Emile Griffith died. He is famous — notorious — for killing Benny Kid Paret in a fight. But he also is famous for being one hell of a fighter. He was an all-time top-10 welterweight. He was welter and middleweight champ and he was a lovely man. I once spent an afternoon with him. He was childlike and thoroughly likable. My dad took me to see him fight as an amateur in the NY Golden Gloves when I was in high school and I could see then he was special. He carried Paret’s death with him to his own death. There is a great documentary about Griffith and Paret called Ring of Fire. It is sad and ennobling and shows who Griffith was. RIP.