Emile Griffith
Titles: Welterweight champion 1961, 1962-1963, 1963-1966, middleweight
champion 1966-1967, 1967-1968
Record: 85-24-2
Born: February 3, 1938 in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands
Years active: 1958-1977
Nickname: None
One of the all-time greats in boxing, a good champion in two divisions
Griffith held the welterweight title twice and the middleweight title
three times. While Griffith didn't posses great power, he was a excellent
defensive boxer and his career seemed to go on forever. Emile was 19 when
his parents left the Virgin Islands to live in New York City, there his
boss noticing his good build and strong shoulders suggested he should try
boxing. Griffith was sent to Gil Glancy who tutored him to wins in the
New York City Golden Gloves in only his first year as a boxer. At 20
Griffith turned pro and made a quick reputation for himself boxing at the
local clubs. Griffith was lucky to be coming up in a era where was first
beginning to influence mass markets and Emile gained great exposure on
television. To earn his first shot at the title he defeated excellent
fighters like Gaspar Ortega, Denny Moyer, Florentio Fernandez and a slew
of other contenders, many of which were featured on television. Only the
vastly experienced Deny Moyer was able to defeat the young contender in
his first trip to fight outside of New York City. The title shot came
against Benny "Kid" Paret in Miami and resulted in a 13th round knock out
victory for Griffith. Going into the 13th Griffith was behind on points
when he landed the one punch knockout with his left hook. Griffith had
pulled one out of the hat as he was not known as a big puncher. Five months
later in a rematch with Paret it is said that Griffith was robbed and
Paret walked away with a decision win. The New York City papers all
supported Griffith and thought he should have retained the title easily.
Of course a third fight was immediately set up. In the pre fight build up
Griffith became extremely angry when Paret accused him of being homosexual
during meetings with the press. As most people know the third bout ended
in tragedy. Griffith pummeled a helpless Paret who was being held up by the
ropes into unconsciousness and ultimately Paret would die 10 days later
after slipping into a coma. Emile was never as aggressive a fighter as he
had been before the death of Paret and this hurt him in future fights.
Griffith was inconsolable after the fight and said he would quit the ring
if only he had another source of income to turn to. Griffin put everything
behind him and traveled to Austria and won the European recognition as the
light heavyweight title by beating Ted Wright. When he returned to the USA
he engaged in a 3 match series with Luis Rodriguez in which he won 2 of
the fights and the title changed hands twice. In the first meeting he lost
the title to Rodriguez in a very close fight that usually goes to the
champion. In fact all 2 fights were razor thin decision and all went the
distance and ended in split decisions. Then a shock knockout at the hands
of Rubin Carter almost ended the career of Griffith as he sunk into a
depression after the loss. He was coaxed back and fought for the title
again and won. In 1966 he defeated the rugged Dick Tiger in a exciting
fight. It seems that Griffith would always have to battle as his fights
almost always went the distance and were always very close. Yet another 3
bout series would see Griffith loose 2 out of 3 this time to the great
Nino Benvenuti. The title changed hands all 3 times in that 3 bout series.
A move down in weight to fight Jose Napoles left him too weak from draining
himself and Napoles won a easy decision. His best days were now behind him
but yet he fought on for another 9 years and always seemed to be in title
contention. He traveled to Argentina to fight Carlos Monzon but was stopped
in the 14th round and ultimately lost to him again in Monte Carlo but this
gave him a much harder fight. Griffith lost 10 of his last 20 fights
including one last title fight for the WBC jr. middleweight title against
Eckhard Dagge in Berlin. In his last fight he was stopped by Alan Minter.
In 1992 he was brutally mugged and left hospitalized for two months. Since
then he has trained fighters on a part time basis and is a popular man who
is in some demand for boxing related functions. It is said he still slips
into periods of depression and drinking over the death of his mother and
ultimately Benny Paret.
Emile Griffith
Career record: 85 W, 24 L, 2 D, 1 NC (23 K.O's)
1958
2 Jun Joe Parham New York, NY W 4
23 Jun Bobby Gibson New York, NY W 4
21 Jul Martin Leaks New York, NY W 4
6 Oct Art Cunningham New York, NY W 6
17 Nov Sergio Rios New York, NY KO 3
15 Dec Larry Jones New York, NY KO 5
1959
26 Jan Gaylord Barnes New York, NY KO 5
9 Feb Willie Johnson New York, NY KO 5
23 Feb Barry Allison New York, NY KO 5
23 Mar Bobby Shell New York, NY W 10
