Ernie Terrell

Ernest Terrell was an American professional boxer who competed from 1957 to 1973. He held the World Boxing Association's heavyweight title from 1965 to 1967, and was one of the tallest heavyweights of his era, at tall. He unsuccessfully fought the other world heavyweight champion of the era, Muhammad Ali, in a heavyweight title unification contest in 1967, losing by a unanimous decision. Terrell was the elder brother of the Supremes' early 1970s lead singer Jean Terrell. In the 1960s, Jean sang with Ernie's group Ernie Terrell & the Heavyweights.

Early life

Terrell was born on 4 April 1939 in Inverness, Mississippi, and spent his early childhood in Belzoni. He was born into a family of ten children, whose father was a Mississippi sharecropper who during Terrell's childhood moved the family north to Chicago when he found employment in the factories there. Terrell received his formal education at Farragut School in Chicago. Before turning professional, he won the 1957 Chicago Golden Gloves and then the 1957 Intercity Golden Gloves in his youth as a light heavyweight, and he also formed a pop music singing act called "The Heavyweights" with three of his siblings.

Professional career

In his early career, Terrell defeated some good contenders, including Cleveland Williams, Zora Folley, and future light heavyweight champion Bob Foster.
When the World Boxing Association stripped Muhammad Ali of his title after his agreement to fight a rematch with Sonny Liston, the WBA matched Terrell and Eddie Machen for the vacant crown. Terrell defeated Machen to win the belt on March 5, 1965. During his reign as WBA champion, he defended the title twice, beating Doug Jones and George Chuvalo. Most in the boxing world continued to recognize Ali as the legitimate champion, for he had not lost his championship in a boxing match. The WBA's rival, the World Boxing Council, also continued to recognize Ali as champion. On March 29, 1966, Ali and Terrell were scheduled to fight, but Terrell backed out.
On February 6, 1967, Ali and Terrell finally met to end the debate about who was the legitimate heavyweight champion. Before the bout, Terrell repeatedly called Ali by his birth name. He said later that he had known "Clay" for years in the amateurs and hadn't gotten used to calling him another name. Publicly, Ali took offense to this, and vowed he would punish Terrell. In a 1979 interview, he said, "They billed the fight on that little grudge thing, and I wasn't really angry - I didn't care what he called me - but this was a good chance to promote my new image."
Ali further stoked the prefight ill-will by labeling Terrell "an Uncle Tom nigger who is going to get his ass whupped". Ali won by unanimous decision, reclaiming the undisputed championship. The Daily Telegraph wrote that the resulting fight was "the nastiest display of Ali's celebrated ring career", describing how he seized Terrell in a headlock and dragged Terrell's eye along the top rope, and declared, "The fight will be remembered for Ali's constant taunts of 'what's my name?' to an opponent he was apparently content not merely to defeat, but also to belittle and humiliate." The match is recounted in the film Ali.
Terrell lost an upset 12-round decision to Thad Spencer later in 1967 in the WBA heavyweight tournament that was organized after Ali was stripped of his title in April 1967. He left the sport for three years following the loss, but returned in 1970, winning seven consecutive fights before losing to Chuck Wepner by decision. The Wepner decision was highly controversial; most who saw the fight thought Terrell had won. After losing to Jeff Merritt in his next fight by a 1st-round technical knockout, Terrell retired.
In 55 professional fights, Terrell earned a record of 46 wins, nine losses and no draws.

Later life

After retiring from boxing he began a career as a record producer in Chicago.
He ran unsuccessfully for alderman of Chicago's 34th ward in 1987, finishing second in the primary although lost to Lemuel Austin in a runoff.

Death

Terrell died at the age of 75 on December 16, 2014, in a hospital at Evergreen Park, Illinois, having been afflicted in his final years with dementia.
He was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, Chicago.

Personal life

Terrell married Maxine Sibley in 1974; the couple raised two children.

