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Benny 'Kid' Paret boxing death...
Benny 'Kid' Paret boxing death...
Item # 703416
April 03, 1962
THE DETROIT NEWS, April 3, 1962
* Benny "Kid" Paret last fight - death
* Welterweight World boxing championship
* vs. champion boxer Emile Griffith
The front page has a one column heading: "Kid Paret Succumbs to Injuries" with subhead and photo. (see images)
Complete with 40+ pages, some small binding holes along the spine, small library stamp within the masthead, small tape mend along the right margins, generally very nice.
wikipedia notes: Benny Paret's third fight against Emile Griffith occurred on March 24, 1962 at Madison Square Garden and was televised live by NBC. 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, 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.
The last fight was the subject of 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 1970’s. Goldstein would never be the referee for a fight again as a result of the controversy from this fight.
Category: The 20th Century
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