Gay boxer Mart Stark faced ath twice, and survived - Outsports

Contents:

• EE GRIFFH, WHO FAMOLY KILLED FELLOW BOXER AFTER GAY SLUR, DI AT 75
• KILLER PUNCH OF A SECRETLY GAY BOXER
• EE GRIFFH: BOXER KILLED OPPONENT WHO LLED HIM GAY
• THIS GAY BOXER FACED ATH TWICE, AND ME OUT SWGG ON THE OTHER SI
• WHAT ’S LIKE BEG AN OPENLY GAY BOXER, 3 TERRIBLE TWEETS
• ORLANDO CZ: THE GAY BOXER WHO IS BREAKG BARRIERS
• ORLANDO CZ FIGHTS TO BEE BOXG’S FIRST OPENLY GAY CHAMPN

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.

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.

”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.

KILLER PUNCH OF A SECRETLY GAY BOXER

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.

”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. 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.

EE GRIFFH: BOXER KILLED OPPONENT WHO LLED HIM GAY

“I thk we jt saw a gay murr, ” someone murmured to Pete Hal, verg the fight for the New York Post.

Although Griffh, wh his flutg, high-pched voice and effemate manner, had been the subject of mours for years, would have been unthkable for him to e out as gay the ultra-macho world of profsnal boxg the early 1960s. In 1992 he was vicly beaten and almost killed on a New York street after leavg a gay bar, but was never clear if the attack had been motivated by Alphonse Griffh was born on Febary 3, 1938 on St Thomas the Amerin Virg Islands, one of eight children, and beme a boxer by accint.

But I don't like that word: homosexual, gay or faggot.

THIS GAY BOXER FACED ATH TWICE, AND ME OUT SWGG ON THE OTHER SI

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.

WHAT ’S LIKE BEG AN OPENLY GAY BOXER, 3 TERRIBLE TWEETS

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.

ORLANDO CZ: THE GAY BOXER WHO IS BREAKG BARRIERS

Griffh a mockg lisp and lled him “maricón, ” a Spanish anti-gay slur that enraged Mr.

ORLANDO CZ FIGHTS TO BEE BOXG’S FIRST OPENLY GAY CHAMPN

”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. “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. On this week’s edn of Outsports’ “The Sports Kiki, ” I spoke wh Stark about his spirg journey, and visn for his groundbreakg event, the World Gay Boxg Champnships.

That’s the kd of experience Stark wants to provi 200-some-odd athlet at the World Gay Boxg Champnships. Why don’t I create an anizatn lled the World Gay Boxg Champnships and hold a tournament for the LGBTQIA+ muny and our alli, and really dispt homophobia, transphobia, and brg the boxg muny together for the love of the sport.