Boxing History – 6x world champ, Emile Griffith

An underappreciated man, deriving from the Caribbean Sea in Saint Thomas, U.S Virgin Islands, Emile Griffith soon became a known figure in his move to America, starting what he’s known for, much later than most do.

Born, Emile Alphonse Griffith on February 3rd in 1938, in the Virgin Islands, Emile moved away to New York in his early teen years and later picked up a job at a hat factory, owned by Howard Albert. He lied about his age in order to get the job stating he was 15 when legally he needed to be 16. He began as a delivery boy and quickly progressed becoming a hat designer. One scorching hot Summer’s day, Emile asked Howard if he could take his shirt off while working, which revealed that Emile was in incredible shape with broad shoulders and a small waist. Howard asked if Emile wanted to come along to the gym, arriving to meet legendary trainer, Gil Clancy, at the West 28th Street Parks Department Gym. Clancy asked Emile to box, first declining but soon giving in, making a great account of himself just under 2 months before the New York Golden Gloves tournament.

Gil first showed Emile how to move, use his footwork & defense before throwing any punches, which we later find out would be one of his greatest attributes. He lost the very fast coming Golden Gloves tournament in 1957, but incredibly he made the finals despite having just 8 weeks of training. The pair quickly developed a full working relationship. Griffith began sparring with pros, showing incredible skills, and soon winning the New York Daily News Golden Gloves, the New York Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions & the Intercity Golden Gloves, all 3 tournaments in the same year of 1958.

After his wins, he took a trip back to his native home, and on his return to New York, he brought back his whole family to live with him in the Big Apple. Emile Griffith turned professional in June of 1958 at the age of 20, racking up 15 quick wins and a suffering a controversial split decision loss. His next fight was what he claimed was one of his toughest against Gaspar Ortega and his first fight on television, still a growing media, especially for the sport of boxing. Griffith showcased his skills, beating Ortega by a decision. Griffith went on to trade fights with future champion, Denny Moyer and beat another future champion in an undefeated Luis Manuel Rodriguez by decision before getting his first world title shot at the age of 23 in his 25th professional fight.

In Miami Beach, Florida, Emile faced the 147 lb champion, Benny ‘Kid’ Paret in April 1961. Starting the fight off well, Griffith utilized his left jab and his quick hands to bewilder Paret. Ahead on the cards, Griffith became complacent and lost his aggression, giving Benny a chance to get back into the fight– a bad habit that was known in his game. Where Griffith would have the opportunity to put guys away, he wouldn’t. By the end of the 12th round, the tide had changed, and Emile was now down on the cards. Trainer Gil Clancy rallied him back into fight mode, coming out more aggressively and delivering the left hook as instructed. Landing crisply on Paret’s chin, Griffith followed up with another left and right hook, putting Paret down and out. He won the World title by 13th round KO, jumping as high as the top rope into the referee’s arms, the new champion of the world. Emile quickly gained new champion-like status, regularly appearing on talk shows, and earning a substantial of money.

Griffith’s fight defense came against former rival, Gaspar Ortega before giving the return match just 6 months after his knockout win against the former champion he defeated, Benny Paret. The bad blood that wasn’t there before, ignited at the weigh-in where Paret and his handlers used gay slurs in Spanish towards Emile. Griffith was known for being a bisexual man and he understood what Paret was saying to him – the word ‘maricón’, meaning ‘faggot’. In a close fight where Emile again took his foot off the pedal for the most of the fight, still seemingly winning the fight, the fight was awarded to Paret controversially, making him a 2-time Welterweight champion, winning by a split decision. The hate would start there and carried on to their 3rd meeting six months later, in one of the most controversial and tragic bouts in sports history.

