Bernardo Paret (March 14, 1937 – April 3, 1962), known as Benny Paret or Benny "Kid" Paret, was a Cuban welterweight boxer who won the Undisputed World Welterweight Championship twice in the early 1960s.
Paret's death occurred 10 days after injuries sustained in a March 24, 1962, title defense against Emile Griffith, televised live and seen by millions on ABC's Fight of the Week. Paret had a lifetime record of 35 wins (10 knockouts), 12 losses and 3 draws.
Boxing career
Paret won the welterweight title for the first time on May 27, 1960, by defeating Don Jordan. In his first defense of the title, Emile Griffith knocked him out in the thirteenth round on April 1, 1961. Paret recaptured the crown on September 30, 1961, in a split-decision over Griffith. Barely two months later, Paret took on middleweight champion Gene Fullmer and was knocked out in the tenth round, being behind on all three judges' scorecards.
In the twelfth round of the fight, Don Dunphy, who was calling the bout for ABC, remarked, "This is probably the tamest round of the entire fight." Seconds later, Griffith backed Paret into the corner before he unleashed a massive flurry of punches to the champion's head.
Paret collapsed in the corner from the barrage of punches (initially thought to be from exhaustion), fell into a coma, and died ten days later at Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan from massive brain hemorrhaging. Paret was buried at St. Raymond's New Cemetery, Bronx, New York on April 7, 1962.
The last fight between Paret and Griffith was the subject of many controversies. It is theorized that one of the reasons Paret died was that he was vulnerable due to the beatings he took in his previous three fights, all of which happened within twelve months of each other. New York State boxing authorities were criticized for giving Paret clearance to fight just several months after the Fullmer fight. The actions of Paret at the weigh-in before his final fight have come under scrutiny. It is alleged that Paret taunted Griffith by calling him maricón (Spanish slang for "faggot").
Griffith wanted to fight Paret on the spot but was restrained. Griffith would come out as bisexual in his later years, but in 1962 allegations of homosexuality were considered fatal to an athlete's career and a particularly grievous insult in the culture both fighters came from. The referee Ruby Goldstein, a respected veteran, came under criticism for not stopping the fight sooner. It has been argued that Goldstein hesitated because of Paret's reputation for faking injury and Griffith's reputation as a poor finisher.
The fight also marked the end of Goldstein's long and respected career as a referee, as he was unable to find work after that. The fight was the centerpiece of a 2005 documentary entitled Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story. At the end of the documentary, Griffith, who had harbored guilt over the incident over the years, is introduced to Paret's son. The son embraced Griffith and told him he was forgiven.
A 1962 poem by Australian ex-boxer Merv Lilley urged us to remember Benny Paret "when they're lacing leather on."
The emotive poem "Muerte en el Ring" ("Death in the Ring") by Afro-Peruvian poet Nicomedes Santa Cruz recounts Paret's life to the moment of his last breath.
A semifictionalized story of the fight was told live by radio dramatist Joe Frank in the 1978 program "80 Yard Run" on WBAI in New York and replayed several times subsequently on NPR. In it, Frank cast Griffith rather than Paret as the defending champion and makes no mention of Paret's recent fights or his prior history with Griffith. In the dramatized version, Griffith dominates the fight from the beginning, with the fight ending in the middle rounds and Paret dying later that night.
Paret is also one of many boxers named in the lyrics of Sun Kil Moon's 2003 album Ghosts of the Great Highway. The album builds several songs around the stories of boxers who died early deaths.
The story of Emile Griffith and Paret's death has been turned into an Opera in Jazz, Champion. It premiered at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis on 15 June 2013 and made its Metropolitan Opera debut on 10 April 2023. The opera was written by composer Terence Blanchard, with a libretto by playwright Michael Cristofer, who went on to develop the stage play "Man in the Ring" on the same subject. The play premiered at the Court Theatre in Chicago in 2016.
Professional boxing record
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center
|-
!
