Benny "Kid" Paret | |
---|---|
Born | Bernardo Paret March 14, 1937 Santa Clara, Cuba |
Died | April 3, 1962 25) New York City, U.S. | (aged
Other names | Kid |
Statistics | |
Weight(s) | Welterweight |
Stance | Orthodox |
Boxing record | |
Total fights | 50 |
Wins | 35 |
Wins by KO | 10 |
Losses | 12 |
Draws | 3 |
Cause of death | Brain hemorrhaging from punches to his head in his match on March 24, 1962 |
BernardoParet (March 14, 1937 – April 3, 1962), known as Benny Paret or Benny "Kid" Paret, was a Cuban welterweight boxer who won the World Welterweight Championship twice in the early 1960s. [1]
Paret's death occurred 10 days after injuries sustained in a March 24, 1962, title defense against Emile Griffith, televised live and seen by millions on ABC's Fight of the Week . Paret had a lifetime record of 35 wins (10 knockouts), 12 losses and 3 draws. [2]
Paret won the welterweight title for the first time on May 27, 1960, by defeating Don Jordan. In his first defense of the title, Emile Griffith knocked him out in the thirteenth round on April 1, 1961. [3] Paret recaptured the crown on September 30, 1961, in a split-decision over Griffith. [4] Barely two months later, Paret took on middleweight champion Gene Fullmer and was knocked out in the tenth round, being behind on all three judges' scorecards. [3]
Although Paret had been battered in the two fights with Griffith and the fight with Fullmer, he decided that he would defend his title against Griffith three months after the Fullmer fight. Paret–Griffith III was booked for Madison Square Garden on Saturday, March 24, 1962, 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. [5]
In the twelfth round of the fight, Don Dunphy, who was calling the bout for ABC, remarked, "This is probably the tamest round of the entire fight." [6] Seconds later, Griffith backed Paret into the corner before he unleashed a massive flurry of punches to the champion's head. [7]
It quickly became apparent that Paret was dazed by the initial shots and could not defend himself, but referee Ruby Goldstein allowed Griffith to continue his assault. Finally, after 29 consecutive punches, which knocked Paret through the ropes at one point, Goldstein stepped in and called a halt to the bout. [8]
Paret collapsed in the corner from the barrage of punches (initially thought to be from exhaustion), fell into a coma, and died ten days later at Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan from massive brain hemorrhaging. [5] [9] [10] Paret was buried at Miami’s Our Lady of Mercy Cemetery on April 7, 1962.
The last fight between Paret and Griffith 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, all of which happened within twelve months of each other. New York State boxing authorities were criticized for giving Paret clearance to fight just several months after the Fullmer fight. 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"). [7]
Griffith wanted to fight Paret on the spot but was restrained. Griffith would come out as bisexual in his later years, but in 1962 allegations of homosexuality 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. [5] [8]
Another theory is that Goldstein was afraid that Paret's supporters would riot. [8] 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. [11]
The fight also marked the end of Goldstein's long and respected career as a referee, as he was unable to find work after that.[ citation needed ] 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 had harbored guilt over the incident over the years, is introduced to Paret's son. The son embraced Griffith and told him he was forgiven. [11]
Paret's death was chronicled in a 1962 protest song by folk singer Gil Turner. The song, "Benny 'Kid' Paret", was published in Broadside magazine that same month and was recorded later in the year by Turner's group, The New World Singers, for the 1963 Folkways album Broadside Ballads, Vol. 1. [12] [13]
A 1962 poem by Australian ex-boxer Merv Lilley urged us to remember Benny Paret "when they're lacing leather on." [14]
The emotive poem "Muerte en el Ring" ("Death in the Ring") by Afro-Peruvian poet Nicomedes Santa Cruz recounts Paret's life to the moment of his last breath. [15]
A semifictionalized story of the fight was told live by radio dramatist Joe Frank in the 1978 program "80 Yard Run" on WBAI in New York and replayed several times subsequently on NPR. In it, Frank cast Griffith rather than Paret as the defending champion and makes no mention of Paret's recent fights or his prior history with Griffith. In the dramatized version, Griffith dominates the fight from the beginning, with the fight ending in the middle rounds and Paret dying later that night.
Paret is also one of many boxers named in the lyrics of Sun Kil Moon's 2003 album Ghosts of the Great Highway . The album builds several songs around the stories of boxers who died early deaths. [16]
The story of Emile Griffith and Paret's death has been turned into an Opera in Jazz, Champion . It premiered on the campus of Webster University in Webster Groves, Missouri, on June 15, 2013. The opera was written by composer Terence Blanchard, with a libretto by playwright Michael Cristofer, who went on to develop the stage play "Man in the Ring" on the same subject. The play premiered at the Court Theatre in Chicago in 2016.
