Normally a boxer probably wouldn't make this board, but I'm
mentioning the passing of boxer Emile Griffith for the event
which overshadowed his entire career: his literally beating to
death Benny "Kid" Paret on ABC's "Fight Of The Week" in 1962.
Supposedly, at the weigh-in on the morning of the fight, Paret
had cast some slurs at Griffith's sexual preferences. According
to the story I've heard for years, Griffith vowed then and there
to kill him. That night, Paret was taken from the ring unconscious
and never regained consciousness. The incident soured a lot of
people on boxing; playwright David Trainer, a kid then, once said
that he and his dad would watch the fights and even try to match
their scores with the judges. After the Griffith-Paret fight they never
watched boxing again (and I remember my grandfather, who never missed
the fights, having a disrespect bordering on hatred for Griffith after that fight).
Another casualty was Ruby Goldstein, at the time probably the top referee
in the business (he had even appeared on Ed Sullivan's first show in 1948 to
promote an upcoming fight between Joe Louis and Jersey Joe Walcott). To this
day, I don't understand why Goldstein didn't stop the fight when even my cat
could have seen that Paret was helpless. I don't think (and somebody correct me
on this) Goldstein ever refereed another fight.
Although Griffith was undoubtedly a great fighter, the stigma of the Paret fight
obviously stayed with him, and I think that those of us over 50 remember that
more than anything else he accomplished in the ring.
The Paret fight probably also started boxing's downhill trend in the ratings; ABC
canceled "The Fight Of The Week" in 1964, the last regularly-scheduled primetime
boxing telecasts on the broadcast networks (except on NBC for a few weeks around
1980).
mentioning the passing of boxer Emile Griffith for the event
which overshadowed his entire career: his literally beating to
death Benny "Kid" Paret on ABC's "Fight Of The Week" in 1962.
Supposedly, at the weigh-in on the morning of the fight, Paret
had cast some slurs at Griffith's sexual preferences. According
to the story I've heard for years, Griffith vowed then and there
to kill him. That night, Paret was taken from the ring unconscious
and never regained consciousness. The incident soured a lot of
people on boxing; playwright David Trainer, a kid then, once said
that he and his dad would watch the fights and even try to match
their scores with the judges. After the Griffith-Paret fight they never
watched boxing again (and I remember my grandfather, who never missed
the fights, having a disrespect bordering on hatred for Griffith after that fight).
Another casualty was Ruby Goldstein, at the time probably the top referee
in the business (he had even appeared on Ed Sullivan's first show in 1948 to
promote an upcoming fight between Joe Louis and Jersey Joe Walcott). To this
day, I don't understand why Goldstein didn't stop the fight when even my cat
could have seen that Paret was helpless. I don't think (and somebody correct me
on this) Goldstein ever refereed another fight.
Although Griffith was undoubtedly a great fighter, the stigma of the Paret fight
obviously stayed with him, and I think that those of us over 50 remember that
more than anything else he accomplished in the ring.
The Paret fight probably also started boxing's downhill trend in the ratings; ABC
canceled "The Fight Of The Week" in 1964, the last regularly-scheduled primetime
boxing telecasts on the broadcast networks (except on NBC for a few weeks around
1980).