Boxer Emile Griffith dead at 75

Hall of Fame boxer Emile Griffith has died at a care home in New York, aged 75. The former world champion, who infamously beat Benny Paret to death in a 1962 welterweight title bout, passed away on Tuesday (23Jul13).
Griffith, who struggled with dementia and required full-time care in his final years, became the first boxer from the U.S. Virgin Islands to become world champion. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990.
His fight with Paret was chronicled in the 2005 documentary Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story.
The boxer once said, “I was never the same fighter after that. After that fight, I did enough to win. I would use my jab all the time. I never wanted to hurt the other guy. I would have quit, but I didn’t know how to do anything else but fight.”
Griffith retired from boxing in 1977 with a record of 85 wins, 24 defeats and two draws. He went on to train Wilfred Benitez and Juan Laporte, among others.