Champion commemorates the bisexual welterweight Emile Griffith, chiefly remembered for the lethal outcome of his bout with Benny Paret, who at the weigh-in patted Griffith’s backside and voiced a homophobic slur. In the ring, Paret went down, never to regain consciousness again. Ten days later, he was dead. On the coattails of the overpraised Fire Shut Up in My Bones, this earlier work from the multitalented Terence Blanchard is now making the rounds. Based on reports of the premiere productions at Opera of Saint Louis, the company that commissioned both works, our guess is that Champion is the real keeper. —Matthew Gurewitsch