Professional boxing record

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
55	Loss	46–9	Jeff Merritt	TKO	1, 2:42	Sep 10, 1973	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.
54	Loss	46–8	Chuck Wepner	PTS	12	Jun 23, 1973	Convention Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	For vacant National Americas heavyweight title
53	Win	46–7	Bill Drover	TKO	1, 2:28	Feb 19, 1973	Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
52	Win	45–7	Jose Luis Garcia	KO	6	Oct 23, 1972	Caracas, Venezuela
51	Win	44–7	Roberto Davila	UD	10	Jul 24, 1971	Playboy Club, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, U.S.
50	Win	43–7	Luis Faustino Pires	UD	10	May 10, 1971	International Amphitheatre, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
49	Win	42–7	Vic Brown	UD	10	Apr 28, 1971	Cleveland Arena, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
48	Win	41–7	John Hudgins	TKO	1, 1:58	Apr 3, 1971	Playboy Club, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, U.S.
47	Win	40–7	Sonny Moore	UD	10	Dec 15, 1970	The Eagles Club, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
46	Loss	39–7	Manuel Ramos	UD	10	Oct 14, 1967	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico
45	Loss	39–6	Thad Spencer	UD	12	Aug 5, 1967	Astrodome, Houston, Texas, U.S.
44	Loss	39–5	Muhammad Ali	UD	15	Feb 6, 1967	Astrodome, Houston, Texas, U.S.	Lost WBA heavyweight title For WBC and The Ring heavyweight titles
43	Win	39–4	Doug Jones	UD	15	Jun 28, 1966	Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas, U.S.	Retained WBA heavyweight title
42	Win	38–4	George Chuvalo	UD	15	Nov 1, 1965	Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, Canada	Retained WBA heavyweight title
41	Win	37–4	Eddie Machen	UD	15	Mar 5, 1965	International Amphitheatre, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.	Won vacant WBA heavyweight title
40	Win	36–4	Henry Wallitsch	RTD	6, 0:01	Oct 23, 1964	St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
39	Win	35–4	Bob Foster	TKO	7, 0:58	Jul 10, 1964	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.
38	Win	34–4	Jefferson Davis	UD	10	Jun 17, 1964	Municipal Auditorium, Miami Beach, Florida, U.S.
37	Win	33–4	Gerhard Zech	UD	10	Mar 6, 1964	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.
36	Win	32–4	Zora Folley	UD	10	Jul 27, 1963	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.
35	Win	31–4	Cleveland Williams	SD	10	Apr 13, 1963	Philadelphia Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
34	Win	30–4	Herb Siler	TKO	3	Mar 7, 1963	Little River Auditorium, Miami, Florida, U.S.
33	Win	29–4	Young Jack Johnson	UD	10	Jan 5, 1963	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.
32	Win	28–4	Young Jack Johnson	UD	10	Dec 14, 1962	Chicago Coliseum, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
31	Win	27–4	Reiniero Rey Lopez	KO	3, 2:15	Sep 25, 1962	Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
30	Win	26–4	Eddie Jackson	TKO	2, 2:54	Aug 24, 1962	Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
29	Win	25–4	Amos Lincoln	UD	6	Jun 9, 1962	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.
28	Loss	24–4	Cleveland Williams	TKO	7, 1:43	Apr 3, 1962	Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas, U.S.
27	Win	24–3	Herb Siler	PTS	10	Feb 28, 1962	Exhibition Hall, Miami Beach, Florida, U.S.
26	Win	23–3	Ernie Cab		3, 0:01	Dec 4, 1961	Convention Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
25	Win	22–3	Chuck Garrett	UD	10	May 15, 1961	Marigold Gardens, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
24	Win	21–3	Willie Coleman	KO	1	Apr 17, 1961	Marigold Gardens, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
23	Win	20–3	Ernie Cab	TKO	8	Feb 6, 1961	Marigold Gardens, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
22	Loss	19–3	Wayne Bethea	SD	10	Dec 5, 1960	Marigold Gardens, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
21	Win	19–2	Joe Hemphill	UD	8	Jul 20, 1960	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.	Won Illinois heavyweight title
20	Win	18–2	Frankie Daniels	KO	7	May 18, 1960	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
19	Win	17–2	Lee Williams	UD	10	Mar 30, 1960	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
18	Win	16–2	Clay Thomas	KO	1	Jan 6, 1960	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
17	Win	15–2	Chuck Garrett	PTS	6	Nov 11, 1959	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
16	Win	14–2	Tunney Hunsaker	PTS	8	Jul 24, 1959	Freedom Hall, Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
15	Loss	13–2	Johnny Gray	SD	8	Feb 25, 1959	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
14	Win	13–1	Willie Coleman		8	Jan 14, 1959	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
13	Win	12–1	Sid Peaks	UD	8	Nov 3, 1958	Joe Louis Gymnasium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
12	Win	11–1	John Hobart	KO	1	Oct 7, 1958	East Chicago, Indiana, U.S.
11	Win	10–1	Joe Hemphill	TKO	1	Sep 24, 1958	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
10	Win	9–1	Billy Pickett	KO	2	Jul 1, 1958	Midwest Gymnasium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
9	Loss	8–1	Johnny Gray	SD	8	Apr 30, 1958	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
8	Win	8–0	Johnny Harper	TKO	1	Mar 11, 1958	Midwest Gym, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
7	Win	7–0	Emil Brtko	TKO	2	Feb 4, 1958	Joe Louis Gym, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
6	Win	6–0	Calvin Butler		6	Jan 8, 1958	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
5	Win	5–0	Ted Poole	TKO	1	Oct 30, 1957	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
4	Win	4–0	Neal Welch	UD	6	Aug 21, 1957	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
3	Win	3–0	Ray Griggs		1	Jul 24, 1957	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
2	Win	2–0	Andy Bond		1	Jun 26, 1957	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
1	Win	1–0	Norman Bolden		4	May 15, 1957	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.