!Result
!Record
!Opponent
!Type
!Round
!Date
!Location
!Notes
|-
|50
|Loss
|
|style="text-align:left;"| Emile Griffith
|TKO
|12 (15)
|Mar 24, 1962
|style="text-align:left;"|
|align=left|
|-
|49
|Loss
|35–11–3
|style="text-align:left;"| Gene Fullmer
|KO
|10 (15)
|Dec 9, 1961
|style="text-align:left;"|
|align=left|
|-
|48
|Win
|35–10–3
|style="text-align:left;"| Emile Griffith
|SD
|15
|Sep 30, 1961
|style="text-align:left;"|
|align=left|
|-
|47
|Loss
|34–10–3
|style="text-align:left;"| Emile Griffith
|KO
|13 (15)
|Apr 1, 1961
|style="text-align:left;"|
|align=left|
|-
|46
|Loss
|34–9–3
|style="text-align:left;"| Gaspar Ortega
|UD
|10
|Feb 25, 1961
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|45
|Win
|34–8–3
|style="text-align:left;"| Luis Federico Thompson
|UD
|15
|Dec 10, 1960
|style="text-align:left;"|
|align=left|
|-
|44
|Loss
|33–8–3
|style="text-align:left;"| Denny Moyer
|SD
|10
|Aug 16, 1960
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|43
|Win
|33–7–3
|style="text-align:left;"| Garnet Hart
|KO
|6 (10)
|Jul 12, 1960
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|42
|Win
|32–7–3
|style="text-align:left;"| Don Jordan
|UD
|15
|May 27, 1960
|style="text-align:left;"|
|align=left|
|-
|41
|Draw
|31–7–3
|style="text-align:left;"| Luis Federico Thompson
|PTS
|12
|Mar 25, 1960
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|40
|Win
|31–7–2
|style="text-align:left;"| Charley Scott
|SD
|10
|Jan 29, 1960
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|39
|Win
|30–7–2
|style="text-align:left;"| Charley Scott
|UD
|10
|Dec 18, 1959
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|38
|Win
|29–7–2
|style="text-align:left;"| Bob Provizzi
|UD
|10
|Nov 16, 1959
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|37
|Draw
|28–7–2
|style="text-align:left;"| José Torres
|PTS
|10
|Sep 26, 1959
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|36
|Loss
|28–7–1
|style="text-align:left;"| Gaspar Ortega
|SD
|10
|Aug 7, 1959
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|35
|Win
|28–6–1
|style="text-align:left;"| Rudy Sawyer
|UD
|10
|Jun 1, 1959
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|34
|Loss
|27–6–1
|style="text-align:left;"| Eddie Thompson
|SD
|10
|Apr 20, 1959
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|33
|Loss
|27–5–1
|style="text-align:left;"| Cecil Shorts
|MD
|10
|Mar 2, 1959
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|32
|Win
|27–4–1
|style="text-align:left;"| Victor Zalazar
|UD
|10
|Jan 19, 1959
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|31
|Win
|26–4–1
|style="text-align:left;"| Victor Zalazar
|SD
|10
|Dec 15, 1958
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|30
|Win
|25–4–1
|style="text-align:left;"| Barry Allison
|UD
|10
|Nov 24, 1958
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|29
|Win
|24–4–1
|style="text-align:left;"| Andy Figaro
|KO
|1 (10)
|Nov 10, 1958
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|28
|Loss
|23–4–1
|style="text-align:left;"| Luis Manuel Rodríguez
|SD
|10
|Aug 9, 1958
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|27
|Win
|23–3–1
|style="text-align:left;"| Augustin Rosales
|TKO
|8 (10)
|Jun 21, 1958
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|26
|Win
|22–3–1
|style="text-align:left;"| Eddie Armstrong
|UD
|10
|Jun 9, 1958
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|25
|Draw
|21–3–1
|style="text-align:left;"| Bobby Shell
|PTS
|6
|May 19, 1958
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|24
|Win
|21–3
|style="text-align:left;"| Tony Armenteros
|PTS
|10
|Mar 8, 1958
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|23
|Loss
|20–3
