Offered here is an autographed photo of Boxing Hall of Famer Emile Griffith taken during his 1962 welterweight title fight with Benny "The Kid" Paret.  Griffith knocked out his bitter rival in the 12th round to regain his own title, but Paret went into a coma and died from his injuries 10 days later.  The fight at Madison Square Garden was broadcast on network TV and left a cloud over the sport for many years. NBC halted its live boxing broadcasts, and then-New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller created a commission to investigate the bout and the sport. The referee that night, Ruby Goldstein, never worked another fight.  "People spit at me in the street," Griffith told The Associated Press in 1993, recalling the days after Paret's death. "We stayed in a hotel. Every time there was a knock on the door, I would run into the next room. I was so scared."

An elegant fighter with a quick jab, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990 with a record of 85-24-2 and 23 knockouts.  His brilliant career was overshadowed by the fatal beating he gave Paret.  In the 2005 documentary "Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story", he discussed the impact the fight had on him.  "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."

The photo appears to be a later reprint rather than being original to the era.  I acquired this from the estate of a local collector alomg with a number of other boxing photos I will be listing.