WHAT'S MY NAME? Ali gave WBA champ Terrell a vicious beating
at Houston in 1967
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25 January 1894:
Gentleman Jim Corbett KO3 Charley Mitchell at Jacksonville, Florida:
Mitchell had fought John L. Sullivan to a 39-round draw in 1888 in a bare-knuckle fight,
and as British champion disputed Corbett's claim to be champion of the world. Corbett
weighed 184lbs (13st 2lbs) while Mitchell was barely a middleweight at 158lbs (11st 4lbs).
4 July 1910:
Jack Johnson KO15 James J. Jeffries at Reno, Nevada:
Johnson had won the title by outclassing Tommy Burns in 14 rounds at Sydney, Australia in
1908 but there were many who refused to regard him as champion until he had overcome the
34-year-old Jeffries, who had retired as undefeated champion in 1905. Johnson severely
punished Jeffries in a one-sided fight that was notable for its racial connotations, with
Jeffries being encouraged to come out of retirement to reclaim the title for the white race.
But the old ex-champ stood no chance with Johnson. Promoter Tex Rickard, who refereed
the fight, told the press afterwards:
"Jack Johnson is the most wonderful fighter that ever pulled on a glove. He won as
he pleased from Jeffries and was never in danger."
Johnson said: "I won from Jeffries because I outclassed him in every department
of the fighting game." But he acknowledged the old champ's bravery,
saying: "He came back at me with the heart of a true fighter. No man can say he did
not do his best." Jeffries ruefully attributed his performance to age and inactivity.
"I did not have the snap of youth I used to have", he said.
"I guess its all my own fault. I was getting along nicely and peacefully on my
alfalfa farm, but when they started calling for me, and mentioning me as the white man's
hope, I guess my pride got the better of my good judgement."
27 September 1950:
Ezzard Charles W15 Joe Louis at Yankee Stadium, New York:
Charles had won the National Boxing Association title after Louis had retired in 1948.
But Charles struggled for acceptance as champion. The British Boxing Board of Control
recognised Lee Savold after the American boxer had stopped Bruce Woodcock - due to a shocking
cut over the British champion's eye - in June 1950. But when Louis came out of retirement,
aged 36, it gave Charles the chance to gain more or less universal recognition. Louis was
the favourite at about 8-5 on, but the 29-year-old Charles clearly outboxed the slower,
older man to take a unanimous decision. Charles's left eye was swollen and partly
closed by the finish, but Louis's left eye was shut, his nose bloodied, and in the
14th round the former champion was hurt by a right and severely hammered until the bell
came to his rescue.
6 February 1967:
Muhammad Ali W15 Ernie Terrell at Houston, Texas:
The 6ft 6ins Terrell was recognised as champion by the World Boxing Association although
Ali was generally regarded as champion and had angered Ali by calling him by the undefeated
champion's "slave name" of Cassius Clay. And Ali, a 4-1 on betting favourite,
promised to punish the 27-year-old from Chicago, saying that Terrell would get a
"Floyd Patterson humiliation beating", in reference to Ali's 1965
whipping of the former champ, who had similarly angered him by pre-fight comments.
Patterson had had to endure taunts as well as a painful defeat, finally being rescued by
the referee in the 12th round in 1965. And for Terrell it was, indeed, the same sort of
ordeal. But, game but outclassed, Terrell at least managed to last the distance. This was the
"What's my name?" fight, with the 6ft 3ins Ali talking to Terrell in
between hitting him with combinations of punches that ripped through the hands-high guard
of the taller man.
