Boxing champ Emile Griffith acknowledges he's gay

The boxing world has long traded rumors and gossip that six-time champion Emile Griffith is a homosexual. Now a book that was written with Griffith's approval acknowledges it as fact.

Ron Ross has written Nine ... Ten ... And Out! The Two Worlds of Emile Griffith. Newsday's Robert Cassidy reviews it today on his Neutral Corner blog, and offers this telling quote from the 70-year-old fighter who in 1963 pummeled Benny "Kid" Paret to death in the ring:

"I keep thinking how strange it is ... I kill a man and most people understand and forgive me. However, I love a man, and to so many people this is an unforgivable sin; this makes me an evil person. So, even though I never went to jail, I have been in prison almost all my life."

http://blogs.usatoday.com/gameon/2008/05/boxing-champ-em.html

no translation necessary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emile_Griffith#Pro_career

Sports Illustrated reported in its April 18, 2005, edition that Griffith's rage may have been fueled by an anti-gay slur directed at him by Paret during the weigh-in. Paret reportedly called his opponent a maricón, the Spanish equivalent of "faggot"; Griffith, whose sexual orientation has been questioned, nearly went after him on the spot and had to be restrained. The slur was ignored by the media at the time....

Griffith trivia: He is said to have hung out at the Journal Square Pub in Jersey City, also the second home during the mid-'90s of a fellow who would later become known as KamaAina. Alas, I never ran into him, probably because of this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emile_Griffith#Assault

In 1992, Griffith was viciously beaten and almost killed on a New York City street, after leaving a gay bar. Today, Griffith requires full time care and suffers from pugilistic dementia.

:(

A number of fighters gave Emile a hard time because of his sexuality. There is a great documentary ("Ring of Fire") about that. Emile meets Benny's son at the end of the film, in a moving scene.

I've had the opportunity to meet and talk with Emile numerous times, and he is one of the nicest people that I've ever met. When Rubin Carter was in prison, Emile is one of the boxing community that supported him.