Benny Paret

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Benny Paret bigraphy, stories - Cuban boxer

Benny Paret : biography

14 March 1937 – 03 April 1962

Benny "the Kid" Paret, born Bernardo Paret (March 14, 1937 – April 3, 1962), born in Santa Clara, Cuba, was a Cuban welterweight boxer. Paret won the world welterweight title twice in the early 1960s and died in 1962 following an unsuccessful attempt to defend the crown in what is considered to be the first ring death witnessed by a national television audience. Paret had a lifetime record of 35 wins (11 knockouts), 12 losses and 3 draws.

In popular culture

Paret’s death was chronicled in a 1962 protest song by folksinger 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.

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.

Paret is also one of many boxers named in the lyrics of Sun Kil Moon’s album Ghosts Of The Great Highway. The album builds several songs around the stories of boxers who died young deaths.

Last fight

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 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. In the twelfth round of the fight Don Dunphy, who was calling the bout for ABC, remarked, "This is probably be the tamest round of the entire fight." Within several seconds Griffith unleashed a barrage of punches that would end the fight. Griffith backed Paret into a corner and let loose a flurry of twenty-nine consecutive punches, including eighteen thrown in the span of six seconds. Paret slumped into the corner and then through the ring ropes while Griffith continued his onslaught, which came to an end when referee Ruby Goldstein finally stopped the fight as Paret was out on his feet. 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. Benny "Kid" Paret was buried at Saint Raymond’s Cemetery in the borough of the Bronx in New York City.

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"). 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 1970s. The fight marked the end of Goldstein’s long and respected career as a referee, as he was unable to find work after that. Ironically enough, a criticism of Goldstein that stemmed from early in his career and followed him throughout was that he was regarded as an official who tended to stop fights too early, as opposed to this fight where he was criticized for not stopping the fight in time to save the fallen Paret.

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 has harbored guilt over the incident over the years is introduced to Paret’s son. The son embraced Griffith and told him he was forgiven.

Boxing career

Paret won the welterweight title for the first time in 1960 by defeating Luis Federico Thompson. In his first defense of the title, Emile Griffith knocked him out in the thirteenth round on April 1, 1961. Paret recaptured the crown on September 30, 1961 in a split-decision over Griffith. 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.