Armando Muniz vs Emile Griffith

[greynotsoold]

Late in the career of griffith, early on for Muniz. Some of my earliest boxing memories involve my mother talking about Muniz; my mother was a boxing fan going back to the late 40s. He was a pretty talented guy with an extensive and impressive amateur background. Alas, he was not only short, he had very short arms, so he had to press and that gets you hit. But, if you watch him over time, you'll see how good he was.

The little engine that could. Great point on the reach. That gets overlooked at times I think. He was a lot like Young in that he did his best work against the top of the food chain and looked mediocre against the middle of the pack.

One of my favourites is still Lemieux but that 70 inch reach is just a little to stubby and he's a banger to boot. That inch and half or 2 inches against the wrong guy can be the difference.

I watched that fight and then I talked to my friend; he sparred a couple hundred rounds with Griffith and he confirmed my suspicions. When you fought in close with that guy, it DID seem like he had 3-5 arms getting in the way of what you were trying to do, and another 3-4 hitting you back.

[Vendettos]

I really liked Emile, the documentary on him was epic.

[Bill Paxtom]

January 31, 1972

Armando Muniz vs. Emile Griffith

This fight wasn't even close.

Emile {just 4-days before his 34th birthday} gave Armando a 'West-Coast' boxing lesson
at the Convention Center in Anaheim.