A Teachable Moment: Benny Paret vs Emile Griffith 3 (GRAPHIC)

Wow....I'm sure I'm not the first person to ask WFT was the ref waiting for?

Great writing about a very sad story.

 

"You won't see the eyes of the devil until he comes looking for you". Paret made Griffith look for him, he made by all accounts I've read a very good, decent ,humble man blind with a terrible rage and a terrible resolve to use it.
Calling out a in the closet gay man prior to the 70's ' in public was asking for a violent response. Especially so when the man called out is a great professional boxer.
But ultimately its the referee's responsibility to know when a man has had enough.
Most boxers having that advantage will continue punching. That's what we're taught. It's few and far between a fighter will ask a referee to stop the fight for the safety of the opponent.
Ali did it, Holmes tried to do it, but the ref told him to continue fighting.
A few others I remember but on most occasions in a boxingring a fighter is taught to press your advantage until the opponent is off his feet, or the ref grabs you.
That simple. The one area in boxing that actually has progressed ( Unlike the boxers themselves ) is the refereeing, and the Dr's at ringside having the ability to stop fights.

 

That's some really nice writing. Hell of a story

 

Great story,,Ruby Goldstein? he reminds me of that idiot who refereed the Duran Davy Moore fight. A blind man coulda done better.

 

I thought Griffith was married to a woman?

 

I favorited your article

 

Seriously I did.

 

Me and you should write an article about why Louis/Schmeling 2 was stopped too soon and why Schmeling was robbed.

 

Really? It was referred to in discreet/ sideways by quite a few boxing mags in the 70's and 80's whenever that fight was reviewed. ( And that fight was re-visted many times) Though they wouldn't actually just say he was gay, but if you read between the lines, it was their.
I'm sure most posters on this site over 45-50 yrs old and serious boxing fans or having involvement in the sport heard the rumors.

 

He was...... But plenty gay men are married to women in today's permissive society.
Imagine what it was like in the 60's?