On a Friday night a few months ago, my 10-year old son accompanied me on what has become our annual ritual, an early February journey to the Linden High School gymnasium to take in the Diamond Gloves finals. Gillette "Friday night at the fights" it wasn?t yet it was a chance for James to breath in that special feeling of fight night and, just maybe, brush shoulders with a ring immortal.

Every year there are special guests invited and typically at least one notable personality takes his bows inside the four square. Gerry Cooney, who lives in nearby Fanwood, has been a regular over the past several years. Two years ago I made the mistake of going into too much detail about the outcome of Holmes-Cooney and narrowly missed a horrific embarrassment. After he shook hands and squared off with Gerry, I again reminded James that Cooney had fought for the heavyweight championship of the world. "Yeah, and he blew it," he replied. Sometimes too much information is dangerous!

Then there was Chuck Wepner and Johnny Persol, all honorable gladiators well shy of greatness yet symbolic of the toughness the fight game demanded. To be in their presence was an honor.

This year I brought two of James pals along for the night. We had barely gotten comfortable perched up in the grandstands sitting amidst candy wrappers and cups of gooey coke when the introductions began. I had heard Bobby Czyz was to make an appearance, and I informed the James gang that Czyz was a former Cruiserweight and Light Heavyweight titleholder and arguably Jersey?s greatest fistic product, a worthy autograph for his collection.

I was barely paying attention to the booming baritone of the emcee when I heard "I am proud to announce that we have, in the audience, one of boxing?s all time ring greats. A five time world champion who held his titles when there was one champion in each weight class." He paused and I stood up, straining to hear. My mind raced to match the description with the pugilist when I heard. "The former five time Welterweight and Middleweight Champion of the World, Emile Griffith."

I have followed the fight game since I was seven years old and have accumulated scores of Ring Magazines dating back to the late 1950s. EMILE GRIFFITH! Now I was a boy once more and I instructed the kids to stay put as I bounded down the stands and struggled to get a glimpse of Emile. Finally I persuaded the Diamond Gloves Event Director Gary Luciano to arrange a brief audience with the great champion. Moments later my son was sparring with Emile and I had a moment to talk to the elderly gentleman in a black leather jacket who provided millions with one ring thrill after another from the late 1959 to 1978.

Griffith belonged to a generation of fighters that boxing fans today cannot conceive of. There have certainly been warriors in boxing?s most recent generation. Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, Julio Cesar Chavez, Pernell Whitaker, Ray Mercer, James Toney, Thomas Hearns and Arturo Gatti to name a few. It is the pedigree of boxing it?s foundation, that has suffered. Griffith boxed contender after contender, climbing the Welterweight ladder to earn his first championship opportunity against Benny "Kid" Paret in 1960. For the next eight years he alternated between championship reigns and top contender status, never taking a backward step in his recognized role as one of boxing?s elite performers.

Emile was a gentle, accommodating human being. At times he boxed that way. He was not a brutal knockout puncher despite tragically taking the life of a defenseless Benny "Kid" Paret with a blizzard of punches against the ropes during round 13 of their rubber match. He was a skillful, busy boxer who stayed on the perimeter of victory in each and every contest, save a startling first round knockout defeat against Hurricane Carter in 1965, perhaps the only time Griffith was not adequately prepared for the task at hand.

What was unique about Griffith was that he boxed with a different intensity when in the challenger?s role. As a titleholder he was vulnerable to letdowns and was relieved of his Welterweight title by Paret and later Luis Rodriquez via narrow points setbacks. He later suffered a stunning upset at the hands of big underdog Nino Benvenuti, losing his hard earned Middleweight crown after having surviving two tough decision wins over top contender Joey Archer.

Today a championship bout is a twelve round contest. That skewers every decision, no matter how furious and entertaining the contest. Sugar Ray Leonard is remembered as Hagler?s conqueror today, yet ask anyone at ringside that night and they will concur that had the contest been fought at the championship distance, 15 rounds, Leonard would have been stopped. Had the twelve round rule been in place Conn would have defeated Louis and Marciano would have never landed the greatest short right hand ever thrown in boxing history. Can we be certain of this, no! We can be certain that rounds 13, 14 and 15 were the championship rounds, and they belonged to Emile!

Griffith was a mainstay at Madison Square Garden and still holds the record for title bout appearances. His three bout series against Benvenuti marked the end of his championship era and his performance against the 1960 Middleweight Olympic Gold Medalist was perplexing. Emile was a lopsided favorite prior to their first bout, and he was dropped and out pointed convincingly. He recaptured the championship with a dominant performance during the return, held at Shea Stadium. In their third bout, again a solid favorite, he surrendered the championship a second time to Benvenuti with a poor performance. On balance he was a far superior boxer than his rival and had he defended successfully in their first contest, his Middleweight Championship reign may have extended to 1970 or beyond.

Griffith only slipped a notch once his title days were behind him. He dropped down a weight class and made a futile 1969 effort to dethrone a prime Jose Napoles. Twice in the early 1970?s he challenged the great Monzon for the Middleweight crown, suffering a 13th round TKO loss in their first bout and a disputed, narrow points loss in their Monte Carlo return. At 35, he came within a whisker of defeating the legendary Argentinean, displaying a toughness and tenacity at times missing in past performances.

Like Ali, Emile was an old soldier, only slowly fading away. He stayed on the fringe of middleweight contention into the middle 1970?s, twice shading tough Bennie Briscoe. In 1976 he dropped a decision to Junior Middleweight Titleholder Eckard Dagge in his final championship appearance. A stepping stone during his final ring years, his wonderful career concluded with a points loss to future champion Alan Minter in Monte Carlo in 1978. He boxed 339 championship rounds, an achievement without peer in boxing history.

When you think of Emile Griffith you think of Sugar Ray Robinson, Archie Moore, Rocky Graziano, Roberto Duran, Henry Armstrong and Barney Ross. You think of Stillman?s gym and the old Madison Square Garden.. These were ring tested warriors of an era past, when you met one top ten contender after another to earn a championship shot. When boxing 15 times a year was commonplace. When the great dinosaur of boxing, the "non title bout" was often an up and coming test for contenders with title aspirations.

He deserves recognition for the great fighter and the champion he was. We will never see his like again!