Killer Punch of a Secretly Gay Boxer

Contents:

• KILLER PUNCH OF A SECRETLY GAY BOXERHARD HITTINGWORLD CHAMPN BOXER EE GRIFFH ACCINTALLY KILLED BENNY PARET, HIS OPPONENT A 1962 BOUT. GRIFFH WAS ALSO BLACK AND THE CLOSET—A NEW OPERA EXPLOR HIS DRAMATIC LIFE.EY WILSONUPDATED JUL. 12, 2017 6:31PM EDT / PUBLISHED FEB. 18, 2016 12:01AM EST CHARL HOFF/NY DAILY NEWS ARCHIVE VIA GETTY IMAGJAZZ TMPETER, BANDLEAR, AND POSER TERENCE BLANCHARD TOOK UP BOXG HIS 30S. HE SE LOTS OF PARALLELS BETWEEN BOXG AND JAZZ—THE LIMED REPERTOIRE, THE ART TO , AND IMPROVISG.WHEN BLANCHARD’S BOXG TRAER, FORMER HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPN MICHAEL BENTT, TOLD HIM ABOUT EE GRIFFH, BLANCHARD WAS PTIVATED BY THE STORY OF THE WORLD WELTER- AND MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPN WHO ACCINTALLY KILLED AN OPPONENT, BENNY PARET, THE RG DURG A 1962 MATCH, HTG HIM 17 TIM THE LAST ROUND. PARET WENT TO THE HOSPAL A A AND DIED 10 DAYS LATER.THE CINT HNTED GRIFFH, BEG A FG MOMENT HIS REER. 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.” GRIFFH WAS OM THE U. S. VIRG ISLANDS, AND ALREADY STGGLED AS A BLACK MAN AMERIN, BLANCHARD SAID—AND ALONG WH THAT HE FACED THE DISCRIMATN THAT LOVG MEN BROUGHT. “I REMEMBER WHEN I WON MY FIRST GRAMMY, WHEN THEY LLED MY NAME, I LOOKED TO MY WIFE AND GAVE HER A HUG,” BLANCHARD SAID. “EE ULDN’T CELEBRATE OPENLY WH SOMEONE HE LOVED, AND WE SHOULD ALL BE WELL PAST ALL THAT KD OF TOLERANCE.”WANTG TO LEARN MORE ABOUT GRIFFH, BLANCHARD READ RON ROSS’ BGRAPHY OF HIM, NE... TEN... AND OUT! HE FOUND A QUOTE THAT STCK HIM: “I KEEP THKG HOW STRANGE IS ... I KILL A MAN AND MOST PEOPLE UNRSTAND AND FIVE ME. HOWEVER, I LOVE A MAN AND TO SO MANY PEOPLE THIS IS AN UNFIVABLE S.”TO BLANCHARD, THIS WAS TRAGILLY STILL RELEVANT. SO WHEN THE OPERA THEATER OF SAT LOUIS LLED WANTG HIM TO WRE AN OPER­A—A FIRST FOR THE MAN WHO’S DONE SR FOR ABOUT 50 MOVI, CLUDG ALL OF SPIKE LEE’S SCE 1991’S JUNGLE FEVER—HE HAD A SUBJECT MD. THEY SUGGTED SOMETHG ABOUT HURRINE KATRA, BUT BLANCHARD HAD A DIFFERENT IA—SOMETHG BASED ON GRIFFH’S LIFE.HE WROTE CHAMPN: AN OPERA JAZZ, WHICH HAS S WT COAST PREMIERE AT THE SF JAZZ CENTER (WHERE BLANCHARD IS A RINT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR) ON FEB. 19, STAGED WH A JAZZ TR, ORCHTRA, AND GOSPEL CHOS.RANDALL KLE, THE EXECUTIVE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF SF JAZZ, HAD HEARD OF GRIFFH. WHEN HE WAS A LTLE BOY, HE AND HIS BROTHERS ED TO WATCH GRIFFH BOX ON TV. KLE DIDN’T SEE THE FIGHT WHERE PARET WAS KILLED, BUT HE REMEMBERS HEARG ABOUT . “HE WAS WORLD FAMO,” KLE SAID ABOUT GRIFFH. “IT WAS NATNAL NEWS. I DIDN’T KNOW THE FULL STORY—THAT AT THE WEIGH-, HE’D LLED HIM A FAGGOT.”WATCHG GRIFFH BOX MA A BIG IMPRSN ON HIM, KLE SAYS.“HE WAS A BETIFUL GUY, THIS ELEGANT HUMAN BEG. THERE WAS THIS MAGIC THG ABOUT HIM,” KLE SAID. “IT’S A GREAT TRAGEDY THAT THIS ELEGANT MAN WHO WAS PART OF THE TOUGHT ASPECT OF OUR SOCIETY—A WORLD CHAMPN BOXER—ULDN’T BE HIMSELF. 