Brussels (AFP)

For half a century he remained "haunted" by this knockout from which his opponent never recovered. In search of an impossible forgiveness. In New York in 1962, the life of the homosexual African-American boxer Emile Griffith changed dramatically.

The story, which has remained famous in the boxing world, is told in a comic strip released this month, "Knock Out!" (Casterman editions). It is signed by German Reinhard Kleist, revealed by his illustrated biography of American singer Johnny Cash in 2006.

On March 24, 1962, at Madison Square Garden in New York, Emile Griffith, born 24 years earlier in the American Virgin Islands, competes for the third time with Benny Paret for the title of world welterweight champion, conquered once and then lost again facing the same Cuban boxer.

And in front of more than 14 million viewers, the two athletes are fighting one of the most brutal fights in the history of the sport.

Chaining direct and uppercuts into the Cuban's face, Griffith appears over-excited. Paret eventually collapsed in the ring, unconscious, in the 12th round. Immersed in a coma, he succumbs to the hospital two weeks later, on April 3, at 25 years old.

Faithful to the historical account, the comic strip of Kleist shows that before the match, at the weigh-in and in front of the press, Paret provoked Griffith by throwing homophobic insults at him. He touched on a very sensitive point since the latter wanted to keep his private life secret, fearing that it would jeopardize his career.

"Never during his professional career (1958-1977) he wanted to talk about his sexual orientation. He considered that he could lead his life without talking about it," explains Reinhard Kleist, contacted by AFP in Berlin.

"What I liked about this story is that it really takes down a lot of boxing shots," says the author.

- Christopher Street -

Griffith liked the notoriety associated with his success. But, as "Knock Out!" Relates, he became a boxer almost against his will in the mid-1950s, when he flourished in his work for a designer of female hats in Manhattan.

Impressed by his physique, this boss, whom he considers a second father, convinces him one day to go and see a boxing trainer. The first meeting is funny: "I would like to make baseball or ping pong, you do that too here?" Asked Griffith.

The trainer, Gil Clancy, is ultimately the one who will accompany him to the top. Griffith will be world champion in three categories (welterweight, welterweight and middleweight).

After the dramatic fight of 1962, the world of boxing is shaken: what level of violence to accept? when should the referee interrupt the match? And in the ring Griffith sometimes hears the cry "assassin" flying from the stands.

To unfold his story, Reinhard Kleist imagined a dialogue between Griffith and the ghost of Paret, throughout a taxi ride to the hospital. The former must receive care after a violent homophobic attack (which, for its part, is not imaginary, which occurred according to the author in the 1990s).

In this way, argues Kleist, "I wanted to show that the memory of the dead boxer has continued to chase Griffith all his life".

"In interviews, he said that Benny Paret appeared to him several times, like a ghost, that he saw him in the mirror or peeking out into the street, as if he was haunting him."

Suffering from dementia at the end of his life, Emile Griffith died in 2013, at the age of 75, five years after coming out during a gathering with alumni from Christopher Street, New York Street which was the epicenter of the fight for gay and lesbian rights in the late 1960s.

© 2020 AFP