Emile Griffith vs. Jean-Claude Bouttier

Emile Griffith 159 lbs lost to Jean Claude Bouttier 153 lbs by DQ in round 7 of 10

• Date: 1972-12-18
• Location: Parc des Expositions, Paris, Paris, France
• Referee: Georges Gondre

"Jean-Claude Bouttier, the French middleweight, leaned forward, held his groin and bellowed in the Palais des Expositions. Bouttier's dramatics convinced next to no one in the crowd of 8,500 Monday night - the french fans screamed 'scandal' and 'robber' - but it got the man who counted, referee Georges Gendre of France. Gendre disqualified Emile Griffith of NY for alleged low blows in the 7th round of the 12 round bout. Griffith yelled in disbelief when Bouttier's arm was raised. It meant that Bouttier had won the right to meet world middleweight champion Carlos Monzon for the title next spring. The referee's explanation was that Griffith had fouled Bouttier three times; once in the 6th round, just after Griffith had opened a cut on the Frenchman's left eye with a sharp right, and twice in the 7th." -Associated Press

• The AP had Griffith ahead on points after six rounds and stated it did not see any low blows.

Post fight comments

• "I don't understand, we were fighting in close and the ref comes over and he motions 'get 'em up' like I was punching low. Then all of a sudden Bouttier is running across the ring screaming and holding his groin. Next thing I know he won. He's some actor that guy. Much better than he fights." -Emile Griffith

• "In MSG, Griffith does what he wants. If the fight was in the States, he never would have lost. But that's the reason we didn't fight there. Bouttier was fouled and that was it." -Jean Bretonnel, Bouttier's manager.

• "The kind of junk Bouttier pulled went out of boxing years ago because it was ruining it. He could never have won that way in NY." -Gil Clancy, Griffith's co-manager