CULTURETECHLENSErnie Terrell
VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)
Combined Graph record U-07716 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-6844.
Ernie Terrell was a heavyweight champion whose title reign placed a Chicago-raised fighter at the center of the Muhammad Ali era. BoxRec lists his birthplace as Belzoni, Mississippi, and his hometown as Chicago, Illinois; other biographical accounts place his birth in Inverness, Mississippi and his early childhood in Belzoni, before his sharecropper father moved the family north to Chicago for factory work. Educated at Farragut School in Chicago, Terrell won the Chicago Golden Gloves as a young light heavyweight before turning professional in 1957. At 6 feet 6 inches, he was one of the taller heavyweights of his era. When the WBA stripped Ali of its title, Terrell defeated Eddie Machen in March 1965 to win the vacant WBA heavyweight championship, which he held until February 6, 1967, when he lost a fifteen-round unanimous decision to Ali in their unification fight in Houston — a bout remembered for Ali's repeated demand, 'What's my name?' Terrell fought until 1973 and died December 16, 2014, at age 75.
Answer summary · this record in brief, from its own record text
Ernie Terrell was a heavyweight champion whose title reign placed a Chicago-raised fighter at the center of the Muhammad Ali era. BoxRec lists his birthplace as Belzoni, Mississippi, and his hometown as Chicago, Illinois; other biographical accounts place his birth in Inverness, Mississippi and his early childhood in Belzoni, before his sharecropper father moved the family north to Chicago for factory work.
The record
- Also known as: Ernest Terrell
Notes
Sports Encyclopedia roster CTL-SPE-0469. Roster detail adjudicated: the roster's 'born Belzoni MS, raised Chicago' is supported by BoxRec (birthplace Belzoni, hometown Chicago); a second biographical account places his birth in Inverness, Mississippi, with early childhood in Belzoni — the discrepancy is recorded here rather than resolved silently. Terrell was NOT born in Chicago, so no 'from Chicago' relationship is emitted. Boxing has no team endpoints. Curator's Judgment (DRAFT): Terrell's record is essential Chicago boxing history — a Golden Gloves product who held a world heavyweight title during the Ali years — and the 'What's my name?' fight should be presented with its full context, including Terrell's insistence on Ali's former name.
Sources
- BoxRec, 'Ernie Terrell,' boxrec.com, https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php?title=Ernie_Terrell&direction=prev&oldid=1117890 (accessed 2026-11-03). (primary source · build store)
- 'Ernie Terrell,' TheFreeDictionary Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Ernie+Terrell (accessed 2026-11-03). (build store)
Photograph · rights-cleared record, CultureTechLens Photo Rights Log
Ernie Terrell after the fight with Ali
Ernie Terrell after the fight with Ali — Associated Press, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Source: CultureTechLens · view at source
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Record CTL-E-6844 · Combined Graph record U-07716 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 2 sources.
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Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.
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Chicago: CultureTechLens. “Ernie Terrell (CTL-E-6844).” CultureTechLens Combined Graph. Chicago, IL: CultureTechLens, 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-6844/
APA: CultureTechLens. (2026). Ernie Terrell (CTL-E-6844) [Entity record]. CultureTechLens Combined Graph. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-6844/
MLA: CultureTechLens. “Ernie Terrell (CTL-E-6844).” CultureTechLens Combined Graph, 2026, https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-6844/
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