50 fights | 35 wins | 12 losses |
---|---|---|
By knockout | 10 | 4 |
By decision | 25 | 8 |
Draws | 3 |
No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round | Date | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
50 | Loss | 35–12–3 | Emile Griffith | TKO | 12 (15) | Mar 24, 1962 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, U.S. | Lost NYSAC, NBA, The Ring welterweight titles; Paret died from injuries sustained in the fight [17] |
49 | Loss | 35–11–3 | Gene Fullmer | KO | 10 (15) | Dec 9, 1961 | Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | For NBA middleweight title |
48 | Win | 35–10–3 | Emile Griffith | SD | 15 | Sep 30, 1961 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, U.S. | Won NYSAC, NBA, and The Ring welterweight titles |
47 | Loss | 34–10–3 | Emile Griffith | KO | 13 (15) | Apr 1, 1961 | Convention Center, Miami Beach, Miami, Florida, U.S. | Lost NYSAC, NBA, and The Ring welterweight titles |
46 | Loss | 34–9–3 | Gaspar Ortega | UD | 10 | Feb 25, 1961 | Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
45 | Win | 34–8–3 | Luis Federico Thompson | UD | 15 | Dec 10, 1960 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, U.S. | Retained NYSAC, NBA, and The Ring welterweight titles |
44 | Loss | 33–8–3 | Denny Moyer | SD | 10 | Aug 16, 1960 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, U.S. | |
43 | Win | 33–7–3 | Garnet Hart | KO | 6 (10) | Jul 12, 1960 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, U.S. | |
42 | Win | 32–7–3 | Don Jordan | UD | 15 | May 27, 1960 | Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | Won NYSAC, NBA, and The Ring welterweight titles |
41 | Draw | 31–7–3 | Luis Federico Thompson | PTS | 12 | Mar 25, 1960 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, U.S. | |
40 | Win | 31–7–2 | Charley Scott | SD | 10 | Jan 29, 1960 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, U.S. | |
39 | Win | 30–7–2 | Charley Scott | UD | 10 | Dec 18, 1959 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, U.S. | |
38 | Win | 29–7–2 | Bob Provizzi | UD | 10 | Nov 16, 1959 | Academy of Music, New York City, U.S. | |
37 | Draw | 28–7–2 | José Torres | PTS | 10 | Sep 26, 1959 | Sixto Escobar Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico | |
36 | Loss | 28–7–1 | Gaspar Ortega | SD | 10 | Aug 7, 1959 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, U.S. | |
35 | Win | 28–6–1 | Rudy Sawyer | UD | 10 | Jun 1, 1959 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, U.S. | |
34 | Loss | 27–6–1 | Eddie Thompson | SD | 10 | Apr 20, 1959 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, U.S. | |
33 | Loss | 27–5–1 | Cecil Shorts | MD | 10 | Mar 2, 1959 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, U.S. | |
32 | Win | 27–4–1 | Victor Zalazar | UD | 10 | Jan 19, 1959 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, U.S. | |
31 | Win | 26–4–1 | Victor Zalazar | SD | 10 | Dec 15, 1958 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, U.S. | |
30 | Win | 25–4–1 | Barry Allison | UD | 10 | Nov 24, 1958 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, U.S. | |
29 | Win | 24–4–1 | Andy Figaro | KO | 1 (10) | Nov 10, 1958 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, U.S. | |
28 | Loss | 23–4–1 | Luis Manuel Rodríguez | SD | 10 | Aug 9, 1958 | Coliseo de la Ciudad, Havana, Cuba | |
27 | Win | 23–3–1 | Augustin Rosales | TKO | 8 (10) | Jun 21, 1958 | Coliseo de la Ciudad, Havana, Cuba | |
26 | Win | 22–3–1 | Eddie Armstrong | UD | 10 | Jun 9, 1958 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, U.S. | |
25 | Draw | 21–3–1 | Bobby Shell | PTS | 6 | May 19, 1958 | St. Nicholas Arena, New York City, U.S. | |
24 | Win | 21–3 | Tony Armenteros | PTS | 10 | Mar 8, 1958 | Palacio de Deportes, Havana, Cuba | |
23 | Loss | 20–3 | Luis Manuel Rodríguez | UD | 10 | Feb 8, 1958 | Palacio de Deportes, Havana, Cuba | |
22 | Win | 20–2 | Rolando Rodriguez | PTS | 8 | Jan 25, 1958 | Palacio de Deportes, Havana, Cuba | |
21 | Win | 19–2 | Regino Bravo | KO | 3 (8) | Jan 4, 1958 | Arena Trejo, Havana, Cuba | |
