Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...
and
Chuck Wepner
Charles Wepner (born February 26, 1939) is an American former professional boxer. He fell just nineteen seconds short of a full fifteen rounds against world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in a 1975 championship fight. Wepner also scored notab ...
fought each other in a boxing match on March 24, 1975, at the
Richfield Coliseum
Richfield Coliseum, also known as the Coliseum at Richfield, was an indoor arena located in Richfield Township, between Cleveland and Akron, Ohio. It opened in 1974 as a replacement for the Cleveland Arena, and had a seating capacity of 20,273 f ...
in
Richfield Township, Summit County, Ohio
Richfield Township is one of the nine townships of Summit County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 5,424 people in the township, 2,138 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township.
Geography
Located in the northwester ...
.
This was Ali's first boxing bout after reclaiming the heavyweight championship from
George Foreman
George Edward Foreman (born January 10, 1949) is an American former professional boxer, entrepreneur, minister and author. In boxing, he was nicknamed "Big George" and competed between 1967 and 1997. He is a two-time world heavyweight champio ...
in
The Rumble in the Jungle
George Foreman vs. Muhammad Ali, billed as ''The Rumble in the Jungle'', was a heavyweight championship boxing match on October 30, 1974, at the 20th of May Stadium (now the Stade Tata Raphaël) in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of t ...
. The fight was billed as ''Give the White Guy a Break''.
Ali won the fight after he knocked out Wepner in the fifteenth round. The fight is notable for being among the four fights in which Ali was officially knocked down in the ring, and for inspiring the 1976 film ''
Rocky
''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess M ...
''.
Background
Wepner was 35 years old at this time. His professional record comprised thirty wins, nine losses, and two draws. He had earned the moniker "The Bayonne Bleeder" because he would readily get cut during boxing fights, and because he was from
Bayonne, New Jersey
Bayonne ( ) is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Located in the Gateway Region, Bayonne is situated on a peninsula located between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill Van Kull to the south, and New York Bay to the east. As of ...
. Prior to the Ali fight, Wepner had fought with
Sonny Liston
Charles L. "Sonny" Liston ( 1930 – December 30, 1970) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1953 to 1970. A dominant contender of his era, he became the world heavyweight champion in 1962 after knocking out Floyd Patterson i ...
in Liston's final boxing match; after the bout Wepner had required 120 stitches.
The fight was expected to be an easy win for Ali who did minimal training for it. Asked why he had not trained harder for this fight, Ali had commented:
Buildup
"Don King induced a Cleveland tycoon named Carl Lombardo to underwrite the show for $1.3‐million. Video Techniques put in $200,000 and that just about took care of the nut. Video Techniques had snatched the champion out of Top Rank's clutches but now had a mismatch in a cornfield; a million‐dollar turkey in a 5 and 10 cent store."
Ali and Wepner did some television interviews together to promote the fight. They were on 'The Mike Douglas Show' when Ali leaned towards Wepner during a break and said:
Upon Wepner's refusal to grant him the favor he sought, Ali started shouting as soon as the show's host reappeared on the set: "Do you know what he called me? Do you know what he called me?"
Wepner then covered Ali's mouth with his hand." Ali was a promoter. He was a great promoter and they were trying to hype up the fight," Wepner explained.
Mrs. Wepner and Stallone
Before the fight, Wepner was lying in bed with his wife when he told her something like "Even if I don't win, I just want to prove I belong there." Wepner later shared this line with
Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...
who used it in ''
Rocky
''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess M ...
''.
On the day of the fight Wepner presented a "very sexy" blue negligee to his wife and told her to wear it that night in bed since she would be sleeping with the heavyweight champion of the world. On the night of the fight, Mrs. Wepner was wearing the negligee when Wepner returned to their hotel room, after the fight, with twenty three stitches. She asked him: "Okay, bigshot...Do I go to Ali's room, or does he come to mine?"
The Fight
Besides his courage and stamina, Wepner had a huge repertoire of "fouls and dirty tricks", some of which were used in this fight.
Prior to the fight Wepner told his manager "Ali is the king of boxin'", whereupon the manager responded with "Yeah, yeah, Chuck, but in the ring you're the king of dirty fighting. You're both royalty."
Ali would later complain that Wepner had thrown "rabbit punches"—punches on the back of the head—on him, and had expressed his displeasure that
Tony Perez
Tony may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer
* Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leag ...
, the referee, allowed the usage of this tactic.
Ali retaliated by throwing 6 punches to the back of Wepner's head in the first round. Ali also claimed that the referee incorrectly designated his fall in the ninth round an official knockdown. According to Ali, Wepner had stepped on his foot, and then pushed him causing him to lose his balance and fall. Film and photographic records prove Ali's claim, although Wepner claims it was a genuine knockdown.
After knocking down Ali, Wepner went to his corner and told his manager: "Start the car up, Al, we're going to the bank, we're millionaires!", whereupon the manager told Wepner: "You better turn around--your guy's getting up and he looks pissed off."
Ali punished Wepner for the rest of the fight culminating with a final flurry of punches in the last round which knocked out Wepner.
Aftermath
Ali later commented that Wepner "was dirty and fought like a woman."
However, Wepner's effort was sufficiently inspiring for Sylvester Stallone to base the character of
Rocky
''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess M ...
on Wepner, and of
Apollo Creed
Apollo Creed is a fictional character from the ''Rocky'' films, played by Carl Weathers.
He serves as the main antagonist in ''Rocky'' and '' Rocky II'' and also appears in ''Rocky III'' and ''Rocky IV''. He is a tough but agile boxer w ...
on Ali.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Wepner
Wepner
1975 in boxing
World Boxing Association heavyweight championship matches
World Boxing Council heavyweight championship matches
March 1975 sports events in the United States
Sports in Richfield Township, Summit County, Ohio
Boxing in Ohio