'Ring of Fire': The Impact of One Fatal Fight
Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story is a new documentary dealing with the death of Benny "Kid" Paret at the hands of Griffith during their middleweight boxing championship in 1962.
Griffith's bout with then-champion Paret, a 24-year-old Cuban exile, was broadcast on national television. Paret suffered a final pummeling by Griffith that led to his being carried out of Madison Square Garden on a stretcher. He died 10 days later.
Dan Klores, who directed and produced the film with Ron Berger, takes NPR's Susan Stamberg through the events of the tragic fight and the complicated narrative of Griffith's life before and after. The film airs on USA Network Wednesday.
Benny "Kid" Paret, wearing white trunks, met Emile Griffith, wearing black trunks, in a 1962 fight that would prove fatal to Paret. Corbis hide caption