20 | Win | 18–2 | Rolando Rodriguez | KO | 5 (8) | May 25, 1957 | Palacio de Deportes, Havana, Cuba | |
19 | Win | 17–2 | Carlos Chibas | PTS | 8 | May 4, 1957 | Palacio de Deportes, Havana, Cuba | |
18 | Loss | 16–2 | Guillermo Diaz | PTS | 8 | Apr 6, 1957 | Palacio de Deportes, Havana, Cuba | |
17 | Win | 16–1 | Rolando Rodriguez | PTS | 8 | Mar 23, 1957 | Palacio de Deportes, Havana, Cuba | |
16 | Win | 15–1 | Oscar Campos | UD | 8 | Mar 9, 1957 | Palacio de Deportes, Havana, Cuba | |
15 | Win | 14–1 | Oscar Campos | PTS | 10 | Feb 1, 1957 | Santa Clara, Cuba | |
14 | Loss | 13–1 | Rolando Rodriguez | KO | 2 (8) | Oct 22, 1956 | Santa Clara, Cuba | |
13 | Win | 13–0 | Carlos Chibas | KO | 2 (8) | Oct 13, 1956 | Santa Clara, Cuba | |
12 | Win | 12–0 | Leocadio Villafanas | KO | 3 (8) | Aug 9, 1956 | Santa Clara, Cuba | |
11 | Win | 11–0 | Carlos Chibas | PTS | 8 | Jul 21, 1956 | Palacio de Deportes, Havana, Cuba | |
10 | Win | 10–0 | Tony Caspita | PTS | 8 | Jun 6, 1956 | Santa Clara, Cuba | |
9 | Win | 9–0 | Reinaldo Cabellero | KO | 3 (6) | Mar 16, 1956 | Santa Clara, Cuba | |
8 | Win | 8–0 | Jose Delgado | KO | 4 (6) | Jan 27, 1956 | Santa Clara, Cuba | |
7 | Win | 7–0 | Joaquin Castillo | PTS | 6 | Dec 23, 1955 | Santa Clara, Cuba | |
6 | Win | 6–0 | Jose Delgado | PTS | 6 | Dec 2, 1955 | Santa Clara, Cuba | |
5 | Win | 5–0 | Sandalio Santana | PTS | 6 | Oct 26, 1955 | Santa Clara, Cuba | |
4 | Win | 4–0 | Miguel Cutino | TKO | 4 | Oct 22, 1955 | Palacio de Deportes, Havana, Cuba | |
3 | Win | 3–0 | Joel Morales | PTS | 4 | Sep 8, 1955 | Santa Clara, Cuba | |
2 | Win | 2–0 | Esmerido Moya | KO | 1 (4) | Aug 11, 1955 | Santa Clara, Cuba | |
1 | Win | 1–0 | Oscar Campos | PTS | 6 | Apr 16, 1954 | Santa Clara, Cuba |
Carlos Ortiz was a Puerto Rican professional boxer. He held world titles in lightweight and light welterweight weight divisions. Along with Félix Trinidad, Miguel Cotto, Wilfredo Gómez, Héctor Camacho, José Torres, Edwin Rosario and Wilfred Benítez, Ortiz is considered among the best Puerto Rican boxers of all time by sports journalists and analysts. As of January 2018, Ortiz holds the record for the most wins in unified lightweight title bouts in boxing history at 10.
Walker Smith Jr., better known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is often regarded as the greatest boxer of all time, pound-for-pound.
Emile Alphonse Griffith was an American professional boxer who won world titles in three weight divisions. He held the world light middleweight, undisputed welterweight, and middleweight titles. His best-known contest was a 1962 title match with Benny Paret. Griffith won the bout by knockout; Paret never recovered consciousness and died in the hospital 10 days later.
Carmen Basilio was an American professional boxer who was the world champion in both the welterweight and middleweight divisions, beating Sugar Ray Robinson for the latter title. An iron-chinned pressure fighter, Basilio was a combination puncher who had great stamina and eventually wore many of his opponents down with vicious attacks to the head and body.
Tony Canzoneri was an American professional boxer. A three-division world champion, he held a total of five world titles. Canzoneri is a member of the exclusive group of boxing world champions who have won titles in three or more divisions. Canzoneri fought for championships between bantamweight and light welterweight. Historian Bert Sugar ranked Canzoneri as the twelfth-greatest fighter of all time.
Gerardo González, better known in the boxing world as Kid Gavilan, was a Cuban boxer. Gavilán was the former undisputed world welterweight champion from 1951 to 1954 having simultaneously held the NYSAC, WBA, and The Ring welterweight titles. The Boxing Writers Association of America named him Fighter of the Year in 1953. Gavilán was voted by The Ring magazine as the 26th greatest fighter of the last 80 years. Gavilán was a 1966 inductee to The Ring magazine's Boxing Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 1990.
