Feb. 10, 1964 - The world welterweight champion, Emile Griffith of New York, knocked out Ralph Dupas of New Orleans in the third round tonight in Sydney, Australia. Dupas, virtually helpless, went down following a right to the jaw after two minutes of the third round in their scheduled 12-round non-title bout. He had been floored three times in the second round, and most of the 10,500 spectators had been screaming to referee Vic Patrick to stop the fight.
Dupas struck his head when he fell and lay still while Patrick counted him out. Officials rushed into the ring, mopped blood from Dupas’s face, and applied ice packs to the back of his neck. He remained in the ring five minutes before being helped to his dressing room. Griffith waited beside Dupas until he showed signs of recovering. Griffith later denied that he had been thinking about the death of Benny Paret following a knockout in their fight two years ago.
Griffith jolted Dupas with a left hook early in the first round and sent him down for a compulsory 8-count after 80 seconds of the second round. Dupas was helpless on the ropes, and Griffith continued to batter him. After two minutes, the New Orleans boxer went down for another 8-count. He went down a third time seven seconds before the bell. Dupas tried hard to make a comeback in the third, but Griffith trapped him in a corner and showered him with head and body blows.
Griffith was guaranteed $10,000 or 25% of the gate. Officials estimated that he would receive at least $12,500.
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