Ernie Terrell. ex-heavyweight champ, has died.

[panader0]

From the AP:
"Ernie Terrell, whose brief reign as heavyweight champion ended with a punishing loss to Muhammad Ali in a 1967
grudge match, has died. He was 75.
The son of Mississippi sharecroppers and longtime Chicago resident worked as a fight promoter after his boxing career
ended and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004. He died Tuesday in Chicago of complications from Alzheimer's disease, according to his wife."

[H2O Man]

1. RIP, Ernie

He was a top contender, and a gentleman outside the ring. But it should be noted that he was never actually heavyweight champion. There was this other fellow named Muhammad Ali who was the real champ.

In early 1965, the WBA "stripped" the real champion for joining the Nation of Islam. This was well before Ali's troubles with the draft. It was simply because the WBA didn't like Ali's religion.

Hence, they had a fight-off between Terrell and Eddie Machen for their "title." Ernie won what was voted the most boring fight of the year. He would defend his "title" twice successfully, over Canadian George Chuvalo, and a faded Doug Jones.

During that time, Ali was willing to fight Terrell. However, the super patriots in boxing would not allow the fight to happen on US soil, and Terrell refused to go to Canada to fight Ali.

By the time the fight was made in Houston 1967, Ali and Terrell -- friends from their teenaged years in amateur boxing -- were no longer on good terms. Ali was having draft struggles, and as a member of the NOI, had made clear that he would not enter the military. Terrell, of Chicago, did have some connections with the NOI; however, he made the mistake of calling Ali "Cassius Clay." He thought it would build the gate.

Ali punished Terrell for 15 one-sided rounds.

Terrell would go on to be 6-4 until retiring. It's interesting to note that he was favored to win the 8-man tournament created to crown a new champion, after Ali's forced retirement; he was upset by Thad Spencer in the first round. More, the trainer of a young contender, Joe Frazier, refused to let Joe fight Ernie at this time in his career.

[panader0]

2. Reportedly, Ali punished Terrell for refusing to acknowledge his new name.

Ali repeatedly asked him, during the fight, "What's my name?"

[H2O Man]

4. He sure did!

Terrell was called "the Octopus," due to his clinching. He was a very dirty fighter -- he considered losing an early round from fouling an investment in the later rounds. And early on, he was fighting dirty against Ali. Around the 5th round, the Champ turned the tables on Ernie -- he rubed Terrell's face on the ropes, closing his eye.

It was an ugly, brutal fight.

[CatWoman]

3. His sister, Jean

replaced Diana Ross as the Supremes lead singer

[H2O Man]

5. Tammi.

Tammi also sang with Marvin Gaye.

[Johnyawl]

6. Tammi Terrell isn't related to Ernie Terrell.

Her real name was Montgomery, and she was born in Philadelphia (Ernie & Jean were from Mississippi), and she never sang with the Supremes.

She did do some amazing songs with Marvin though.

[H2O Man]

7. I stand corrected!

Thank you.

(Boxing and the Beatles, and I generally know what I'm talking about. Anything else, not so much!)

[malaise]

8. What's my name???

Ali asked him over and over and beat the crap out of him

[H2O Man]

9. A prime Ali, at that.

No heavyweight in history would have stood a chance with Ali at that point. While we are left to wonder what level the Champ might have reached in the 3.5 years of forced retirement, the Ali that faced Williams, Terrell, and then Foley was the best we've seen.

As amateurs, Ernie was able to and his jab frequently on young Cassius Clay. But the mature Ali had the speed and reflexes that made him impossible to hit. At the same time, he could land punches at will.

That, along with the first Patterson fight, were the two times that Ali was cruel in the ring.

[malaise]

10. That was an unbelievable fight

One Christmas weekend back in the 1990s my brother and I watched an all day Ali feast We could not stop laughing and watching in awe at the greatness of Ali. We had seen most of the fights but watching them again together was a memory I'll savor forever. Ali was the greatest.

[hifiguy]

11. Yep. The GOAT

Greatest Of All Time. By a mile.