Edward Patrick "Mickey" Walker was an American professional boxer who held both the world welterweight and world middleweight championships at different points in his career. Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, he was also an avid golfer and would later be recognized as a renowned artist. Walker is widely considered one of the greatest fighters ever, with ESPN ranking him 17th on their list of the 50 Greatest Boxers of All-Time and boxing historian Bert Sugar placing him 11th in his Top 100 Fighters catalogue. Statistical website BoxRec rates Walker as the 6th best boxer to have ended his career at middleweight, while The Ring Magazine founder Nat Fleischer placed him at No. 4 among greatest middleweights of all time. The International Boxing Research Organization ranked Walker as the No. 4 middleweight and the No. 16 pound-for-pound fighter of all-time. Walker was inducted into the Ring magazine Hall of Fame in 1957 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame as a first-class member in 1990.
Giovanni "Nino" Benvenuti is an Italian former professional boxer and actor. He held world titles in two weight classes, having held the undisputed super-welterweight championship from June 1965 to June 1966 and the undisputed middleweight championship twice, from April to September 1967, and from March 1968 to November 1970. As an amateur welterweight boxer he won the Italian title in 1956–60, the European title in 1957 and 1959, and an Olympic gold medal in 1960, receiving the Val Barker trophy for boxing style. In 1961, having an amateur record of 120-0, he turned professional and won world titles in the light-middleweight division and twice in the middleweight division. Near the end of his boxing career he appeared in two Italian films, Sundance and the Kid (1969) and then in Mark Shoots First (1975).
During the 1960s, boxing, like mostly everything else around the world, went through changing times. Notable was the emergence of a young boxer named Cassius Clay, who would, in his own words shock the world, declare himself against war, and change his name to Muhammad Ali.
Lawrence Gene Fullmer was an American professional boxer and World Middleweight champion. He was known as TheUtah Cyclone, The Mormon Mauler, and as "Cyclone" Gene Fullmer.
Reuven "Ruby" Goldstein, the "Jewel of the Ghetto", was an American boxer and prize fight referee. He was a serious World Lightweight Championship contender in the 1920s, and became one of U.S. most trusted and respected boxing referees in the 1950s. During his boxing career, he was trained and managed by Hymie Cantor.
Duilio Loi was an Italian boxer who held the Italian and European lightweight and welterweight titles, as well as the World Junior Welterweight Championship. Loi fought from 1948 to 1962, and retired with a record of 115 wins, 3 losses and 8 draws.
Luis Manuel Rodríguez was a Cuban professional boxer. Known as "El Feo", he began his career in pre-Castro Havana. In Cuba, he twice defeated the ill-fated future welterweight champion Benny Paret. He held the WBA, WBC, and lineal welterweight titles in 1963, and challenged once for the WBA, and WBC middleweight titles in 1969.
Don Jordan was an American boxer born in Los Angeles, California and was the Welterweight Champion of the World from 1958 to 1960. His nickname was ‘Geronimo’. He was of Mexican and African American descent.
Joe Brown was an American professional boxer who won the world lightweight title in 1956, making 11 successful defenses against 10 contenders before losing his crown to Carlos Ortiz in 1962. Brown was a classic boxer and a knockout puncher. Known as "The Creole Clouter" and "Old Bones", he was managed by Lou Viscusi and named The Ring's 'Fighter of the Year' for 1961. Brown was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1978, the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1987 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1996.
Fight of the Week is a live American professional boxing series that aired on ABC-TV from 1960 to 1964.
Johnny Saxton was an American professional boxer in the welterweight (147lb) division. He was born in Newark, New Jersey, learned to box in a Brooklyn orphanage and had an amateur career winning 31 of 33 fights, twice becoming World Welterweight Champion.
Harry Lewis, was an American boxer, generally credited with holding the Welterweight Championship of the World from April 1908 to March 1911. He defeated "Young Joseph", the reigning Welterweight Champion of England in London on June 27, 1910, but was not credited with the British Welterweight championship as the fight was sanctioned as a World, and not English title. Boxing writer Nat Fleischer rated Lewis the sixth-greatest welterweight of all time. He was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2002, and into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2008.
Benny Paret vs. Emile Griffith III was the third meeting between Benny "Kid" Paret and Emile Griffith, for the welterweight boxing championship, held at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday, March 24, 1962. Paret came into the match as the reigning welterweight champion; this would be the deciding rubber match.
Leonard Morrow was an American professional boxer in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, who was active from 1946 to 1954. He was ranked as a top contender in the light heavyweight division from 1948 to 1950. In 1948, he was the number two rated contender by The Ring (magazine) for Freddie Mills' light heavyweight world title. During his career, he defeated hall of fame fighters, champions, and top contenders such as Archie Moore, Jimmy Bivins, Bert Lytell, and Arturo Godoy. In 1989, Archie went on record saying that Morrow was one of only three men that ever really hit him alongside Rocky Marciano and Yvon Durelle.