|style="text-align:left;"| Luis Manuel Rodríguez
|UD
|10
|Feb 8, 1958
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|22
|Win
|20–2
|style="text-align:left;"| Rolando Rodriguez
|PTS
|8
|Jan 25, 1958
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|21
|Win
|19–2
|style="text-align:left;"| Regino Bravo
|KO
|3 (8)
|Jan 4, 1958
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|20
|Win
|18–2
|style="text-align:left;"| Rolando Rodriguez
|KO
|5 (8)
|May 25, 1957
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|19
|Win
|17–2
|style="text-align:left;"| Carlos Chibas
|PTS
|8
|May 4, 1957
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|18
|Loss
|16–2
|style="text-align:left;"| Guillermo Diaz
|PTS
|8
|Apr 6, 1957
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|17
|Win
|16–1
|style="text-align:left;"| Rolando Rodriguez
|PTS
|8
|Mar 23, 1957
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|16
|Win
|15–1
|style="text-align:left;"| Oscar Campos
|UD
|8
|Mar 9, 1957
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|15
|Win
|14–1
|style="text-align:left;"| Oscar Campos
|PTS
|10
|Feb 1, 1957
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|14
|Loss
|13–1
|style="text-align:left;"| Rolando Rodriguez
|KO
|2 (8)
|Oct 22, 1956
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|13
|Win
|13–0
|style="text-align:left;"| Carlos Chibas
|KO
|2 (8)
|Oct 13, 1956
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|12
|Win
|12–0
|style="text-align:left;"| Leocadio Villafanas
|KO
|3 (8)
|Aug 9, 1956
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|11
|Win
|11–0
|style="text-align:left;"| Carlos Chibas
|PTS
|8
|Jul 21, 1956
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|10
|Win
|10–0
|style="text-align:left;"| Tony Caspita
|PTS
|8
|Jun 6, 1956
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|9
|Win
|9–0
|style="text-align:left;"| Reinaldo Cabellero
|KO
|3 (6)
|Mar 16, 1956
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|8
|Win
|8–0
|style="text-align:left;"| Jose Delgado
|KO
|4 (6)
|Jan 27, 1956
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|7
|Win
|7–0
|style="text-align:left;"| Joaquin Castillo
|PTS
|6
|Dec 23, 1955
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|6
|Win
|6–0
|style="text-align:left;"| Jose Delgado
|PTS
|6
|Dec 2, 1955
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|5
|Win
|5–0
|style="text-align:left;"| Sandalio Santana
|PTS
|6
|Oct 26, 1955
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|4
|Win
|4–0
|style="text-align:left;"| Miguel Cutino
|TKO
|4
|Oct 22, 1955
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|3
|Win
|3–0
|style="text-align:left;"| Joel Morales
|PTS
|4
|Sep 8, 1955
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|2
|Win
|2–0
|style="text-align:left;"| Esmerido Moya
|KO
|1 (4)
|Aug 11, 1955
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|-
|1
|Win
|1–0
|style="text-align:left;"| Oscar Campos
|PTS
|6
|Apr 16, 1954
|style="text-align:left;"|
|
|}
Titles in boxing
Major world titles
- NYSAC welterweight champion (147 lbs) (2×)
- NBA (WBA) welterweight champion (147 lbs) (2×)
The Ring magazine titles
- The Ring welterweight champion (147 lbs) (2×)
Undisputed titles
- Undisputed welterweight champion (2×)
See also
- Kim Duk-koo
- List of welterweight boxing champions
References
External links
- https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/National_Boxing_Association%27s_Quarterly_Ratings:_1960
- https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/National_Boxing_Association%27s_Quarterly_Ratings:_1961
- https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/National_Boxing_Association%27s_Quarterly_Ratings:_1962