBC & WBA World Middleweight titles
Loss	52-8	Nino Benvenuti	UD	15	1967-04-17	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Lost The Ring, WBC & WBA World Middleweight titles The Ring magazine's "Fight of the Year" (1967)
Win	52-7	Joey Archer	UD	15	1967-01-23	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Retained The Ring, WBC & WBA World Middleweight titles
Win	51-7	Joey Archer	MD	15	1966-07-13	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Retained The Ring, WBC & WBA World Middleweight titles
Win	50-7	Dick Tiger	UD	15	1966-04-25	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Won The Ring, WBC & WBA World Middleweight titles
Win	49-7	Johnny Brooks	UD	10	1966-02-03	Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	48-7	Manuel Gonzalez	UD	15	1965-12-10	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Retained The Ring, WBC & WBA World Welterweight titles
Win	47-7	Harry Scott	RTD	7 (10)	1965-10-04	Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London
Win	46-7	Gabe Terronez	TKO	4 (10), 2:45	1965-09-14	Kearney Bowl, Fresno, California
Loss	45-7	Don Fullmer	UD	12	1965-08-19	Fairgrounds Coliseum, Salt Lake City, Utah
Win	45-6	Eddie Pace	UD	10	1965-06-14	Hawaii International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii
Win	44-6	Jose Stable	UD	15	1965-03-30	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Retained The Ring, WBC & WBA World Welterweight titles
Loss	43-6	Manuel Gonzalez	SD	10	1965-01-26	Houston, Texas
Win	43-5	Dave Charnley	TKO	9 (10), 1:56	1964-12-01	Empire Pool, Wembley, London	Retained The Ring World Welterweight title
Win	42-5	Brian Curvis	UD	15	1964-09-22	Empire Pool, Wembley, London	Retained The Ring, WBC & WBA World Welterweight titles
Win	41-5	Luis Manuel Rodríguez	SD	15	1964-06-12	Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada	Retained The Ring, WBC & WBA World Welterweight titles
Win	40-5	Stan Harrington	KO	4 (10)	1964-04-14	Hawaii International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii	Retained The Ring World Welterweight title
NC	39-5	Juan Carlo Duran	NC	7 (10)	1964-03-11	Sports Palace, Rome, Lazio
Win	39-5	Ralph Dupas	KO	3 (12)	1964-02-10	Sydney Stadium, Sydney, New South Wales
Loss	38-5	Rubin Carter	TKO	1 (10), 2:13	1963-12-20	Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Win	38-4	Jose Monon Gonzalez	MD	10	1963-10-05	Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan
Win	37-4	Holly Mims	UD	10	1963-08-10	Convention Center, Saratoga Springs, New York
Win	36-4	Luis Manuel Rodríguez	SD	15	1963-06-08	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Won The Ring, WBC & WBA World Welterweight titles
Loss	35-4	Luis Manuel Rodríguez	UD	15	1963-03-21	Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, California	Lost The Ring, WBC & WBA World Welterweight titles
Win	35-3	Christian Christensen	TKO	9 (15)	1963-02-03	Forum Copenhagen, Copenhagen
Win	34-3	Jorge Fernandez	TKO	9 (15)	1962-12-08	Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada	Retained The Ring, WBC & WBA World Welterweight titles
Win	33-3	Ted Wright	PTS	15	1962-10-17	Stadthalle, Vienna
Win	32-3	Don Fullmer	UD	10	1962-10-06	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	31-3	Denny Moyer	SD	10	1962-08-18	Sports Arena, Tacoma, Washington
Win	30-3	Ralph Dupas	UD	15	1962-07-13	Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada	Retained The Ring & World Welterweight titles
Win	29-3	Benny Paret	TKO	12 (15), 2:09	1962-03-24	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Won The Ring & World Welterweight titles
Win	28-3	Johnny Torres	UD	10	1962-02-03	Lionel Roberts Stadium, Saint Thomas
Win	27-3	Isaac Logart	MD	10	1961-12-23	St. Nicholas Arena, New York, New York
Win	26-3	Stanford Bulla	KO	4 (10)	1961-11-04	Hamilton
Loss	25-3	Benny Paret	SD	15	1961-09-30	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York	Lost The Ring & World Welterweight titles
Win	25-2	Yama Bahama	UD	10	1961-07-29	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	24-2	Gaspar Ortega	TKO	12 (15), 0:48	1961-06-03	Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California	Retained The Ring & World Welterweight titles
Win	23-2	Benny Paret	KO	13 (15), 1:11	1961-04-01	Miami Beach Convention Hall, Miami Beach, Florida	Won The Ring & World Welterweight titles
Win	22-2	Luis Manuel Rodríguez	SD	10	1960-12-17	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	21-2	Willie Toweel	TKO	8 (10), 3:00	1960-10-22	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	20-2	Florentino Fernández	UD	10	1960-08-25	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	19-2	Jorge Fernandez	UD	10	1960-07-25	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	18-2	Jorge Fernandez	SD	10	1960-06-03	St. Nicholas Arena, New York, New York
Loss	17-2	Denny Moyer	SD	10	1960-04-26	Pacific Livestock Pavilion, Portland, Oregon
Win	17-1	Denny Moyer	SD	10	1960-03-11	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	16-1	Gaspar Ortega	SD	10	1960-02-12	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	15-1	Roberto Pena	UD	10	1960-01-08	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	14-1	Ray Lancaster	UD	10	1960-01-08	Academy of Music, New York, New York
Loss	13-1	Randy Sandy	SD	10	1959-10-26	Academy of Music, New York, New York
Win	13-0	Kid Fichique	UD	10	1959-08-07	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Win	12-0	Willie Stevenson	UD	10	1959-05-25	St. Nicholas Arena, New York, New York
Win	11-0	Mel Barker	UD	10	1959-04-27	St. Nicholas Arena, New York, New York
Win	10-0	Bobby Shell	UD	10	1959-03-23	St. Nicholas Arena, New York, New York
Win	9-0	Barry Allison	TKO	5 (10), 2:44	1959-02-23	St. Nicholas Arena, New York, New York