27 Apr Mel Barker New York, NY W 10
25 May Willie Stevenson New York, NY W 10
7 Aug Kid Fichique New York, NY W 10
26 Oct Randy Sandy New York, NY L 10
23 Nov Ray Lancaster New York, NY KO 7
1960
8 Jan Roberto Pena New York, NY W 10
12 Feb Gaspar Ortega New York, NY W 10
11 Mar Denny Moyer New York, NY W 10
26 Apr Denny Moyer Portland, OR L 10
3 Jun Jorge Fernandez New York, NY W 10
25 Jul Jorge Fernandez New York, NY W 10
25 Aug Florentin Fernandez New York, NY W 10
22 Oct Willie Toweel New York, NY KO 8
17 Dec Luis Rodriguez New York, NY W 10
1961
1 Apr Benny Paret Miami Beach, FL KO 13
(Won World Welterweight Championship)
3 Jun Gaspar Ortega Los Angeles, CA KO 12
(Retained World Welterweight Championship)
29 Jul Yama Bahama New York, NY W 10
30 Sep Benny Paret New York, NY L 15
(Lost World Welterweight Championship)
4 Nov Stanford Bulla Hamilton, NY KO 4
23 Dec Isaac Logart New York, NY W 10
1962
3 Feb Johnny Torres St. Thomas, VI W 10
24 Mar Benny Paret New York, NY KO 12
(Won World Welterweight Championship)
13 Jul Ralph Dupas Las Vegas, NV W 15
(Retained World Welterweight Championship)
18 Aug Denny Moyer Tacome, WA W 10
6 Oct Don Fullmer New York, NY W 10
17 Oct Teddy Wright Vienna, Austria W 15
8 Dec Jorge Fernandez Las Vegas, NV KO9
(Retained World Welterweight Championship)
1963
3 Feb Christian Christensen Copenhagen KO 9
(retains junior middleweight title)
21 Mar Luis Rodriguez Los Angeles, CA L 15
(Lost World Welterweight Championship)
8 Jun Luis Rodriguez New York, NY W 15
(Won World Welterweight Championship)
10 Aug Holly Mims Sarasota Springs,NY W 10
5 Oct Jose Gonzalez San Juan W 10
20 Dec Ruben Carter Pittsburgh, PA KOby1
1964
10 Feb Ralph Dupas Sydney, Australia KO 3
11 Mar Juan Duran Rome NC 7
14 Apr Stan Harrington Honolulu KO 4
12 Jun Luis Rodriguez Las Vegas, NV W 15
(Retained World Welterweight Championship)
22 Sep Brian Curvis London W 15
(Retained World Welterweight Championship)
1 Dec Dave Charnley Wembley, England KO 9
1965
21 Jan Manuel Gonzalez Houston, TX L 10
30 Mar Jose Stable New York, NY W 15
(Retained World Welterweight Championship)
14 Jun Eddie Pace Honolulu W 10
20 Aug Don Fullmer Salt Lake City L 10
14 Sep Gabe Terronez Fresno, CA KO 4
4 Oct Harry Scott Kensington, England KO 7
10 Dec Manuel Gonzalez New York, NY W 15
(Retained World Welterweight Championship)
1966
3 Feb Johnny Brooks Las Vegas, NV W 10
25 Apr Dick Tiger New York, NY W 10
(Won World Middleweight Championship)
13 Jul Joey Archer New York, NY W15
(Retained World Middleweight Championship)
1967
23 Jan Joey Archer New York, NY W 15
(Retained World Middleweight Championship)
17 Apr Nino Benvenuti New York, NY L 15
(Lost World Middleweight Championship)
19 Sep Nino Benvenuti Flushing, NY W 15
(Won World Middleweight Championship)
15 Dec Remo Golfarini Rome KO 6
1968
4 Mar Nino Benvenuti New York, NY L 15
(Lost World Middleweight Championship)
11 Jun Andy Heilman Oakland, CA W 12
6 Aug Joe Harris Philadelphia, PA W 12
29 Oct Stan Hayward Philadelphia, PA L 10
1969
3 Feb Andy Heilman New York, NY W 10
12 May Stan Hayward New York, NY W 12
11 Jul Dick DiVeronica Syracuse, NY KO 7
15 Aug Art Hernandez Sioux Falls, SD W 10
18 Oct Jose Napoles Inglewood, CA L 15
(For World Welterweight Championship)
1970
28 Jan Doyle Baird Cleveland, OH W 10
11 Mar Carlos Marks New York, NY W 12
4 Jun Tom Bogs Copenhagen W 10
15 Jul Dick Tiger New York, NY W 10
17 Oct Danny Perez St. Thomas, VI W 10
10 Nov Nate Collins San Francisco, CA W 10
1971
23 Mar Rafael Gutierrez San Francisco, CA W 10
10 Apr Juan Ramos St. Thomas, VI KO 2
3 May Ernie Lopez Las Vegas, NV W 10
26 Jul Nessim Cohen New York, NY W 10
25 Sep Carlos Monzon Buenos Aires KO by 14
(For World Middleweight Championship)
10 Dec Danny McAloon New York, NY W 10
1972
31 Jan Armando Muniz Anaheim, CA W 10
21 Feb Jacques Kechichian Paris W 10
30 Mar Ernie Lopez Los Angeles, CA W 10
16 Sep Joe DeNucci Boston W 10
11 Oct Joe DeNucci Boston W 12
18 Dec Jean Bouttier Paris L D.Q 7
1973
12 Mar Max Cohen Paris D 10
2 Jun Carlos Monzon Monte Carlo, Monoco L 15
(For World Middleweight Championship)
2 Nov Manny Gonzalez Tampa, FL W 10
19 Nov Tony Mundine Paris L 10
1974
5 Feb Tony Licata Boston L 12
(For NABF Middleweight Championship)
25 May Renato Garcia Monte Carlo, Monoco W 10
9 Oct Bennie Briscoe Philadelphia, PA W 10
22 Nov Vito Antuofermo New York, NY L 10
10 Dec Donato Paduano Montreal W 10
1975
31 May Jose Duran Cali, Columbia L 10
23 Jul Leo Saenz Landover, MD W 10
9 Aug Elijah Makhatini Johannesburg L 10
7 Nov Jose Chirino Albany W 10
1976
9 Feb Loucif Hamani Paris L 10
26 Jun Bennie Briscoe Monte Carlo, Monoco D 10
18 Sep Eckhard Dagge Berlin L 15
B> (For WBC Junior Middleweight Championship)
24 Oct Dino Del Cid Cartegena, Columbia KO 4
4 Dec Frank Reiche Hamburg, Germany KO 10
1977
2 Feb Christy Elliott New York, NY W 10
15 Apr Joel Bonnetaz Periqueux, France L 10
19 Jul Mayfield Pennington Louisville, KY L 10
30 Jul Alan Minter Monte Carlo, Monoco L 10