Emile Griffith's Big 5: The Day He Made the 'Impossible' Possible

Emile Griffith's Big 5: The Day He Made the 'Impossible' Possible

The match where Dick Tiger was knocked down for the first time

Emile Griffith was more than just a great boxer who dominated three divisions in the 1960s and 1970s. It is true that his career was greatly affected by the tragic events after the meeting with Kid Parrett, but still he achieved many important victories, reaching world titles that he defended or immediately regained after losing them, defeating more than big names in sports during those years. His memorable matches are not few, but in a series of five materials we recall the most significant of them. We've already talked about the win over Parret that brought him back the welterweight title, as well as the great fight with Nuno Benvenuti that saw him reclaim the middleweight title. Now we're going to focus on the one fight that splits the time between these two bouts. A battle in which Emil faces a seemingly insurmountable challenge in the person of Dick Tiger.

In an attempt to capture the middleweight title, Griffith had to meet the heavier and 4 centimeters taller Nigerian Dick Tiger, who at the time was famous as a competitor who had never been knocked down in the ring. We're not just talking about a knockout, but even a knockdown. Dick is the more experienced of the two and logically enters the match as the favorite, although most experts expect a fairly even fight.

The arena of the clash is "Madison Square Garden" in New York, and the date is April 26, 1966. After a successful defense of his welterweight title against Manuel Gonzalez in December 1965, Griffith was able to realize his plans for a match against Tiger. The contender's history against bigger opponents includes a first-round knockout loss to "Hurricane" Carter, defeats by Don Fulmer, Juan Carlos and Jose Gonzalez, but this time fate has decided something different for the American-born Virgin Islands Racer.

The bout starts off extremely evenly, although the more aggressive competitor is Emil Griffith, who uses his left straight quite effectively to target his opponent's body and head. In the first 8 rounds, it seems as if it is very difficult to determine who has the advantage, but rather Tiger is the competitor who has won a division or two more than the contender for the world crown. However, both boxers have not suffered such heavy hits and are showing their best.

The ninth round, however, proved pivotal as Griffith's right landed on Dick's chin, who fell to the ground. Everyone in the hall remains speechless because this is the first knockdown in the Nigerian boxer's career. After 70 professional fights, there is finally a fighter to take down the African. However, he stands up and the match continues at the pace it has been going from the beginning.

By the end of the fifteen rounds, there wasn't another hard blow that either of them landed. The judges can hardly decide who is the winner, and one of the cards shows an absolute tie - 7 rounds for both and 1 absolute tie. Tony Casteiano agrees, but Arthur Mercante and Frank Forbes are heavily influenced by the knockdown that Griffith achieves despite his smaller size. According to them, it is the contender who should win the fight. In the end, after a unanimous decision, the winner was Emil, who put on the World Boxing Association and World Boxing Federation middleweight belts, and their first defense against Dick was unsuccessful.

Fans in the hall expressed their displeasure with this referee's decision, and 17 of the 22 journalists who covered the event believed that Tiger should have been the winner of the match. The decision remains highly controversial, as the Nigerian clearly landed most of the shots, but the knockdown in the ninth round made Griffith appear to have the upper hand in the eyes of the referees.

As controversial as this win is, it brings Emil another crown, brings more glory and shows that he can box on par with the bigger guys. That's why his first fight with the mighty Dick Tiger is not just in the top 5, but in the top 3 of his best matches.