The Tragedy of Griffo

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 223, 9 December 1927, Page 10

The Tragedy of Griffo

(By J. M. MACKER ZIE, Sports Editor.)

r \''HERE is a tragic irony in the fact that, hard on the heels of the Dempsey-Tunney fight, on which millions of dollars were lavished, comes the news of the death in a disreputable New York hovel of that prince of old-time prize fighters, the incomparable Griffo. It is a grim commentary on modern boxing that , while Tunney is idolised and living in luxury, Griffo should have been dying in poverty in a dingy corner of America's greatest metropolis.

JT may be said that Griffo had his chance and let it slip by; that he had only himself to blame for not being in a comfortable position to-day. But, it is well to remember that he belonged to another age, a generation of men who fought for the love of the game rather than for the meagre rewards it offered, and who spent generously and freely—in Griffo’s case, too freely. Tunney got a million dollars for his fight against Dempsey, his only match for a year. Griffo, considered by many to have been the greatest boxer of his time, was content in his day to fight for a sum that wouldn’t pay expenses for a week in Tunney’s luxurious training camp. Many months ago, news came from

America that Griffo was “down and out,” and nearly blind. But to the fickle multitude which subscribed 2,700,000 dollars to the coffers of Mr. Tex Rickard for the Dempsey-Tunney fight, Griffo was a forgotten memory. There may be a few who knew him well and will mourn liis passing. For the rest, the idol of the moment suffices. Let Tunney and Dempsey gather in the dollars while they can. The patrons of the gladiatorial shows in ancient times were not more inconstant than the “fans” of to-day. At any rate, the unpopular gladiator of old found death quick and comparatively painless. The tragedy of Griffo lies in the fact that he lived on to see his modern successors world famous and rich, while he himself was dying in poverty and neglect in a doss-house.