It’s not a fight found on all-time lists. It should be forgettable. But it’s not. Muhammad Ali-Chuck Wepner is a fight that lives on. And on. It’s easy to lose count of the sequels, a couple of which might actually be more forgettable than the fight itself.
But the fight, the real fight, happened 45 years ago today.
The rest is, well, a movie, one that is probably better known than any other film in the boxing library. Ali-Wepner is believed to be the inspiration for Rocky. Sylvester Stallone, forever the Rocky character, has said it wasn’t. Then again, that night have been because of a lawsuit filed by Wepner. The time line and anecdotal evidence are pretty convincing.
If not for Ali-Wepner on March 24, 1975 we might not still be watching Rocky.
The film was over-the-top fiction. But, yo, it’s a piece of Americana, probably played and replayed more often than Ali-Joe Frazier I or Roberto Duran-Sugar Ray Leonard I or any other legendary fight.
At first, the fight was something of gimmick, which is another way of saying it was a Don King promotion. Ali was just coming off one of his legendary victories, a stoppage of George Foreman in the celebrated Rumble in the Jungle in 1974. Ali was riding a wave of popularity. Good time to cash in and that’s exactly what King decided to do. Ali was looking for a quick payday in an easy fight. Wepner looked to be perfect for the role. Wepner was known as The Bayonne Bleeder. He needed a reported 120 stitches for cuts sustained against Sonny Liston .
King got some financial backing from a Cleveland associate. The fight was set for the Richfield Coliseum, where the NBA’s Cavaliers played in a forgotten suburb south of Cleveland. The perceived mismatch meant over-the-top marketing. There was plenty of time for that. Ali didn’t train.
“An old man was once asked by a young man, ‘How is it that you look so good and stay in such fine condition at your advanced age?'” Ali said. “The old man replied, ‘It is the preserved energy of my youth, which is now maintaining my life.’ That is why my career spanned 20 years. I didn’t burn myself out training for guys like Al Lewis, Jurgen Blin and Chuck Wepner.’’
Years after the fight, there were anecdotes about what Wepner thought and said. He reportedly told Stallone that he told his wife: “Even if I don’t win, I just want to prove I belong there.” It’s a line Rocky told Adrian before facing Apollo Creed.
Turns out, Wepner proved he did belong. He even was credited with knockdown of Ali in the ninth round. Ali complained that he fell when Wepner stepped on his foot. Whatever. It was an official knockdown. Wepner yelled to cornerman Al Braverman: “Start the car up, Al, we’re going to the bank, we’re millionaires.’’
Reportedly Braverman replied: “You better turn around, your guy’s getting up and he looks pissed off.’’
Ali went on to knock out Wepner in the 15th round.
The rest is a movie.