A deadly rubber match...
Both fighters had one win against his opponent coming into this welterweight championship fight that featured the current champ, Benny [Kid] Paret facing challenger Emile Griffith. The scene was Madison Square Garden. Griffith won the first fight and the championship in a 13-round knockout in April of 1960 only to lose the rematch and the crown on a split decision to Paret in September. This was it, the rubber match, for the championship...
Age was not a factor in this fight, both fighters were young. Paret was 25, Griffith 23. What was a factor was the bad blood between them. Paret questioned Griffith's masculinity. A flashy dresser, Griffith was known for his late night escapades, something that Paret exploited before the fight by taunting Griffith...
Griffith dominated the fight although going down for an 8-count in the 6th round. As round 12 opened, many in the crowd wondered how Paret had lasted this long, but the end was near. Griffith hit Paret with a furious barrage that included 10 consecutive right uppercuts to the chin. Griffith's fists were like a Con Edison jackhammer but Paret was still on his feet, his body sagging against the ropes. The crowd was now yelling and pleading for referee Ruby Goldstein to stop the fight but when he did it was too late...
Paret never regained conciousness, would slip into a coma and die from his injuries some 10 days later at Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan at the age of 25. Griffith who said he was sorry it happened would continue to fight until 1977 but would never be the same fighter...
More March 24 Memories...
1765] Britain passes the Quartering Act that requires the American colonies to house 10,000 British troops in public and private buildings...
1868] The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company is formed...
1900] Mayor Van Wyck of New York breaks ground for the New York subway tunnel that would link Manhattan and Brooklyn...
1955] Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" opens on Broadway...
1956] Senior Bill Russell leads the University of San Francisco to its 2nd straight NCAA title with an 83-71 win over Iowa as the Dons win their 55th straight game [a record at the time]...
1958] Elvis Presley is inducted into the Army [although he was drafted the previous December, the Army allowed him to finish filming "King Creole"]...
1964] The Kennedy half-dollar is issued...
1973] Lou Reed is bitten on his tookus by a male fan at a concert in Buffalo [both Reed and the fan get tetanus shots]...
1973] Pink Floyd releases their "Dark Side of the Moon" LP...
1975] LaBelle are #1 with "Lady Marmalade"...
1978] Paul McCartney & Wings release "With a Little Luck"...
1980] "Nightline" debuts with Ted Koppel [in 1979 the news show debuted with coverage of the Iran crisis. In November of 2005 Koppel left "Nightline" and was replaced by Cynthia McFadden and Terry Moran]...
1985] Phil Collins is #1 with "One More Night"...
1986] Lionel Richie's "Say You Say Me", the theme from "White Nights", wins an Oscar for "Best Original Song"...
1989] The Exxon Valdez spills 11 million gallons of oil in Alaska's Prince William Sound after running aground...
1997] The big winners at the 69th Academy Awards were: "The English Patient" [Best Picture], Geoffrey Rush [Best Actor] and Frances McDormand [Best Actress]...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...
Happy Birthday To...
1911] Joseph Barbera [Hanna-Barbera]...
1940] Bob Mackie...
1953] Louie Anderson...
1954] Donna ["Saturday Night Fever"] Pescow...
1960] Kelly ["Woman in Red"] LeBrock...
1962] Star Jones Reynolds ["The View"]...
1964] Annabella ["Sopranos"] Sciorra...
1970] Lara Flynn Boyle...
Commentary...
There was a heartwarming meeting recently between the son of Benny [Kid] Paret and Emile Griffith who expressed his sorrow for the savage beating that caused his father's death. Paret's son forgave Griffith and the two have since become friends...
[Today is the 83rd day of 2006 with 282 days remaining in the year and only 8 days until opening day]...
Saturday, March 25, 2006...
March 25 Memories...
1901] The Mercedes is introduced by Daimler at the "Week of Nice" in Nice, France [how Nice]...
1911] 146 women are killed in the "Triangle Shirtwaist Company" in New York City. The owners of the company are charged with manslaughter because the employees factory doors were locked. In 1914 they were forced to pay damages to all the families involved...
