Emile Griffith boxed more title fight rounds than any man in history at 339. Born in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, he first won the welterweight title in 1960 after knocking out Benny Paret. What Griffith is best known for is what happened in a subsequent rematch against Paret. In the twelfth round, Griffith backed Paret into a corner and punched until the ref called the fight. Paret lapsed into a coma and died ten days later.
The tragedy surrounding that fight and how the lives of Griffith and the Paret family were affected is the subject of Ring Of Fire. The documentary, which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, will air on USA Network on April 20th. The film explores the reason behind Griffith’s pummeling of Paret. Paret publicly questioned Griffith’s sexuality and called him a maricon, the Spanish word for “faggot.”
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