Honors

Named The Ring Fighter of the Year for 1964.

Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in its initial year (1990) and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.

A park has been named in Griffith's honor in his native Virgin Islands.

See also

• List of WBC world champions
• List of undisputed boxing champions
• List of boxing triple champions

External links

• Professional boxing record for Emile Griffith from BoxRec
• Ring Memorabilia
• 'Ring of Fire' Connects With True Story of A Fatal Blow Washington Post article April 20, 2005

Achievements
Preceded by Benny (Kid) Paret	World Welterweight Champion 1 April 1961– 30 September 1961	Succeeded by Benny (Kid) Paret
	The Ring Welterweight Champion 1 April 1961– 30 September 1961
	World Welterweight Champion 24 March 1962– 21 March 1963	Succeeded by Luis Rodriguez
	The Ring Welterweight Champion 24 March 1962– 21 March 1963
Inaugural Champion	WBC Welterweight Champion 8 December 1962 – 21 March 1963
	WBA Welterweight Champion 8 December 1962 – 21 March 1963
Preceded by Luis Rodriguez	World Welterweight Champion 8 June 1963– 25 April 1966 Vacated	Vacant Title next held by Curtis Cokes
	The Ring Welterweight Champion 8 June 1963– 25 April 1966 Vacated
	WBC Welterweight Champion 8 June 1963– 25 April 1966 Vacated
	WBA Welterweight Champion 8 June 1963– 25 April 1966 Vacated
Preceded by Dick Tiger	World Middleweight Champion 25 April 1966 – 17 April 1967	Succeeded by Nino Benvenuti
	The Ring Middleweight Champion 25 April 1966 – 17 April 1967
	WBC Middleweight Champion 25 April 1966 – 17 April 1967
	WBA Middleweight Champion 25 April 1966 – 17 April 1967
Preceded by Nino Benvenuti	World Middleweight Champion 29 September 1967 – 4 March 1968
	The Ring Middleweight Champion 29 September 1967 – 4 March 1968
	WBC Middleweight Champion 29 September 1967 – 4 March 1968
	WBA Middleweight Champion 29 September 1967 – 4 March 1968
Titles in pretence
New title	World Light Middleweight Champion Austrian Boxing Board of Control Recognition 17 October 1962–1963 Vacated	Title terminated
Awards
Preceded by Cassius Clay	Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year 1964	Succeeded by Dick Tiger
Preceded by Dick Tiger	BWAA Fighter of the Year 1963	Succeeded by Willie Pastrano