1913] The Palace Theatre [the home of vaudeville] opens in New York City...
1957] Ricky Nelson records his 1st hits, "A Teenager's Romance" and "I'm Walkin'"...
1960] Roy Orbison records "Only the Lonely"...
1965] Martin Luther King Jr. leads a group of 25,000 to the state capital in Montgomery, AL to protest the denial of voting rights to blacks...
1975] King Faisal of Saudi Arabia is shot to death by a deranged nephew who will be beheaded the following June [an "eye for an eye, a head for a head"]...
1988] Robert E. Chambers Jr. pleads quilty to 1st-degree manslaughter in the death of 18-year old Jennifer Levin in New York City's so-called "preppie murder case"...
1990] Fire races through an illegal social club ["Happy Land"] in Manhattan killing 87, mostly Honduran and Dominican immigrants...
1995] Boxer Mike Tyson is released from jail after serving 3 years...
1996] The redesigned $100 bill goes into circulation [reality check: has anyone else gotten those colored $10 bills besides me ? It looks like play money but I kind of like them]...
1997] Former President George H.W. Bush parachutes from a plane over the Arizona desert [nothing wrong with the plane, he was just celebrating his 73rd birthday]...
2003] The former mayor of Waterbury, CT., Philip Giordano is convicted of violating the civil rights of 2 preteen girls by sexually abusing them...
[To ensure the accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...
Happy Birthday To...
1932] "Today Show" movie critic Gene Shalit...
1934] Gloria Steinem...
1940] Anita Bryant...
1942] Aretha Franklin...
1947] Elton John...
1965] Sarah Jessica Parker...
1966] The Mets' Tom Glavine...
[Today is the 84th day of 2006 with 281 days remaining in the year and just 7 days until opening day]
Sunday, March 26, 2006...
March 26 Memories...
1885] Eastman Kodak [Eastman Dry Plate and Film Co.] produces the 1st commercial motion picture film in Rochester, NY...
1937] Crystal City, Texas unveils America's 1st "Popeye" monument. The 6-foot-tall, brightly colored concrete statue of "Popeye" is unveiled in "Popeye Park" during the city's 2nd annual Spinach Festival...
1953] Dr, Jonas Salk announces that he has successfully tested a vaccine against polio...
1964] "Funny Girl" starring Barbra Streisand opens on Broadway...
1965] It's announced that Jeff Beck will replace Eric Clapton in the Yardbirds...
1969] John Lennon and Yoko Ono begin their "bed-in" for peace at the Amsterdam Hilton...
1969] The TV movie "Marcus Welby" runs on ABC-TV and will later be turned into a weekly series...
1970] The classic documentary "Woodstock", the 1969 concert premieres [the film will win an Oscar for "Best Documentary"]...
1971] "Cannon" premieres as a movie on CBS-TV and will turn into a weekly series later in the year...
1979] Michigan State contains Larry Bird of Indiana State with Magic Johnson outscoring him 24 to 19 and the Spartans win their 1st National Collegiate title 75-64...
1982] Ground breaking ceremonies are held in Washington, D.C. for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial...
1997] The bodies of 39 members of the "Heaven's Gate" cult who'd committed suicide are found in Rancho Santa Fe, California...
1999] Dr. Jack Kevorkian is convicted of second-degree murder for giving a lethal injection to an ailing man whose death was shown on "60 Minutes"...
2000] Vladimir Putin is elected Russia's 2nd democratically chosen President...
2003] Former New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan dies at 76...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]
Happy Birthday To...
1930] Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor...
1931] Leonard Nimoy...
1934] Alan Arkin...
1936] The Five Satins' Fred Paris...
1939] James Caan...
1944] Diana Ross...
1948] Steven Tyler...
1949] Vicki Lawrence...
1950] Teddy Pendergrass...
1950] Martin Short...
1954] Curtis Sliwa...
1957] Leeza Gibbons...
1966] Michael [Christopher on "Sopranos"] Imperioli...
1968] Kenny Chesney...
[Today is the 85th day of 2006 with 280 days remaining in the year and the opening day countdown is at 6 days and counting]
