. . . and in this corner . . .

A political pundit/boxing aficianado objects: this blog's earlier comparison of Senate hopeful Alan Keyes to Sonny Liston (a former champion) was not apt because talk-show host Keyes has never won an election. It's true, this blog was deferring to (counting on? testing?) the lack of knowledge of most readers of 60's-era boxers. Remember Ernie Terrell? He might stand-in better for Keyes:

"Ernie has the distinction of being the first alphabet heavyweight champion. The tall and lanky Terrell earned his "title" by beating Eddie Machen after the WBA stripped Muhammad Ali, ostensibly for giving Sonny Liston an immediate rematch. The real reason probably was because of Ali's association with the Black Muslims. Ali defeated Terrell for the "Undisputed Title" February 6, 1967 while shouting "What's my name?" throughout the fight to Terrell who had insisted on calling him by his "slave name" Cassius Clay. Ernie's sister was one of the Supremes, and Ernie even cut a record with her."

If not Ernie, then another one of Ali's scores of opponents might match-up better as "the mouth from Maryland" goes up against Barack "Cassius" Obama.