Sonny Liston could not whip Cassius Marcellus Clay with his fists, but the bureaucrats and hypocrites of the World Boxing Association are about to beat the new champion with a ballot.

Describing Cassius as, "a detriment to the boxing world," WBA president Ed Lassman announced yesterday that he had asked the WBA Executive Committee to remove Clay's title and drop him from the heavyweight ratings. A poll of the Commissioners will be completed by Friday and Lassman has already declared "I am certain the title will be vacated."

At the same time Lassman expects the Commission to drop Sonny Liston, now number one contender, from the rankings, thus leaving the motley crew of Doug Jones, Ernie Terrell and Eddie Machen as the top three contenders in a round-robin competition for the crown.

Lassman's action is a thinly-disguised political attack on Clay's Black Muslim affiliation. And if the 20 Boxing Commissioners have any common sense, or interest in the future of professional boxing, they would be well advised to leave Cassius his title, and to relieve Mr. Lassman of his.

Part of Lassman's case against Clay is based on the controversial $50,000 contract, signed before the Clay-Liston fight, which gave Sonny's promoters the rights to Clay's first fight if he should become champion. This contract does appear to be a not very subtle effort to circumvent the 1963 WBA regulation prohibiting return clauses in championship fights.

Although few reputable boxing experts have claimed that the Liston-Clay fight was fixed, there may well be grounds for a WBA investigation and perhaps nullification of the contract.

But, Lassman is not calling for an investigation of Cassias Clay's contract; he is demanding the dethronement of Cassius X. The heart of Lassman's case against Clay is the champion's personal behavior and its effect upon "the boxing world" and "the youth of the world," and here Lassman betrays himself as a fool and a bigot.

Liston Arrested Again

Unlike Sonny Liston, a convieted armed robber who was arrested again last week for speeding with a concealed weapon in his car, Clay has never been in trouble with the law and, in accordance with Muslim commandment, does not even drink or smoke. Clay's ebullience and arrogance, though grating on the nerves of boxing sports-writers, who labeled him a loudmouthed patsy, were given substance by his performance against Liston. Since the fight Clay has held his bragging in check, and to many of us he somewhat infantile, personality.

Some months before Cassius won his title there were rumors that he was a Black Muslim, and since becoming champion Clay has proudly advertised his new religion and his new name--Muhammed Ali. Most of us tend to view Cassius as a well meaning, but misled child, and as such it is disturbing to see Elijah Muhammed ministering to his spiritual needs.

We have every right and probably much reason to regret that Cassius has provided the Muslims with a public forum for their philosophy. We may hope like hell that Floyd Patterson can work his way up the heavyweight ladder, defeat Clay, and then quietly preach the Urban League doctrine from the throne. Or, we might wish for the good old days when fighters fought, kept their social and religious convictions to themselves, and left the civil rights movement for quicker minds to deal with.

Mr. Lassman can subscribe to any of these views, but he has no right to ban Cassius Marcellus Clay, or Cassius "Muhammed Ali" Clay from boxing for expounding the glory of Islam.

Makes Boxing a Mockery

This is all so obvious that it is hardly necessary to point out what a mockery Lassman is about to make of boxing. Cus D'Amato tried for years to avoid a Liston-Patterson fight, but so long as Liston was kept twiddling his thumbs at the top of the contenders' ladder, a few of us were willing to accept Floyd as the best heavyweight around. With Cassius Clay exiled from the boxing world no one will recognize Doug Jones or Ernie Terrell as a legitimate champion. Much as Lassman might wish that only nice Baptist boys from healthy middle class homes would take up boxing, that just is not the case. It just is not boxing