March 24, 1962. The one-class boys basketball state tournament remained a huge Minnesota event. Boxing retained a large following on free television.
David Morrell Jr. returning to the Armory — as a reflective ringside spectator
As super middleweight champion from Cuba rises through the ranks, seriously injuring a Kazakhstani fighter in a November card in Minneapolis still haunts him.
February 26, 2023 at 3:17AM
On that Saturday night six decades ago, simultaneously, St. Louis Park and South St. Paul filled Williams Arena playing for the hoops glory, and Benny "Kid'' Paret and Emile Griffith were having their third bout to decide the welterweight title in Madison Square Garden.
I have a memory of sitting on the floor next to the black-and-white Philco, twisting the dial quickly between the two events.
St. Louis Park defeated South St. Paul 61-57. I had to look up the score. I didn't need such a reminder of what happened in Paret-Griffith III.
Paret and Griffith had split two fights six months apart in 1961 – a TKO for Griffith and a split decision for Paret. The third fight was televised live on ABC's "Fight of the Week.''
The 12th round was lackluster until late, when Griffith put Paret in a corner and released a relentless barrage — 29 unanswered blows that left Paret hanging through the ropes.
Paret was carried from the ring on a stretcher. He had a massive brain hemorrhage and was pronounced dead 10 days later at Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan.
Griffith, a target of prefight taunting from Paret, went to the hospital to visit him. He was not admitted.
It was a nationally televised stunner, but it wasn't the end of boxing interest – not when two years later Cassius Clay, soon to be Muhammad Ali, took away Sonny Liston's heavyweight title to shock our sports world.
The sport goes on, and so does the ultimate risk.
Boxing returns to the Minneapolis Armory on Saturday night with another Showtime/Premier Boxing Champions card. The main event will be Subriel Matias vs. Jeremias Ponce for the IBF's super welterweight title.
There's a stronger reason that advance ticket sales were solid: Jamal James, the Minneapolis welterweight, returns after a 16-month absence for a 10-rounder with Alberto Palmetta – "a tough Argentinian,'' said James.
The Armory's previous card was Nov. 5 and attendance reached 5,000. The attraction was David Morrell Jr. (8-0), the 25-year-old Cuban who arrived here in 2019, trained in Minneapolis for his first five fights and now works with Ronnie Shields in Houston.
He holds a WBA super middleweight title. He will be watching ringside on Saturday, sitting next to another Cuba native of note, Tony Oliva.
Morrell was on a call from Houston this week. An interpreter was also involved, as David answered questions in Spanish.
The most recent effort by Morrell was not the quick knockout Armory fans had come to anticipate. It was devastating, though, and for a time, it seemed as though Morrell could be the fully traumatized winner, as was Griffith long ago.
His opponent, Aidos Yerbossynuly, a rugged Kazakhstani and mandatory WBA challenger, was pummeled early in the fight, offered some lively exchanges in the middle, and then Morrell again took over completely in the eighth.
Yerbossynuly was defenseless in the 10th, but his corner and referee Tony Weeks allowed the fight to continue. Morrell knocked him woozy in the 12th. The fight was stopped with 26 seconds left and Yerbossynuly collapsed back into the ropes.
He was taken from the ring and sent by ambulance to nearby HCMC. He underwent emergency brain surgery. The medical staff there saved his life.
The information on his status was limited. Then, on Dec. 2, Yerbossynuly appeared on social media, dressed in civilian clothes and ready to leave HCMC for the airport to fly home.
Morrell was asked about the Yerbossynuly fight and the ensuing four months.
Q: You could not celebrate that last win, correct?
Morrell: "That is for sure. We did not celebrate. We supported [Yerbossynuly]. I wanted to visit him in the hospital but was not allowed. To see him leaving the hospital … I felt so much better."
Q: How much was the uncertainty over his condition weighing on you?
Morrell: "A lot of stuff was going through my mind. I thought about his family. I couldn't sleep some nights.''
Q: Do you think the fight should've been stopped earlier?
Morrell: "A lot of people said that.'' (Pause). "Yes. I think it should've been stopped after the eighth round.''
Q: Jamal James returns Saturday. Thoughts on that, considering you trained together for a couple of years?
Morrell: "I'm happy to see him back. I'm sure he will perform at a high level. He's a good guy, although we didn't hang out that much at camp.
"Jamal's a big reader. He was reading all the time.''
Q: Caleb Plant and Danny Benavides meet in a huge super welterweight fight March 25 in Las Vegas. Will you be there?
Morrell: "No, because I'll be training for a fight in April. It's not announced yet, but it will be a good opponent. After that, the Plant-Benavides winner, I hope.''
If that happens, it won't be in the Armory. Morrell will have made it to a main event in Vegas within 10 pro fights.
Minnesota’s bench scored 50 points, including a team-leading 18 points from graduate transfer Annika Stewart, showcasing the depth that coach Dawn Plitzuweit promised.
