Benny Paret - Last Fight

Last Fight

His third fight against Emile Griffith occurred on March 24, 1962 at Madison Square Garden and was televised live by ABC. In round six Paret nearly knocked out Griffith with a multi punch combination but Griffith was saved by the bell. In the twelfth round of the fight, the TV announcer, Don Dunphy, said, "This is probably be the tamest round of the entire fight" just before Griffith hit Paret twenty-nine times in a row, and eighteen times in six seconds, when Paret was lying against the ropes before referee Ruby Goldstein stopped the fight. Paret went into a coma after the fight, and died ten days later. Benny "Kid" Paret was buried at Saint Raymond's Cemetery in the borough of the Bronx in New York City.

The last fight was the subject of many controversies. It is theorized that one of the reasons Paret died was that he was vulnerable due to the beatings he took in his previous three fights. New York State boxing authorities were criticized for giving Paret clearance to fight just several months after he was knocked out by Gene Fullmer in his second to last bout. The actions of Paret at the weigh in before his final fight have come under scrutiny. It is alleged that Paret taunted Griffith by calling him maricón (Spanish slang for "faggot"). Griffith wanted to fight Paret on the spot but was restrained. Allegations of homosexuality in 1962 were considered fatal to an athlete's career and a particularly grievous insult in the culture both fighters came from. The referee Ruby Goldstein, a respected veteran, came under criticism for not stopping the fight sooner. It has been argued that Goldstein hesitated because of Paret’s reputation of feigning injury and Griffith’s reputation as a poor finisher. Another theory is that Goldstein was afraid that Paret’s supporters would riot. The incident, combined with the death of Davey Moore a year later for a different injury in the ring, would cause debate as to whether boxing should be considered a sport. Boxing would not be televised on a regular basis again until the 1970s. Goldstein would never be the referee for a fight again as a result of the controversy from this fight.

The fight was the centerpiece of a 2005 documentary entitled Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story. At the end of the documentary Griffith who has harbored guilt over the incident over the years is introduced to Paret's son. The son embraced Griffith and told him he was forgiven.