Griffith Outpoints Defending Tiger

Emile Griffith knocked down champion Dick Tiger in the ninth round and won the middleweight title by unanimous decision last night, before 16,000 booing fans at Madison Square Garden.

Griffith, who also holds the welter-weight crown, was ten pounds lighter and nine years younger, and Tiger simply could not stay with the faster man. Although Tiger jolted Griffith more than once, he failed to follow up his punches.

The new champion won the fight in the eighth, ninth, and tenth, as he handed Tiger the first flooring of his career. The other twelve rounds were too cautious for the fans, and only Griffith's vociferous mother maintained an enthusiastic chatter throughout.