Ee Griffh, who famoly killed fellow boxer after gay slur, di at 75 - CBS News

Contents:

• EE GRIFFH, WHO FAMOLY KILLED FELLOW BOXER AFTER GAY SLUR, DI AT 75
• BOXER EE GRIFFH OUT AS GAY
• KILLER PUNCH OF A SECRETLY GAY BOXER
• EE GRIFFH: A GAY BOXER’S TRIUMPHS AND SPAIRS
• EE GRIFFH: A GAY BOXER’S TRIUMPHS AND SPAIRS
• EE GRIFFH GAY BOXER.
• NEW OPERA TELLS STORY OF GAY BOXER EE GRIFFH
• EE GRIFFH: BOXER KILLED OPPONENT WHO LLED HIM GAY
• THE NIGHT BOXER EE GRIFFH ANSWERED GAY TNTS WH A ADLY RTEGE OF PUNCH
• HERE'S THE DEADLY FIGHT THAT HNTED GAY BOXER EE GRIFFH
• BOXG TRAGEDY SPIR OPERA ABOUT GAY BOXER

EE GRIFFH, WHO FAMOLY KILLED FELLOW BOXER AFTER GAY SLUR, DI AT 75

Sports Illtrated reported 2005 that Griffh may have been fueled by an anti-gay slur directed at him by Paret durg the weigh-. Over the years, books and terviews, Griffh scribed himself at var tim as straight, gay and bisexual.

Image this -- a gay man beg one of the greatt profsnal boxers the history of the sport. Ee Griffh, a six-time world champn and charter member of the Internatnal Boxg Hall of Fame, is a homosexual.

” Griffh, 70, has led a turbulent life, wh his homosexualy beg a nstant backdrop. He has basilly been out for years (he once said he wanted to be the marshal the New York gay rights para), but this book he discs publicly for the first time.

BOXER EE GRIFFH OUT AS GAY

In the new book, Griffh has this sad but te statement to make about his life as a gay man:.

KILLER PUNCH OF A SECRETLY GAY BOXER

AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTA Prizefighter’s Double Life, at Madison Square Garn and at StonewallA new opera productn at the Met explor the life and tragic reer of the gay boxer Ee Griffh, a welterweight champn. Photographs om the personal llectn of Willson Lee Henrson, on the right of the bottom and far right imag, who was iends wh Ee Griffh, Vazquez for The New York TimIn the 1960s, Ee Griffh was a boxg star, known for his speed and punchg power, wh a regular prence at Madison Square neighborhoods near the Garn, he let his other si show, one of flashy outfs and unapologetic swagger, where he equented his favore gay bars and Griffh kept his two worlds separate.

“He was livg a double life, two liv, night and day, ” said Willson Lee Henrson, a gay rights activist who said he met Mr. Griffh early 1969 at the Stonewall Inn, the famo gay bar Greenwich Village, several months before a police raid touched off the Stonewall Rebelln and the morn gay rights boxer, who died 2013 at 75 om kidney failure and plitns of mentia, was known at the Stonewall for his open shirts and gold chas.

Griffh unleashed a fatal barrage of punch the 12th round agast an opponent who had tnted him wh a homophobic slur. Griffh never shied away om equentg gay clubs.

EE GRIFFH: A GAY BOXER’S TRIUMPHS AND SPAIRS

That ma him a source of enarment and pri for the gay muny pecially as police raids, prsure and harassment ntued the late 1960s, said Mr. “He was a pneer gay rights behd the scen but was never acknowledged for , ” Mr. “He was never given cred by the gay muny or the sports muny, so he missed out on both.

“In the ‘60s, beg gay wasn’t the most popular thg, and beg gay boxg culture was like sacrilege, ” said Michael Bentt, 58, a former world heavyweight champn and an actor who was iendly wh Mr. “I mentned that there was this gay boxer who was an outst many muni and was loved other muni, ” said Mr.

Griffh a mockg lisp and lled him “maricón, ” a Spanish anti-gay slur that enraged Mr. ”A boxer wh style and panache‘He went to the nightclubs, drag clubs, gay bars and he took all ’Mr. Griffh equented gay bars and clubs midtown like L Jard, the Gild Grape and Better Days.

