Prizefighting: This Laughing Image

When he climbed into the ring against Canada’s George Chuvalo last week, Ernie Terrell, 26, was under the impression—or delusion—that he was heavyweight champion of the world. The World Boxing Association, which is still sort of peeved at Cassius Clay, had told Ernie so last March. But the president of the W.B.A. is one James Deskin, who also happens to be executive secretary of the boxing commission in Las Vegas—where money talks and where Clay will fight Floyd Patterson Nov. 22. So there, before Terrell’s wondering eyes at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens, advertisements urged: ORDER NOW FOR THE NEXT BIG FIGHT CASSIUS CLAY VS. FLOYD PATTERSON. TV TELECAST OF THE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP FIGHT. It Was enough to give anybody a complex. “People are always making fun of me,” sighed Terrell. “I don’t know why they have this laughing image of me.”

Poor Ernie. Even his best friends won’t tell him. By rough count, Terrell hit Chuvalo 400-odd times smack in the face over 15 rounds last week—with a left jab that was curiously described by sportswriters as “savage,” “snapping,” “a bullwhip” and “the finest jab any heavyweight has shown since Joe Louis.” Curiously, because Chuvalo didn’t even blink. The best blow of the night was a butt by the Canadian that opened up a one-inch gash over Terrell’s left eye. “He butted me deliberately,” Terrell complained afterward. “He stepped on my toes. He was spitting in my face, trying to blind me.” Nonetheless Ernie won a unanimous decision and retained his W.B.A. title. For whatever that was worth.