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TERRELL STILL PERFECT...
...BUT ONLY JUST
Friday 14 June 2002
Facing the first real test of his professional boxing career, Chicago's Ernie Terrell showed admirable fighting spirit in rallying from a slow start to score a 58-57, 57-58, 58-57 split decision victory over Buffalo native Phil Muscato.
In front of a capacity crowd at Tokyo's Saitama Super Arena, the 14th seed in the Heavyweight Boxing Federation's World Championship tournament improved to 5-0, but not before sweeping the scorecards in rounds five and six to secure the win.
Muscato brought a three fight winning streak into the contest and was painfully close to extending it to four. He was the aggressor in the opening rounds, keeping Terrell on the back foot and making it difficult for him to establish any kind of rhythm. Muscato was constantly moving forward, cramping Terrell and smothering most of his attempts at an offense. Muscato connected with a number of solid blows, simply outhustling Terrell and at times leaving him no option but to clinch. Going into the 5th, it looked like an upset was a real possibility with one judge having Muscato up by three points and the other two by one.
But that was when Terrell's resolve kicked in. He simply imposed his will on Muscato in the fifth, picking him off at will with that textbook left jab, finding gaps in the rapidly tiring New Yorker's defense that weren't there earlier in the bout. The domination continued into the final round, with Muscato's countenance betraying his concern as Terrell finished strongly, landing a flurry of blows that had Muscato buckling at the knees. The audience came to their feet in a standing ovation as the bout drew to a close.
When the verdict was announced, the Chicago native's corner exploded with jubilation. Their man had escaped what would have been a disasterous defeat. Having looked perturbed moments before, the relief was clear to see on Terrell's face. He smiled and embraced his cornermen before crossing the ring to congratulate a disappointed Muscato for his determined effort.
Terrell landed 171 of 401 punches, with almost half of those connecting in the final two rounds while Muscato found the target with 139 of his 329 shots.
Having arrived in Japan ten days ago, Terrell had enamoured himself to the country's boxing-mad public, appearing at a number of promotional events and dedicating much of his time to helping out with the HBF-run boxing and fitness clinics being held here. It was a far cry from the shy, introverted Ernie Terrell who had been barely a presence during his debut in Italy back in January and the Japanese crowd cheered for him heartily. Terrell acknowledged that support during the post fight interview.
"I really want to thank the people of Japan for the fantastic support they've given me," he said. "I've received so much encouragement leading up to tonight and I'm just happy I was able to pull through with the win. I feel very fortunate to still be undefeated and I learned something about myself tonight. I learned how much I really want this. It's something I wasn't quite aware of before, but the way I dug deep to win those last two rounds ... I didn't know I had that in me. You look at the scorecards and it says that I only won one of the first four rounds. To think I could come back and win after that is pretty amazing. But I know it's only gonna get tougher, so this win will really serve me well for the future. I know it won't be the last time I'm in this type of situation."
Muscato's late capitulation could not have been more costly. A win over Terrell would have seen him placed 2nd in Group Fourteen of the World Championship tournament, while Terrell would have dropped to 3rd. The Buffalo native will now have to be victorious in his final two bouts to have any chance of qualifying for the second stage of the tournament.
(Coming up: the Tokyo Undercard)
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