Word: griffith
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...best fighter, pound for pound, in the world-the perfect picture of destruction with his 42-in. chest, 26-in. waist, and smoothly lethal muscles. He can hit as hard as a drop hammer, and his hands are quick enough to pluck a fly in midair. But Welterweight Emile Griffith, 26, is a reluctant champion...
...never wanted to be a fighter," he says. "I wanted to be a baseball player. This is a funny business. The guy you're hitting hasn't done anything to you, but you have to hit him anyway." Three years ago, Griffith lost his temper in the ring-when Benny Paret noted Emile's tight pants and his singsong Virgin Islands speech and questioned his masculinity. Paret died of brain injuries in that fight, and Griffith has brooded ever since over the massacre. "I try to think it was fate," he says. "I try real hard...
...Lazy!" The ghost of Benny Paret obviously was still with Champion Griffith last week. Madison Square Garden was packed with fans from Spanish Harlem to watch Griffith defend his crown against Challenger José Stable and Puerto Rico's José Torres battle Willie Pastrano for the light-heavyweight championship in a rare doubleheader. Like Paret, Stable was a Cuban, and the chants started-"Sta-ble! Stable! Sta-ble!"-as soon as the challenger clambered into the ring. Emile got mostly boos except from ringside, where Mama Emelda Griffith and Cousin Bernie led the cheers. "The best, the best...
Time after time a single punch would have put the Cuban down for the count. Each time Griffith held back-as if afraid of his own strength. "You're lazy!" screamed Manager Gil Clancy. "Fight! Move! Fight!" Sure, Griffith was piling up points, but Clancy was still not satisfied. "You never know about officials," he said darkly. Once Stable threw a punch after the bell, and for an instant Emile's face contorted with rage -but then he trotted meekly to his corner. The referee scored it 11-4; the other two officials made it unanimous...
...Franklin? At last the money was right: his night's work earned Griffith $70,000. He needed every penny. At 26, he supports his mother, two cousins, three brothers, four sisters and five nieces, all of whom live in a 10½-room, $50,000 house in Queens that Emile bought four years ago. Of course that doesn't leave room for Griffith, so he rents an apartment in New Jersey. He cheerfully pays all the bills, and he telephones home at least once a day -even from places like Rome, Vienna and Hawaii. "I want to know...