1. Bernardo Paret, known as Benny Paret or Benny "Kid" Paret, was a Cuban welterweight boxer who won the Undisputed World Welterweight Championship twice in the early 1960s.
11 Facts About Benny Paret
1. 2.
Benny Paret had a lifetime record of 35 wins, 12 losses and 3 draws.
3.
Benny Paret won the welterweight title for the first time on May 27,1960, by defeating Don Jordan.
4.
Benny Paret recaptured the crown on September 30,1961, in a split-decision over Griffith.
5.
Barely two months later, Benny Paret took on middleweight champion Gene Fullmer and was knocked out in the tenth round, being behind on all three judges' scorecards.
6.
In round six, Benny Paret nearly knocked out Griffith with a multi-punch combination, but Griffith was saved by the bell.
7.
Benny Paret collapsed in the corner from the barrage of punches, fell into a coma, and died ten days later at Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan from massive brain hemorrhaging.
8.
Benny Paret was buried at St Raymond's New Cemetery, Bronx, New York on April 7,1962.
9.
Benny Paret's death was chronicled in a 1962 protest song by folk singer Gil Turner.
10.
Benny Paret is one of many boxers named in the lyrics of Sun Kil Moon's 2003 album Ghosts of the Great Highway.
11.
The story of Emile Griffith and Benny Paret's death has been turned into an Opera in Jazz, Champion.