Emile Griffith vs. Jorge Jose Fernandez (1st meeting)
Emile Griffith 148 lbs beat Jorge Fernandez 147 lbs by SD in round 10 of 10
- Date: 1960-06-03
- Location: St. Nicholas Arena, New York, New York, USA
- Referee: Petey Della 5-4
- Judge: Jack Gordon 5-4
- Judge: Joe Agnello 4-6
"Emile Griffith, classy young New York welterweight, won an unpopular split decision Friday night over slugger Jorge Fernandez of Argentina in their nationally televised 10 round bout at St. Nicholas Arena. The crowd of 1,261 booed the decision for more than five minutes. Three chairs were thrown into the ring from the gallery. Many of the fans, who broke up other chairs in the galleries, were Latin Americans and wildly angry at the decision against Fernandez, 147 1/4. Police finally brought order to the arena. Griffith, 147 3/4, was the speedier performer throughout the bout. But the stocky South American landed the harder punches. It was an excellent fight throughout. Griffith's right eye was almost completely closed at the finish and his left cheekbone was badly swollen." -United Press International
Unofficial scorecards
- UPI - 5-3-2 Fernandez
- AP - 5-4-1 Fernandez
- A ringside poll of 13 sportwriters showed 10 scoring for Fernandez, 1 for Griffith and 2 scoring it a draw.
- Matchmaker Teddy Brenner was hoping to match the winner with Benny (Kid) Paret in a non-title 10 rounder at MSG on July 12, 1960, but due to the controversy in the decision, he instead matched Paret with Garnet (Sugar) Hart.
Post fight comments
- "I'm sure I won the fight. I'm sorry I didn't get the decision, for the benefit of my many friends. The demonstration in the arena and the poll of the sportswriters showed who won." -Jorge Fernandez
- "I know I won, and I'll prove it any time he wants to fight me again - next week if necessary." -Emile Griffith