WATCH: A closeted athlete and the opera make a surprising pair in this story of bisexual boxer Emile Griffith
BlacKkKlansman and Da 5 Bloods) brings a highly anticipated production of his opera, Champion.Born in the Virgin Islands, Griffith moved to New York as a teen to find his birth mother, and eventually took up work for a hat manufacturer.
On a particularly hot day, Griffith worked with his shirt off, which is when—believe it or not—the factory owner noticed his hulking physique and decided to take him to a trainer at a boxing gym!The opera’s first act details his rise to future welterweight champion, but it ends on—spoiler alert, we suppose, though this is very much a real story—his 1962 match against Benny Paret at Madison Square Garden, where Griffith beat his opponent so intensely that he was completely unconscious.
10 days later, Paret died from the injuries sustained.A post shared by The Metropolitan Opera (@metopera)(It was later revealed that, during the pre-match weigh in, Paret had been taunting Griffith with homophobic slurs, which was believed to have incensed the athlete.)The production’s second act, then, deals with the fallout from the match over the ensuing decades, Griffith haunted by both the ghost of Paret, and his public image, which never fully recovered after that deadly match.Still optional: wearing a jock strap.In 1972, Griffith eventually married Sadie Donastorg, and would later—years after retiring as a professional athlete—confirm that he identifies as bisexual.
