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Two Previous Madison Square Garden Fights Led to Fatalities

Mar. 26, 1962 - Madison Square Garden has been the scene of two fatal fights in its many years as a boxing arena. One of them caused as much of a stir as the finish of Saturday’s Benny (Kid) Paret-Emile Griffith fight, but for different reasons. That was the meeting of Primo Carnera, the giant boxer from Italy, and Ernie Schaaf on Feb. 10, 1933. The other victim in the Garden was Georgie Flores (left), who succumbed after a semi-final bout with Roger Donoghue (right) in 1951. In the ’33 bout, there were cries of “fake” when Schaaf was knocked out by Carnera with what appeared to be a light left jab in the 13th round. Three days later, Schaaf died without having regained consciousness. It was learned later that Schaaf apparently had suffered a severe injury in a previous bout with Max Baer at Chicago on Aug. 31, 1932. That fight had ended with Schaaf on the floor and unconscious.

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