Benny Paret vs. Emile Griffith III
| Date | March 24, 1962 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | NBA/Ring/Lineal Welterweight Championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Griffith winner by KO, round 12, 2:09 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boxer |
 Benny Paret
|
 Emile Griffith
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | "Kid" | ||
| Hometown | Santa Clara, Cuba | Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands | |
| Pre-fight record | 35-11-3 (10 KO) | 28-3-0 (10 KO) | |
| Height | 5 ft 7.5 in (171 cm) | 5 ft 7.5 in (171 cm) | |
| Weight | 146.25 lb (66 kg) | 144 lb (65 kg) | |
| Recognition |
NBA/Ring/Lineal Welterweight Champion |
Benny Paret vs. Emile Griffith III was the third meeting between Benny "Kid" Paret and Emile Griffith, for the Welterweight boxing championship, held at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York on Saturday, March 24, 1962. Paret came into the match as the reigning Welterweight champion; this would be the deciding .
The match was broadcast live by ABC on its live weekly boxing sports program, Fight of the Week. The fight was both notable and controversial for the punishment Paret took in the ring at the hands of Griffith which led to his loss by knockout in round 12 of a scheduled 15 rounds. Paret died in the hospital of his injuries 10 days later. The match has been cited as one of the reasons for the decline of boxing as a mainstream televised sport, and led to political calls for bans on boxing bouts.
This fight was the third meeting between Paret and Griffith for the NBA/Ring/Lineal Welterweight title. On April 1, 1961, in his first title defense, Paret was defeated by Griffith in the 13th round by KO. In their second meeting on September 30, 1961, Paret recaptured the Welterweight crown by split decision. With Paret as the reigning champion, Griffith was heavily favored by Vegas oddsmakers as a 2:7 favorite to win and recapture the Welterweight title.
The morning of the fight, at the customary weigh-in, Paret needled Griffith with an insult in Spanish while Griffith stood on the scales. Contemporary newspaper reports described the exchange without being specific about the insult, but did say that when asked afterward to pose with Paret for photos, that Griffith replied, "I'd better not. I'm liable to swing right now." The insult levied by Paret was , understood by both boxers to mean "faggot". Griffith was enraged by the remark, and it set the tone for the fight that evening.
This fight, among others (such as nationally televised Davey Moore vs. Sugar Ramos in March 1963, which caused Moore's death) gradually led to the decline of boxing as a popular televised sport. Ultimately, ABC announced in December 1963 that it would cancel its weekly boxing program, Fight of the Week, in September 1964.
...
Wikipedia