On this day in 1967, in the huge Astrodome in Houston, Texas, world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali fought one of the most controversial fights of his illustrious career. Ali’s performance in this fight against reigning WBA champion Ernie Terrell of Chicago gave us more than a glimpse of his ability to be both ruthless and punishing.
Ali was the ruler of the world and no one questioned that, even though Terrell held the WBA belt. However, the capable Terrell – who had good wins over Cleveland Williams (the revenge victory came after Ernie was stopped for the first time in his career by Williams in the previous meeting), Zora Folley, Eddie Machen and George Chuvalo – questioned whether Ali was so great. Terrell, a statuesque fighter with a good left jab, truly felt he could beat the man he still called Cassius Clay, which was the name of Ali’s “slave.”
During the preparations for the fight, Terrell angered Ali so much that the 25-year-old, at the peak of his championship career, completely lost his temper. By refusing to call Ali by his still recently acquired Muslim name, he promised Terrell a constant beating. And boy, did “The Greatest” keep his word!
Terrell, 39-4, probably in the prime of his career at age 28, tried his best, but it was obvious almost from the start that, like every other heavyweight of the era, he didn’t have enough speed to handle Ali. Ali, however, was not satisfied with having surpassed Ernie; he wanted to humiliate him for defaming his name. Ali lowered his arms and left them dangling at his sides for long periods of time (“Oh, what a risk he’s taking!” said British commentator Harry Carpenter. “Clay just uses his feet to stay out of reach”) and also landed stinging punches. Another time, literally daring Terrell to hit him, Ali roared, “What’s my name?!” Ernie didn’t say a word and later claimed he didn’t even hear what Ali was saying to him. “I was focused on survival,” Terrell said.
Terrell was in good shape, but lagged hopelessly behind on the judges’ scorecards. Another sedate concern for the “Octopus,” as Ali called his newest rival, was the injury Ali had inflicted on his left eye. Ernie’s swollen and rapidly closing eye had a broken bone underneath, and it was later discovered that he had a damaged retina. The loser later claimed that Ali intentionally rubbed his eye with the top rope while the two were in the clinch. Ali vehemently denied this claim (“I’m a pristine fighter,” he insisted), but Terrell felt he would have won had his eye not been so horribly damaged.
Thanks to a combination of Terrell’s courage and Ali’s willingness to extend the beating of his girdled opponent, the fight lasted all 15 rounds. Maybe Ali could close the show and interrupt the performance, who knows for sure? In any case, Ali won by an unequal margin on each of the three cards – as much as 148-133 in the case of one judge. However, after the fight, Ali did not receive rave reviews from experts.
Instead, almost every writer chose to focus on the mischievous side of Ali’s nature. Condemned as a cruel tyrant just as he was two years ago when he brutalized and tormented former champion Floyd Patterson, another fighter who insisted on calling Ali Clay, Ali was almost hated by the media. No one could deny his boxing genius, but the champion’s mocking and “carrying” his opponent was considered extremely indigent taste. Certainly, the Ali of the tardy 1960s was a million miles away from the beloved global hero he became in the mid-1970s and still is.
Now 28-0 and seemingly no one could beat him (Ali never shied away from anyone, defeating all his opponents at a rapid pace, rightly sensing that his days of freedom were numbered). Ali may have been disliked at home, but he was popular in Europe and elsewhere. However, after just one more fight (a break in the fight against Folley in March), Ali came into conflict with the United States government. Stripped of his title and passport for refusing to be drafted into the armed forces, Ali was discharged and was unable to fight for his life. The government did what no warrior had ever come close to doing: it defeated him.
Millions of Americans, the same ones who were outraged by Ali’s performance against Terrell, had no sympathy for the former champion. It would be three years and seven months before the Supreme Court reinstated Ali’s driving license. By then, Ali’s prime years were over and we never again saw the blinding speed he had against Terrell.
That Ali is gone for good.
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