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. BENTT, WHOSE PARENTS WERE OM JAMAI, SAYS WHEN HE HEARD ABOUT GRIFFH, WAS THE NTEXT OF “THAT FUCKG FAGGOT.” HE MET HIM AT GLEASON’S GYM NEW YORK, AND SAID GRIFFH WAS HELPFUL AND OPEN, OFFERG HIM TIPS ON FIGHTG. BENTT ME TO ADMIRE GRIFFH FOR LIVG HIS LIFE HIS OWN WAY.“THE OLR I GOT, THE MORE I WAS LIKE, ‘THAT WAS REALLY BOLD OF THIS GUY, MAN,’” HE SAID. “I THOUGHT THAT WAS IMPRSIVE AND VERY URAGEO. HE WAS BLACK AND AN IMMIGRANT, SO HE WAS ALREADY AN OUTSIR. HE ACCEPTED HIS ATTRACTN TO MEN. I THK FUELED HIM—BOXERS FIGHT BEE THEY’RE VICTIMS AT SOME POT THEIR LIV. EE WAS HIGHLY SENSIVE, AND TO HAVE ED THE ATH OF ANOTHER FIGHTER—THAT HNTED HIM THE RT OF HIS LIFE.”GRIFFH DREAMED ABOUT PARET AND WOULD SEE AN IMAGE OF HIM THE MIRROR WHEN HE WAS SHAVG, ROSS, A FORMER BOXER WHO WROTE GRIFFH’S BGRAPHY, SAID. ROSS ADD THAT GRIFFH WAS TURNED AWAY WHEN HE TRIED TO VIS PARET THE HOSPAL.ROSS, WHO LIVED NEAR GRIFFH ON LONG ISLAND, SAYS WHEN HE WAS WRG THE BOOK, THE TWO BEME GOOD IENDS, WH GRIFFH G BY HIS HOE AND PLAYG RDS WH HIS CHILDREN, NOW GROWN.ROSS WAS ALSO AT THE ’62 BOUT AT MADISON SQUARE GARN WHEN GRIFFH RNERED PARET THE LAST ROUND, HTG HIM UNTIL HE SLID DOWN THE ROP ONTO THE FLOOR, AND HE REMEMBERS WELL.“IT WAS A TERRIBLE SCENE TO OBSERVE,” HE SAID. “I KNEW BENNY WAS BADLY HURT, AND TO SEE HIM ON THE NVAS LIKE THAT WAS AWFUL. THE CROWD WAS SHOCKED, WAG TO SEE IF BENNY WAS GOG TO GET UP. THEY WENT SILENT. IT REALLY AFFECTED BOXG. THEY TALKED ABOUT BANNG FOR A WHILE, AND THEY KEPT OFF TV FOR A LONG TIME AFTER THAT.”GRIFFH TOLD ROSS THAT HE MEANT TO KNOCK PARET OUT, BUT NEVER WANTED TO PERMANENTLY HURT HIM. AFTER PARET’S ATH, GRIFFH STOPPED FIGHTG FOR A WHILE. RECEIVG LETTERS OM OTHERS, SUCH AS TCK DRIVERS, WHO HAD ACCINTALLY KILLED SOMEONE, HELPED HIM ENORMOLY, AND HE WENT BACK TO THE SPORT, RETIRG 1977.NILE PAIEMENT, THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF OPERA PARALLèLE, WHICH IS LLABORATG ON CHAMPN WH SF JAZZ, SAYS GRIFFH’S STORY IS PERFECT FOR OPERA, WHERE N ENTHRALL DIENC, AND NOT TIMIDATE THEM WH THE MIL LANGUAGE.FOR BLANCHARD, GRIFFH’S STORY IS UNIVERSAL BEE ALS WH BEG MISUNRSTOOD AND JUDGED.“LOOK AT THE YOUNG AIN AMERIN MEN GETTG KILLED BY THE POLICE, JUDGED SOLELY ON THE LOR OF THEIR SK,” HE SAID. “LOOK AT WOMEN STILL BEG JUDGED ON THEIR GENR AND ALG WH A PAY EQUY GAP.”CHAMPN EXAM HOW HUMAN BEGS TREAT EACH OTHER, SAYS BENTT, WHO IS NOW AN ACTOR.“IT’S POIGNANT MATERIAL AND RELEVANT BEE STILL HAPPENS—WE GET LABELED EVERY DAY, AND TOLD WHAT WE SHOULD HATE AND LOVE,” HE SAID. “EE HAD TO FIGHT THAT JOURNEY BY HIMSELF. JUDGMENT MAK FEEL BETTER ABOUT OURSELV, AND THAT’S WHAT THE OPERA GETS ACROSS SO BRILLIANTLY. IT POTS A FGER AT .” EY WILSON
• ORLANDO CZ: THE GAY BOXER WHO IS BREAKG BARRIERS
• BOXER GAYS VS. GAY BOXERS

