Seeing Ali's old name in this thread reminded me of a fight back in 1967 with Ali against Ernie Terrell. Before the fight Terrell kept calling Ali "Cassius Clay" which pissed off Ali and my main recollection of that fight was of Ali pounding on Terrell all fight while yelling at him, "
WHAT'S MY NAME?!"
Here's a good description of it off the internet:
"Showdown with Ali
What most people remember about the Ali-Terrell fight is Ali continually yelling "What's my name?" as he pummeled Terrell mercilessly. During the prefight promotion, Terrell inadvertently referred to Ali as Clay. When Ali took offense to that, Terrell supposed it was part of the hype. Terrell kept using the name Clay after that, infuriating Ali. Terrell said later that he was playing the name game for publicity purposes only and thought that Ali was doing the same. That wasn't the case, though, as Terrell would find out.
Terrell was the underdog against Ali, but didn't perceive himself that way. He went into the Houston ring believing he would win the undisputed heavyweight championship. Victories over quality fighters like Williams, Folley, Machen and Chuvalo had boosted Terrell's confidence. He expected to befuddle and frustrate Ali, just as he had other slick boxers like Jones and Folley and Machen.
It didn't happen that way, of course. Terrell quickly discovered that Ali was much quicker than the others. Terrell didn't have the means to neutralize Ali's amazing hand speed. Terrell also quickly learned that Ali's anger about being called Clay was very real. From the first round, Ali began taunting Terrell, shouting "What's my name?" over and over again. By the eighth round, the bout was totally one-sided and almost painful to watch. Many observers felt that the referee should have intervened and halted matters some time after the ninth round. The ref didn't, though, and the massacre droned on. Someone said it was like watching a butterfly's wings being pulled off.
This was a rare display of viciousness by Ali, who for all his bluster never desired to inflict unnecessary harm. Perhaps the impending court hearing regarding his military status was preying on Ali's mind. Maybe Ali was venting all the anger he felt inside toward the WBA and its hypocrisy and unjust ways. In punishing Terrell, perhaps Ali was vicariously lashing back at everyone who wouldn't accept him because of his color or his boastfulness or his religious convictions.
Whatever the reasons, Terrell paid a terrible price."
Here's some footage of the pre-fight chatter and also of the fight: