Emile Alphonse Griffith was a World Champion boxer in the welterweight, junior middleweight, and middleweight classes. Griffith was best known for his widely publicized 1962 title match with Benny “The Kid” Paret.
Griffith and Paret had fought in the past, though their previous bouts were always rife with tension. Before their third and final match, Paret antagonized
Griffith by touching his buttocks and using homophobic slurs. Emile
won the match by knockout — though after not regaining consciousness,
Paret was taken to the hospital. As soon as Griffith realized the
severity of his opponent's condition, he was gripped by deep remorse
and sadness, and attempted to visit Paret in the hospital, but was
unable to gain entry to his room. Unfortunately, Paret died 10 days
later, never having woken up after the match. Griffith felt guilty
about Paret's death, and reportedly had nightmares for close to four
decades.
Griffith continued to compete until his
retirement in 1977, but he never performed as well after
Paret's death. Griffith has since come forward and admitted that
he was gentler with his opponents after the incident in 1962, as he
was terrified of killing someone else in the ring. He used that trauma as a jumping-off point to talk about the hate he was receiving about other aspects of his life; namely, his sexuality.
I kill a man and most people forgive me. However, I love a man and many say this makes me an evil person.[1]
Griffith lived in a time and place when being queer could land someone in jail, so while reporters and publications could allude to his bisexuality, none would publish any stories on it. Griffith himself was always open about his sexuality and was renowned for frequenting queer bars without caring who saw him.
In 1992, Griffith was viciously beaten and almost killed on a New York City street after leaving a queer bar near the Port Authority Bus Terminal, and he spent four months in the hospital after the attack.[2]
While Griffith never actually “came out”, he stated in a 2005 interview with Sports Illustrated,
I don’t know what I am. I love men and women the same, but if you ask me which is better... I like women.[3]