EE GRIFFH: A GAY BOXER’S TRIUMPHS AND SPAIRS

“He went to the nightclubs, drag clubs, gay bars and he took all , ” said Jam Robson, the opera’s director. Griffh told The Tim “He was a pneer gay rights behd the scen but was never acknowledged for , ” said Mr. ”The beatg and his drkg hastened his cle, leavg the chiseled champ who was once the toast of the gay clubs now livg a cluttered efficiency apartment on Long Island wh his trophi and champnship belts storage bags.

Griffh was gay, and at the weigh- before the fight, Paret had tnted him, llg him a “marin, ” a rogatory Spanish term, siar to “faggot. He was a black man and an unrdog, and then he was hangg out gay bars and gettg beaten up by thugs.

EE GRIFFH GAY BOXER.

”Bentt, the boxer who traed Blanchard, says that Caribbean society is particularly macho and homophobic. “He didn’t like to be labeled gay and still felt the world was not ready for Ee Griffh. Griffh knocked out Paret the 13th round of their April 1961 bout, and Paret rpond wh a spl-cisn triumph five months set the stage for their third bout, at Madison Square Garn March 1962, when Paret flamed Griffh by sultg him wh a slur, which Sports Illtrated scribed as “gutter Spanish for homosexual.

NEW OPERA TELLS STORY OF GAY BOXER EE GRIFFH

”Outsi a New York gay bar 1992, Griffh was severely beaten by at least five men who mugged him wh bats and chas, leadg him to a later life of mentia, Ross said. "Champn" tells the story of Ee Griffh, a closeted gay boxer an era when gay people were outsts, who ris om obscury to bee world champn, and one of the great tragedi sports history, kills his homophobic archrival the rg.

EE GRIFFH: BOXER KILLED OPPONENT WHO LLED HIM GAY

Boxg, like most areas of life, has had s share of gay men who have had ltle optn but to keep their sexualy gno. Griffh died 2013, a year after the Puerto Rin world tle challenger Orlando Cz beme the first-ever profsnal boxer to e out as gay while still active – a stand appld even boxg circl, and then fotten.

Ee Griffh GAY Boxer.

THE NIGHT BOXER EE GRIFFH ANSWERED GAY TNTS WH A ADLY RTEGE OF PUNCH

I saw rg of fire on a and I am pretty much sure he is gay. The show how he enjoyed gog to gay bars kda remds you of lennox lewis how alot of fighters were sayg he is gay, they said the same about ee he loved his momma jt like or jt a mommas boy, do you thk if a fighter openly admted to beg gay would affect his reer?

Giv a whole knew meang to Gay bashg(no pun tend).

HERE'S THE DEADLY FIGHT THAT HNTED GAY BOXER EE GRIFFH

Gay boxer? Image if the p pullg you over was gay or the clerk at the store or.... Yeah, beg openly gay would stigmatize a fighter or basketball player or football player rultg them beg ostracized.

Louis, tells the story of Griffh, who was gay but did not e out until 2008.

BOXG TRAGEDY SPIR OPERA ABOUT GAY BOXER

Before that life-changg televised fight, a room full of prs and officials, Paret had mocked Griffh wh a rogatory term for homosexual. Years later, Griffh's sexualy was revealed after he was nearly killed by a gang outsi a gay bar New York.

As a fighter and a gay man. Griffh is a largely unknown figure to most gays and lbians, yet he is an historic athlete who was at the top of his sport when beg out was impossible. Griffh knocked out his opponent the 12th round, but Paret fell to a a and later died om his than 40 years on, 2005, the magaze Sports Illtrated reported that Griffh may have been revved up by a homophobic slight directed at him by Paret durg the weigh- for a prev enunter the rg.

Acrdg to the magaze, Paret had “swished his limp wrist and hissed that word, marin [a pejorative Spanish term for homosexual]” make matters worse, Paret had won that earlier bout on a ntroversial spl cisn, regag the welterweight crown that Griffh had taken om him Miami April 1961.