Cassius X

One thing about Cassius Clay. He is a man of his word. "I'm gonna shake up this town," said the world's heavy weight champion last week -- and he did.

The town was New York. Announcing that he had dropped his middle name, Marcellus, in favor of the Black Muslim "X," Clay checked into Harlem's Hotel Theresa, once the Manhattan headquarters of Fidel Castro. He cut a rock-'n'-roll disk for Columbia, passed out free Florida oranges in Times Square, sounded off to reporters on everything from urban renewal ("If I lived in Harlem, I'd move to Long Island") to his relations with the opposite sex: "Like you take a guy cruising along in a Cadillac with $10,000 in the pockets of his mohair suit. He's got it made. Then a woman crosses the street, and what happens? Bang! He smashes up the car."

Diplomatic Black. Next stop for Cassius was the United Nations. "I am champion of the whole world," he announced grandly, "and I want to meet all the people I am champion of." Carefully attired in diplomatic black and surrounded by his ubiquitous Black Muslim advisers (wherever Cassius went, Malcolm X was sure to go), he strode boldly into the delegates' lounge--instantly creating what one observer described as "the biggest sensation since Khrushchev took off his shoe." Complained Turkish Ambassador Turgut Menemencioglu: "They're more interested in Cassius than in Cyprus." Delegates lined up to shower him with invitations to visit their countries. "We're proud of you. Come whenever you can," beamed Liberian Ambassador Christie W. Doe. "Thank you, sir," answered the pride of Louisville. "I have longed to go back home to Liberia." Cassius' eyes bugged at the sight of an African delegate carrying the ornately carved stick of a tribal chieftain. "Man," breathed Cassius, pointing to the stick, "I got to get me one of those."

They might love Cassius at the U.N. --but not in the newspapers. Sportswriters were still not satisfied that Champion Clay's seven-round victory over Sonny Listen in Miami two weeks ago was strictly on the up and up. "A sordid mystery," sneered one. "A malodorous mess," sniffed another. Some skeptics hinted that Listen's camp had engineered a betting coup--though Las Vegas bookmakers insisted no "smart money" had been bet on Clay. If it had, the odds would not have increased from 7-1 to 8-1 on the day of the fight.

Others suggested that Listen had thrown the fight to build up the gate for a return match. That made no better sense: as challenger, Listen would collect only half the champion's share. Still others, including Michigan Senator Philip A. Hart, saw something suspicious in the fact that Cassius had signed a $50,000 "contingency" contract with Intercontinental Promotions Inc. before the fight--giving Intercontinental the right to pick the opponent and site for his first title defense. The opponent naturally figured to be Sonny Liston; he owns 22 1/2% of Intercontinental Promotions Inc.

But the contract was nothing more than a way around the World Boxing Association's unrealistic ban on returnbout contracts. "Insurance," Liston's lawyer called it. "We never dreamed Sonny could lose."

"I'm No Fool." Obviously. Unprepared for a bout of long duration, Liston came into the ring undertrained and overweight, with a ring of fat like a bagel around his midsection. His legs were gone by the third round, his desire by the start of the seventh. At that point, quoth Cassius:

Sonny said, "He's too cool. I'm no fool.

I'm stay in' here, on the stool." Last week Liston insisted that he would not make the same mistake twice. If there is a next time. With $300,000 already in the bank this year and more in the offing from record sales, television, personal tours and product endorsements, Clay is thinking only of a nice long vacation trip--a pilgrimage to

Mecca, say. Then there is the problem of his draft status. But perhaps that was solved last week. In Louisville, the Courier-Journal reported that Cassius had flunked his preinduction psychological exam. Not once, but twice. He probably told the psychologist that he was going to win the heavyweight championship of the world--and the psychologist said, "He's crazy."

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