KILLER PUNCH OF A SECRETLY GAY BOXERHARD HITTINGWORLD CHAMPN BOXER EE GRIFFH ACCINTALLY KILLED BENNY PARET, HIS OPPONENT A 1962 BOUT. GRIFFH WAS ALSO BLACK AND THE CLOSET—A NEW OPERA EXPLOR HIS DRAMATIC LIFE.EY WILSONUPDATED JUL. 12, 2017 6:31PM EDT / PUBLISHED FEB. 18, 2016 12:01AM EST CHARL HOFF/NY DAILY NEWS ARCHIVE VIA GETTY IMAGJAZZ TMPETER, BANDLEAR, AND POSER TERENCE BLANCHARD TOOK UP BOXG HIS 30S. HE SE LOTS OF PARALLELS BETWEEN BOXG AND JAZZ—THE LIMED REPERTOIRE, THE ART TO , AND IMPROVISG.WHEN BLANCHARD’S BOXG TRAER, FORMER HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPN MICHAEL BENTT, TOLD HIM ABOUT EE GRIFFH, BLANCHARD WAS PTIVATED BY THE STORY OF THE WORLD WELTER- AND MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPN WHO ACCINTALLY KILLED AN OPPONENT, BENNY PARET, THE RG DURG A 1962 MATCH, HTG HIM 17 TIM THE LAST ROUND. PARET WENT TO THE HOSPAL A A AND DIED 10 DAYS LATER.THE CINT HNTED GRIFFH, BEG A FG MOMENT HIS REER. 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.” GRIFFH WAS OM THE U. S. VIRG ISLANDS, AND ALREADY STGGLED AS A BLACK MAN AMERIN, BLANCHARD SAID—AND ALONG WH THAT HE FACED THE DISCRIMATN THAT LOVG MEN BROUGHT. “I REMEMBER WHEN I WON MY FIRST GRAMMY, WHEN THEY LLED MY NAME, I LOOKED TO MY WIFE AND GAVE HER A HUG,” BLANCHARD SAID. “EE ULDN’T CELEBRATE OPENLY WH SOMEONE HE LOVED, AND WE SHOULD ALL BE WELL PAST ALL THAT KD OF TOLERANCE.”WANTG TO LEARN MORE ABOUT GRIFFH, BLANCHARD READ RON ROSS’ BGRAPHY OF HIM, NE... TEN... AND OUT! HE FOUND A QUOTE THAT STCK HIM: “I KEEP THKG HOW STRANGE IS ... I KILL A MAN AND MOST PEOPLE UNRSTAND AND FIVE ME. HOWEVER, I LOVE A MAN AND TO SO MANY PEOPLE THIS IS AN UNFIVABLE S.”TO BLANCHARD, THIS WAS TRAGILLY STILL RELEVANT. SO WHEN THE OPERA THEATER OF SAT LOUIS LLED WANTG HIM TO WRE AN OPER­A—A FIRST FOR THE MAN WHO’S DONE SR FOR ABOUT 50 MOVI, CLUDG ALL OF SPIKE LEE’S SCE 1991’S JUNGLE FEVER—HE HAD A SUBJECT MD. THEY SUGGTED SOMETHG ABOUT HURRINE KATRA, BUT BLANCHARD HAD A DIFFERENT IA—SOMETHG BASED ON GRIFFH’S LIFE.HE WROTE CHAMPN: AN OPERA JAZZ, WHICH HAS S WT COAST PREMIERE AT THE SF JAZZ CENTER (WHERE BLANCHARD IS A RINT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR) ON FEB. 19, STAGED WH A JAZZ TR, ORCHTRA, AND GOSPEL CHOS.RANDALL KLE, THE EXECUTIVE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF SF JAZZ, HAD HEARD OF GRIFFH. WHEN HE WAS A LTLE BOY, HE AND HIS BROTHERS ED TO WATCH GRIFFH BOX ON TV. KLE DIDN’T SEE THE FIGHT WHERE PARET WAS KILLED, BUT HE REMEMBERS HEARG ABOUT . “HE WAS WORLD FAMO,” KLE SAID ABOUT GRIFFH. “IT WAS NATNAL NEWS. I DIDN’T KNOW THE FULL STORY—THAT AT THE WEIGH-, HE’D LLED HIM A FAGGOT.”WATCHG GRIFFH BOX MA A BIG IMPRSN ON HIM, KLE SAYS.“HE WAS A BETIFUL GUY, THIS ELEGANT HUMAN BEG. THERE WAS THIS MAGIC THG ABOUT HIM,” KLE SAID. “IT’S A GREAT TRAGEDY THAT THIS ELEGANT MAN WHO WAS PART OF THE TOUGHT ASPECT OF OUR SOCIETY—A WORLD CHAMPN BOXER—ULDN’T BE HIMSELF. 