Griffiths v Paret - Are grudge matches really important!!

Are grudge matches really important??

Grudge fights don't come any bigger than Griffiths - Paret 3.......Paret called Griffiths a maricon which is basically a faggot!! Griffiths was allegedly that way inclined....However there is a world of difference between being called one then and being called one now..It wasn't a good career move to be homosexual (Rock Hudson...)..and was grossly insulting..

Anyway Griffiths had to be restrained at the weigh in and carried his angst into the ring....After 12 hard rounds unfortunately Paret semiconscious got stuck on the ropes and Griffiths managed to land blow after blow........until he was pulled off him...

Paret never regained consciousness...Mrs Paret who was left a single parent never forgave Griffiths...although her Son in a video on youtube embraces Griffiths and tells him he doesn't hold it against him!!............

Apparently Griffiths had nightmares for over 40 years after the fight!!..and I'm sure Paret was just trying to get an edge when he made the slight probably thinking they would make up after the fight!!

I'm sure he would even have hated Griffiths to suffer for years after...Griffiths apparently received hate mail a long time after the event!!

My Sister was an addict and died years ago...Last few days of her life we did nothing but argue......Still bothers me now that her last view of me was a negative one....Sometimes you don't get time to put something right!!.....Words aren't always cheap...

Do we really need hyped up fights....There is a price for everything...............and sometimes it's expensive..

I think it's always risky and in bad taste to manufacture a hatred or grudge between two fighters. If the two don't happen to get on then fair enough, but I don't think fighters should feel the need to show that they hate each other in order to sell a fight.

I agree surely to know that two guys are trying their best and putting on the line is enough..

Trouble is would Haye for instance as a recent example, have got his shot and all the buzz if he had approached Wlad and politely asked for a title shot? Whether we like or not people will always pay to see two people who hate each other have a tear up. This is boxing after all, they are fighting and hurting one another and they will always appear more likely to go the extra mile if they don't like one another.

Think Haye vs Klit was a big fight whatever two tone Mate..

But would the fight have happened had Haye not turned it into a grudge? Maybe, but I dont think it would have received as much press coverage had it not been pushed by Haye and his exploits. Would he have got so many people interested in his ring return with Chisora after the no show against the Ukrainian without all the drama that preceeded it? Grudge matches sell and whether they are genuine or not they always will. This is just one example of hundreds. DeGale and Groves would never have gone to PPV without all the nonsense before. They were two green and relatively unknown fighters before all that had happened.