MovieChat Forums > Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story Discussion > Interesting Story

Interesting Story

posted 19 years ago by Mr_Vai
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Paret teased Griffith about being a moricone and that ticked off Griffith and Emile gave him a beating which killed Paret. Then as it turns out, Griffith was in fact gay. HOWEVER, I think too much is played into the whole "gay" taunt. Paret got killed because he was a washed up fighter that had no business being in the ring with Griffith. Moreover, a moronic ref let the beating go way too long. Heck, Paret's head is outside of the ring, he takes 25 straight punches with no response. The whole gay thing is irrelevant. A sleazy manager and a slow ref are the main storylines.

"There's the way it ought to be, and there's the way it is."

[–] angelogabe 19 years ago

Bullcrap. Griffith was intent on reducing Paret's head to a bloody pulp for being called a 'maricon', which, in Spanish, literally means 'sissy' or 'cry baby'. He just didn't think at the time that the severe beating would eventually kill him. Sure, we all know that boxing is one of the most extreme contact sports around, and sometimes there are tragic consequences. But to allow for a defenseless opponent to be be mercilessly and repeatedly struck while tangled against the ropes is not supposed to be part of the sport and Griffith knows this, which is why he still feels remorse over Paret's death (and with good reason too, for under different circumstances his actions would have landed him in jail with charges of manslaughter). True, the killing of Benny "The Kid" Paret may not have been intentional, but it certainly wasn't accidental either.