Flashy Cassius Marcellus Clay won a fight last night but his narrow, unpopular decision victory may have ended his brief and brash career as tribune of the fight fans.

Rocked early in the first round by a sharp right to the jaw, Clay barely managed to rally and outpoint his tough, aggressive opponent, Doug Jones.

Eighteen thousand eager fans packed Madison Square Garden to see the self-proclaimed "greatest heavyweight of them all" fulfill his pre-fight promise to level Jones in four. They greeted the decision with a storm of boos and cries of "fake."

If Cassius is no bum, he is no pugilistic patrician, either. After his narrow first-round recovery he was shaken again in rounds four and seven. Clay's offense was wild and ineffective on the inside and even the few solid punches that Jones couldn't deflect did little damage to the small Harlem heavyweight. Only in round three did Clay connect with a series of sharp jabs and combinations.

Jones, totally unintimidated by Clay's 16-pound advantage and pre-fight verbal avalanche, took the fight to Cassius. The crowd gave Jones a standing ovation. Associated Press gave him a 5-4-1 victory, but the judges scored the bout 5-4-1 for Clay and referee Joe Loscalzo somhow saw it 8-1-1 Clay.

Clay Rebounds in Last Two Rounds

Only a sweep of the last two rounds carried Clay back from the brink of disaster.

For the fans who saw cocky Cassius as a new Jack Johnson, or the golden boy come to save boxing from dirt and dullness, the fight was a disaster.

But Cassius did, after all, win. His career is not over; he's still a promising contender. Those few experts who shoveled through Clay's Roman pomp and lyric poetry saw a young (21), inexperienced, unpolished, and unproved quantity.

Cassius had us all talking about the dream match of Liston-Clay when he had never flattened anything more than the 1962 relics of the once-great Archie Moore. The reason for the disappointment lies with us as well as Clay.

Unfortunately, Cassius is still talking about Liston. In his dressing room after the fight, Clay declared, "I think I'll get rid of the Big Bear (Sonny) quicker than Jones. No doubt about it, Jones is a better fighter than the Big Bear."

Liston Placid; Doug is Acid

Liston's reply from Miami Beach was perhaps more accurate--Clay showed me that I'll get locked up for murder if we're ever matched." A bitter Doug Jones merely added, "He won the decision. I won the fight."

If Cassius stops talking and keeps training, two years from now he should pack another house for a fight with Johansson, Patterson or Macben. The boy has the potential in size, speed, and smarts to fight a champion.

At best he'll be fighting Liston sometime in 1966. But even if he never makes it, we've all had a little fun with boxing for the first time in years.