51 YEARS AFTER THE EMILE GRIFFITH-BENNY PARET FIGHT, PEOPLE REMEMBER!
San Francisco, CA- For years the death of Benny “The Kid” Paret in 1962 at the hands of two-time middleweight (160 lbs) champion Emile Griffith has been a source of hot debate. There are those that say Paret infuriated Griffith, who is Gay, by calling him a “Maricon,” which in Spanish can be construed as faggot, homosexual or queer, as well as patting Emile on the ass. The late Angelo Dundee told me one day that it wasn’t Griffith’s blows that killed Paret, although they certainly were the weapons that brought about his in ring demise.
ANGELO DUNDEE STORY ON BENNY PARET’S DEATH
No, Angelo says that Paret’s wife hit him over the head with a frying pan (an iron skillet) two weeks prior to the fight with Griffith. Regardless of what the actual cause was, Griffith told me about 15 years ago, that no matter how mad he was at Paret, he never had the intention or wanted to be the man that killed him. Here is the video from that tragic night courtesy of YouTube.com