A fighter, in and out of the ring

On July 23, six-time world boxing champion Emile Griffith — who captured both professional welterweight and middleweight boxing titles and saw plenty of adversity over the course of a 20-year career — died at an extended care facility in Hempstead, at age 75.

At a wake in Malverne and a funeral in West Hempstead last weekend, Griffith was remembered by friends, relatives and fans as a fighter who possessed more muscle in his heart than in his golden gloves.

“Emile added a touch of humanity to the sport,” said Oceanside resident and close friend Ron Ross, 81, who wrote Griffith’s biography, “Nine … Ten … and Out! The Two Worlds of Emile Griffith,” published in 2008. “Other fighters had fans who loved them for their dynamic power, not for their humanity. Emile had both.”

Born in the Virgin Islands on Feb. 3, 1938, Griffith lived with an aunt who abused him as a child, and he sought refuge at a nearby youth detention center, where he nursed a dream of becoming a professional baseball player despite the abuse and sexual harassment he endured from other boys in the facility. He emigrated to Hollis, Queens, as a teenager, leaving behind seven younger siblings.

Though he never realized his aspirations to be a star catcher once he reached New York, Griffith eventually stumbled on a new calling, as a boxer, at first by boxing women’s hats as a stock boy in a garment factory. While working in the stockroom on a particularly hot day, Griffith asked owner Howie Albert — who had harbored his own dream of becoming a prizefighter since childhood — if he could remove his shirt to beat the heat. Albert couldn’t help noticing Griffith’s toned, V-shaped physique, with a 26-inch waist and large shoulders.

After several failed attempts to recruit Griffith — who expressed no desire to fight people for a living — into the ring, Albert took it upon himself to register Griffith for the 1957 Golden Gloves tournament, and sent him to work with renowned trainer Gil Clancy at a gym in Queens. Griffith managed to win a Golden Gloves title that year by constantly throwing left jabs, and he turned pro in 1958.