The fight against Ernie Terrell
returned Ali to Houston to again break all attendance records
for an indoor fight – this time 37,321 bought tickets.
Terrell held the WBA heavyweight belt – which had been
taken from Ali after his conversion – and was on a five-year,
15-fight unbeaten run. He was a tall fighter who Ali nicknamed
Octopus. Unfortunately, Terrell decided to irk Ali in the
same way Floyd Patterson had, refusing to refer to him by
any name other than Cassius clay. Ali would be just as heartless
once more.
Ali opened with a flurry of hooks, then showed his disdain
for Terrell’s skills by alternately circling his opponent,
hands down and daring him to land a shot, then slapping him
one-handed. Terrell’s best work was done in clinches
he gained by advancing behind a high guard and weathering
Ali’s combinations. The fight became a brawl along the
ropes when Terrell could force Ali there for whatever respite
he could gain, and something of a nightmare for him when business
was conducted from the centre of the ring. Ali had fractured
a bone under Terrell’s left eye early in the fight and
also damaged his retina. By the middle rounds Terrell was
finished, flinching every time Ali drew back his fist. Terrell
suffered terribly as Ali carried him through all 15 rounds,
taunting him the whole time: “what’s my name,
Uncle Tom? What’s my name?”
After the fight, Tex Maule wrote, “it was a wonderful
demonstration of boxing skill and a barbarous display of cruelty.”
