[kenyan_cheena]

TERRELL CAPTIVATES WRIGLEY CROWD
WITH MASTERFUL DISPLAY

Friday 1 March 2002

Of all the fight cards that the Heavyweight Boxing Federation staged during their first four weeks of life, there was perhaps only one that they found some dissatisfaction with. It was the card held on 25 January in Lombardia, Italy, headlined by Chicago's Ernie Terrell.

Things just didn't seem to click properly while the federation was in Italy. It was obvious that the enthusiasm they had been greeted with in other international locales such as Japan and England was, for some reason, missing in Italy. Many speculated that it was the absence of local fighters on the card that led to the problems. Others simply went with the line that the Italians are not huge on boxing: football and motor racing were more their style. Still others claimed that the reluctance of Ernie Terrell to appear during promotions was to blame. A painfully-shy young man, Terrell was looked upon (correctly) as someone not blessed with an abundance of charisma. He was a quiet giant. The 14th seed in the tournament, his success in the tournament auditions barely registered in his hometown of Chicago. Some questioned the decision to expose him to the limelight by making him a #1 seed.

The fact that, when the Lombardia card took place, Terrell put in a comprehensive (if unspectacular) performance in winning his bout, almost seemed secondary. He spent six rounds pounding a left jab into the face of Los Angeles fighter Marty Monroe, landing a total of 233 punches which, at the time, was the most landed by any fighter in these HBF tournaments. But even that didn't seem to impress. The fact that Terrell, despite his size, is not a terribly powerful puncher, did not help his cause. He never looked like knocking out Monroe, even though he was totally dominating the fight.

After the Italian card, Terrell returned home to Chicago. He recently spoke of how, while on the plane as it flew back to the States, he contemplated what he would have to do to make himself more appealing and exciting to the public, especially the people of Chicago. He said that he wanted to be a hero for them, someone who could inspire them in their day-to-day lives. And so, in an attempt to sell himself, Terrell managed to get an audience with one of the world's most well-known Chicago residents, Oprah Winfrey. The appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and subsequent spots on a number of sports programs and talk shows, was just the shot in the arm Terrell's popularity needed. He was forcing himself to come out of his shell, to be more talkative and to let the world know more about the young man behind the boxer.

Terrell's publicity blitz led to a flood in ticket sales for his next bout, which would be held at the home of baseball's Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field.

That bout took place tonight, Terrell headlining the fight card at Wrigley and scoring another convincing victory to improve his record to 2-0. It was a more dynamic, adventurous effort that Terrell put forth in taking a unanimous decision victory over Argentina's Luis Firpo (99th seed in the W.C. tournament), 60-54, 59-55, 60-54. Terrell showed much more variety in his punch selection, actually connecting with more hooks than jabs over the course of the bout. He landed a total of 183 punches, compared to 52 for Firpo. Not only did Terrell show more aggression on offense, he also showed some impressive defensive skills. Firpo landed his punches at just 18%. And, unlike in his first fight, Terrell had his opponent in trouble on a number of occasions. It was only Firpo's stubborn resilience that kept him on his feet.

Clearly ecstatic after the bout, Terrell gave much praise to the audience for the great support they had shown him. He was overwhelmed that they had turned out in such numbers to see him fight.

"I'm doing this for all of you," Terrell said. "I love this city so much. This city is my home, and I want to bring the HBF World Championship to our city. That's my goal, and I'm determined to achieve it."

Terrell's words were greeted with thunderous applause, which the 18 year-old acknowledged with a raised hand. He went to all four corners of the ring and applauded the audience in return. When he left the ring, Terrell spent some thirty minutes signing autographs and posing for photos with members of the audience.

Indeed, it is great news that this young man, looked upon just five weeks ago as a talented introvert, has been able to win the hearts of Chicago fight fans. It will be exciting to see how far Terrell can go towards his ambition of bringing the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's World Championship to Chicago...