Nino Benvenuti vs Emile Griffith 2

Emile Griffith regained the world middleweight championship from Nino Benvenuti by a majority decision over 15 rounds at Shea Stadium, New York, on September 29, 1967. The open-air contest attracted 21,326 paying spectators and produced receipts of $256,737. Benvenuti, making his first defence of the WBA, WBC and Ring championships, weighed 160 pounds against Griffith’s 154. Five months earlier, the Italian took the titles from Griffith in a unanimous decision at Madison Square Garden, but the former champion returned determined to work faster and apply greater pressure.

Griffith began aggressively, using his jab to enter range before crowding Benvenuti and working with both hands. He shook the champion and brought blood from his nose during the opening round. Benvenuti recovered sufficiently to meet Griffith’s advances in the second, sidestepping the rushes and catching him with straight punches. During that round, however, Griffith drove a hard blow into Benvenuti’s body. The champion continued without outward complaint, although a subsequent examination disclosed that his twelfth rib had been fractured.

Benvenuti’s skill allowed him to remain competitive through the early and middle rounds. He tried to create space with the jab and hook from it when Griffith came forward. The American repeatedly shortened the distance, pushing the contest towards close quarters, where his physical strength and compact punching gave him an advantage. The exchanges were not always clean. Griffith used his shoulder, head and elbows inside, while Benvenuti struck behind the head during clinches. Referee Tommy Walsh warned both men several times in the fourth round but made no deduction.

For a time Benvenuti checked Griffith’s advance by moving laterally and catching him as he entered. Griffith nevertheless maintained the more demanding pace and continued attacking the body. A short hook shook Benvenuti in the eighth. In the ninth, the champion went to the canvas during another exchange, but Walsh ruled that he had slipped. The surface had become uncertain in the light rain, and Benvenuti protested whenever his footing gave way. By then the effects of Griffith’s pressure and the rib injury were becoming apparent. Benvenuti’s movement had slowed, his face was marked, and he was increasingly obliged to fight at close range.

Griffith took command during the second half of the contest. His jab remained effective at distance, while his shorter punches prevented Benvenuti from resting when the two came together. The champion produced a spirited flurry in the thirteenth and briefly recovered some of his earlier precision, but he could not maintain the effort. In the fourteenth, Griffith countered with a right hand, and Benvenuti fell again. Walsh ruled it a knockdown and administered the mandatory eight count, despite the Italian’s insistence that he had slipped. Benvenuti completed the round and remained on his feet through the fifteenth, but Griffith finished the stronger man.

Judges Joe Eppy and Johnny Dran each awarded Griffith nine rounds to five, with one even. Walsh scored seven rounds for each fighter and one even. Under the New York system, an even card could be decided by supplemental points, but Walsh also had the fighters level on that calculation, an unusual conclusion considering Griffith’s officially recognised knockdown in the fourteenth. The majority decision nevertheless gave Griffith a clear and deserved victory. An unofficial ringside tally of 10 rounds to four, with one even, reflected the broader opinion that the challenger had done the more effective work.

Benvenuti received approximately $100,000 under his guarantee of 40 per cent of the receipts, while Griffith collected about $50,000 from a 20 per cent share. The result made Griffith only the third boxer to regain the world middleweight championship. Benvenuti had shown considerable endurance in completing the distance with a fractured rib, but Griffith’s altered tactics, sustained pressure and superior work at close quarters had reversed the outcome of their first meeting. A third contest was arranged for the following March, when the championship changed hands between them once more.

These two were just before my time, but I remember watching films of both and thinking what brilliant technicians they were in completely different ways. Benvenuti was the taller, more classical boxer, beautifully balanced and able to hook off the jab. Griffith was shorter, physically strong and far better technically than people sometimes give him credit for. Their first fight had been excellent, with Benvenuti deservedly taking the title and returning to Italy as a national hero.

Griffith got his tactics right in the rematch. He had spent too much of the first contest looking for the right hand, but this time he jabbed his way forward, attacked the body and made Benvenuti work at close quarters. That was where Griffith held the advantage. He could punch while leaning, turn a man in the clinch and use his shoulders to create room. It was rough in places, with both men warned, but this was experienced championship boxing rather than outright foul play.

Benvenuti reportedly suffered a broken rib from a second-round body shot, and that undoubtedly restricted him as the fight progressed. He still had his moments, but Griffith became stronger while the champion faded. The fourteenth-round knockdown looked untidy, and Benvenuti claimed a slip, yet it did not alter my view of the result. Griffith won the fight. The referee’s draw was generous to Benvenuti; the two cards of 9–5 for Griffith were much nearer the truth.