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. BENTT, WHOSE PARENTS WERE OM JAMAI, SAYS WHEN HE HEARD ABOUT GRIFFH, WAS THE NTEXT OF “THAT FUCKG FAGGOT.” HE MET HIM AT GLEASON’S GYM NEW YORK, AND SAID GRIFFH WAS HELPFUL AND OPEN, OFFERG HIM TIPS ON FIGHTG. BENTT ME TO ADMIRE GRIFFH FOR LIVG HIS LIFE HIS OWN WAY.“THE OLR I GOT, THE MORE I WAS LIKE, ‘THAT WAS REALLY BOLD OF THIS GUY, MAN,’” HE SAID. “I THOUGHT THAT WAS IMPRSIVE AND VERY URAGEO. HE WAS BLACK AND AN IMMIGRANT, SO HE WAS ALREADY AN OUTSIR. HE ACCEPTED HIS ATTRACTN TO MEN. I THK FUELED HIM—BOXERS FIGHT BEE THEY’RE VICTIMS AT SOME POT THEIR LIV. EE WAS HIGHLY SENSIVE, AND TO HAVE ED THE ATH OF ANOTHER FIGHTER—THAT HNTED HIM THE RT OF HIS LIFE.”GRIFFH DREAMED ABOUT PARET AND WOULD SEE AN IMAGE OF HIM THE MIRROR WHEN HE WAS SHAVG, ROSS, A FORMER BOXER WHO WROTE GRIFFH’S BGRAPHY, SAID. ROSS ADD THAT GRIFFH WAS TURNED AWAY WHEN HE TRIED TO VIS PARET THE HOSPAL.ROSS, WHO LIVED NEAR GRIFFH ON LONG ISLAND, SAYS WHEN HE WAS WRG THE BOOK, THE TWO BEME GOOD IENDS, WH GRIFFH G BY HIS HOE AND PLAYG RDS WH HIS CHILDREN, NOW GROWN.ROSS WAS ALSO AT THE ’62 BOUT AT MADISON SQUARE GARN WHEN GRIFFH RNERED PARET THE LAST ROUND, HTG HIM UNTIL HE SLID DOWN THE ROP ONTO THE FLOOR, AND HE REMEMBERS WELL.“IT WAS A TERRIBLE SCENE TO OBSERVE,” HE SAID. “I KNEW BENNY WAS BADLY HURT, AND TO SEE HIM ON THE NVAS LIKE THAT WAS AWFUL. THE CROWD WAS SHOCKED, WAG TO SEE IF BENNY WAS GOG TO GET UP. THEY WENT SILENT. IT REALLY AFFECTED BOXG. THEY TALKED ABOUT BANNG FOR A WHILE, AND THEY KEPT OFF TV FOR A LONG TIME AFTER THAT.”GRIFFH TOLD ROSS THAT HE MEANT TO KNOCK PARET OUT, BUT NEVER WANTED TO PERMANENTLY HURT HIM. AFTER PARET’S ATH, GRIFFH STOPPED FIGHTG FOR A WHILE. RECEIVG LETTERS OM OTHERS, SUCH AS TCK DRIVERS, WHO HAD ACCINTALLY KILLED SOMEONE, HELPED HIM ENORMOLY, AND HE WENT BACK TO THE SPORT, RETIRG 1977.NILE PAIEMENT, THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF OPERA PARALLèLE, WHICH IS LLABORATG ON CHAMPN WH SF JAZZ, SAYS GRIFFH’S STORY IS PERFECT FOR OPERA, WHERE N ENTHRALL DIENC, AND NOT TIMIDATE THEM WH THE MIL LANGUAGE.FOR BLANCHARD, GRIFFH’S STORY IS UNIVERSAL BEE ALS WH BEG MISUNRSTOOD AND JUDGED.“LOOK AT THE YOUNG AIN AMERIN MEN GETTG KILLED BY THE POLICE, JUDGED SOLELY ON THE LOR OF THEIR SK,” HE SAID. “LOOK AT WOMEN STILL BEG JUDGED ON THEIR GENR AND ALG WH A PAY EQUY GAP.”CHAMPN EXAM HOW HUMAN BEGS TREAT EACH OTHER, SAYS BENTT, WHO IS NOW AN ACTOR.“IT’S POIGNANT MATERIAL AND RELEVANT BEE STILL HAPPENS—WE GET LABELED EVERY DAY, AND TOLD WHAT WE SHOULD HATE AND LOVE,” HE SAID. “EE HAD TO FIGHT THAT JOURNEY BY HIMSELF. JUDGMENT MAK FEEL BETTER ABOUT OURSELV, AND THAT’S WHAT THE OPERA GETS ACROSS SO BRILLIANTLY. IT POTS A FGER AT .” EY WILSON