Before the 3^rd fight, Griffith told his trainer that if Benny said similar words he’d hit Paret right there at the weigh-in. Unsurprisingly, Paret did do the same and a fight almost broke out between the two, almost tarnishing the bout from happening. The fight would go on at the Mecca of Boxing, Madison Square Garden, with the men going into their 29th combined round. The fight started frantically, both men staying inside throwing bombs at each other back and forth. To everyone’s surprise, Griffith was utterly poleaxed by a Paret left hook in round 6, similar to the blow Emile landed on Paret in their 1st meeting. A punch most wouldn’t get up from, Emile Griffith rose from the canvas for the first time in his career to continue before being saved by the bell a second later. Clancy told Emile in the corner that he was to step it up and keep punching repeatedly till referee Ruby Goldstein halts the fight – not stopping until then. Still very much ahead, the fatal 12th round occurred where Emile landed a double right hand that stumbled Benny to the neutral corner. Landing punch after punch to Clancy’s order, Griffith would not stop punching till landing approximately 25 unanswered punches with Paret neck rolling on his shoulders completely unconscious, soon slumping to a seat in the corner. The fight was stopped, and Emile had regained the title. Emile was clearly concerned, going over to check on him, but Paret wouldn’t regain consciousness. Just 10 days later, Paret didn’t recover and sadly pass away, dying from a hemorrhagic stroke.

Emile was distraught from the passing of Paret and very much lost his killer instinct, which is one of the main reasons for his lack of knockout wins, only a combined 24 in 85 wins. From there, he went on to defend his 147 lb title against a future champion, Ralph Dupas before becoming the inaugural lineal Light Middleweight (more known as super-welterweight at 154 lbs) champion, defeating Ted Wright by a decision. He defended the welterweight title against Jorge Fernandez and his new 154 lb title against Olympian, Chris Christiansen before vacating that title to concentrate on welterweight, where he eventually lost it to a man he once conquered, Luis Manuel Rodriguez by unanimous decision.

Just 3 months later he regained the title a second time from Luis, making him now a 3-time welterweight champion – only the second man to achieve such a feat, after former champion Jack Britton. Shortly after he was stopped by middleweight contender Rubin Carter for the first of only two times of his career in just the 1st round, in a 10 round non-title bout. Despite the loss, he was still champion at 147, defending the title another four times before moving up in weight to challenge for the undisputed middleweight title, becoming the Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year of 1964 in the process.

Emile moved up to challenge undisputed middleweight champion, Nigeria’s greatest fighter, Dick Tiger, where he upset the 8-5 favorite by flooring him in round 9 and winning a tight but unanimous decision. Emile had now become a 3 weight, 5-time world champion. Two close decision title defenses followed against Joey Archer, retiring him in the process before facing former 154 lb champion, Italian, Giovanni ‘Nino’ Benvenuti at Madison Square Garden. In a great fight, Griffith recovered from a 2nd round knockdown to floor Nino with a tremendous right hand two rounds later but would end up losing a unanimous decision to Benvenuti in the Ring Magazine Fight of the Year of 1967. Emile was awarded a return bout with Nino, this time doing what he’s familiar of, regaining the title in a close majority decision, flooring Benvenuti in the process. Unfortunately, he lost the title again in the 3rd meeting with Benvenuti winning by unanimous decision.

Around this time, he married a woman named Sadie after meeting her in his native country with future Heavyweight champion, Joe Frazier, as his best man. Things didn’t last long with Sadie and the pair split up soon after as Emile believed his boxing career would get in the way of things. After the loss to Benvenuti, now in his 30’s, Emile Griffith was not quite the same, he lost some of the skills & speed he once had and soon lost his welterweight title to Jose Napoles. Emile later retired former champion and the man he conquered for the middleweight title 4 years prior, Dick Tiger, before getting another title shot at middleweight versus the great Carlos Monzon.

Emile Griffith put up a champion’s effort but was stopped for just the 2nd and last time by Monzon after a series of punches had him hunched over in the corner, losing by 14th round TKO. He soon got another shot at Monzon and the title, showing even greater promise at 35 years of age, but losing again, this time by a very tight and close unanimous decision.

In the latter years of his career, Griffith scored another title shot aged 38 against 154 lb champion, Eckhard Dagge. He controversial lost by majority decision, in amazingly his 24th title fight, holding a record of 16-8 with 11 combined defenses in those title fights before retiring in his underrated, underappreciated and vastly not talked about career, aged 39.

Emile would pass away in 2013 from kidney failure at 75 years of age in the state he grew up in, Hempstead, New York. A 6-time champion, and inducted into the 1990 International Boxing Hall of Fame, and one of the best fighters to grace the sport of boxing.

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Boxing History – The Heavyweights 1960