16 February 1970:
Joe Frazier TKO end of 4 Jimmy Ellis at Madison Square Garden, New York:
The undefeated Olympic gold medallist Frazier was recognised as champion in New York
and Europe while Ellis had won the World Boxing Association's elimination tournament
after Muhammad Ali's enforced exile for refusing to be inducted in the American armed
forces. Ellis, a competent boxer who had been Ali's chief sparmate for a number of
years, was overwhelmed by Frazier's power and went down twice in the fourth round,
the second time when Smokin' Joe's vaunted left hook dumped him on his back with
the round almost over. In his autobiography, Smokin' Joe, Frazier described the left
hook in this way:
"The impact was like when you hit a baseball flush, and it soars
off your bat like a rocket." Ellis barely beat the count, getting up at nine after
the bell had sounded to end the fourth. But he was through for the evening. The bell
sounded for the start of the fifth, but Ellis's manager, Angelo Dundee, waved to the
referee that his man was finished. In American record books it is recorded as TKO5 for
Frazier.
8 March 1971:
Joe Frazier W15 Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden, New York:
Frazier was champion in the eyes of the boxing commissions but Ali called himself the
"People's Champion". It was perhaps the most widely anticipated fight in
history, two undefeated heavyweight champions, each with his own socio-political
following. Frazier took punishment, his face lumpy and swollen, but his constant pressure
and two-handed battering proved too much for Ali, who was having only his third fight
after a three-and-a-half-year layoff. Ali fought mostly in spurts, which were often
dazzling, but Frazier was insistent. Ali was rocked badly in the 11th, then floored by a
left hook in the final round. Ali gamely picked himself up, but the knockdown had cemented
Frazier's unanimous decision win. Hugh McIlvanney wrote of that left hook in The
Observer: "Any possible ambiguity about the result was removed by that punch, but so
were the unjustified doubts about Ali's heart."
1 August 1987:
Mike Tyson W12 Tony Tucker at the Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas:
Tyson came into the ring as World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association champion,
while Tucker had won the International Boxing Federation belt by stopping Buster Douglas
in the 10th round on 30 May that year. Tyson was staggered by a left uppercut in the opening
round but came back to dominate the fight as Tucker went into safety-first mode. The judges
had Tyson winning widely; Tucker said later that he had hurt his right hand in the second
round. Pat Putnam wrote in Sports Illustrated:
"Neither man really hurt the other.
There are those who were disappointed that the fight went the full distance. Still others
thought that Tucker, who lost for the first time in 36 fights, made the champ look bad...
Tyson still has a lot to learn, and there may be a professor of the sweet science out
there who could teach him to be a better fighter. Yet no matter who yells advice from his
corner, Tyson will never be a classy boxer; an opponent with good lateral movement and a
crisp jab will give him fits."
27 June 1988:
Mike Tyson KO1 Michael Spinks at the Convention Center, Atlantic City:
Tyson was champ of the major organisations but Spinks called himself the
"People's Champion" (shades of Muhammad Ali) because he had taken the title
from Larry Holmes, considered the world's premier heavyweight at the time of their
fight. But Spinks had forfeited the IBF title for failing to accept a purse offer to
defend against Tony Tucker, his mandatory challenger who subsequently won the title, then
lost it to Tyson. Spinks, an Olympic gold medallist and former light-heavy champ, had won
31 consecutive bouts and chopped down the towering Gerry Cooney in five rounds. But Tyson
was the 4-1 on favourite. Tyson's mentor and former co-manager, Jim Jacobs, had died
three months earlier. Tyson was in the process of shedding manager Bill Cayton to be
promoted and advised by Don King. But nothing interfered with Tyson's concentration
on Spinks. He blew out his opponent in 91 seconds, and Colin Hart wrote in The Sun:
"Spinks was intimidated by Tyson's frightening aggression and his mind was
numbed by Mike's menace."
The last fight for the undisputed heavyweight title came on 13 November 1992, when
Riddick Bowe won a unanimous 12-round decision over Evander Holyfield at the Thomas &
Mack Center, Las Vegas, with Holyfield defending the WBC, WBA and IBF titles. On 14
December 1992, the WBC withdrew recognition from Bowe for failing to negotiate terms for a
title defence against Lennox Lewis, the mandatory challenger. The title has been divided
since then.