What Do You Call A Gay Boxer? 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 was gay and like all boxers, at all levels, he was judged on whether he uld fight and not on his sexual preferenc; the Pounr, who wore pk, was a nice guy but not much of a fighter and nobody held that agast Saturday Las Vegas, Orlando Cz, which is his real name, will bee the first openly gay boxer to w a world tle if he n overe the odds and beat Orlando Salido for the vant WBO featherweight tle.

Cz announced he was gay last year, never lost his promoter, never lost his rankg and never lost a sgle iend om si the ugly bs of boxg. "Cz fought for Puerto Ri at the Sydney Olympics 2000 and has been a ge ntenr for a uple of years and gay for a lot longer.

ORLANDO CZ: THE GAY BOXER WHO IS BREAKG BARRIERS

"I'm a boxer first, I want to be a world champn and remembered that way and not as a gay boxer, " he the Neti, Christy Mart, another boxg pneer, said somethg siar about women the sport: "I fight for Christy Mart and not for women's rights to box. " Mart, who has sce survived a murr attempt when her hband shot and knifed her, is now retired and volved a gay relatnship.

"Boxg n be a macho sport and I have heard some gay slurs, " says Cz. "However, Cz, who is 32, is not a mpaigner for gay rights jt yet and he has polely refed all attempts to csa on behalf of other gay athlet, men like him stgglg to e to terms wh tellg the people they pete wh, or for, that they are gay. However, private he has obvly spoken to other boxers facg the same dilemma he did last has received a lot of media attentn this week (Getty) (Getty Imag)"Perhaps there are other gay boxers and perhaps they are too sred to say anythg, " Cz says.

" Hopefully, there will not be a reverse wch-hunt boxg, like there is other sports, where people on the outsi bee fixated on outg more gay athlet; the people boxg simply don't re.

BOXER GAYS VS. GAY BOXERS

"Gay, so what?