After his colossal upset of George Foreman in October of 1974, Ali was on top of the sports world. In January he turned 33 and was looking for an easy first defense of his newly won championship. His promoter Don King found the easy mark in Chuck ‘The Bayonne Bleeder’ Wepner. The bout was set for March 24, 1975 in the brand new Richfield Coliseum in Cleveland, Ohio.
No one gave the mediocre Wepner a shot, and with good reason. All he did was rabbit punch Ali for the first 3 or 4 rounds, and referee Tony Perez never even called a foul. His claim to fame came in the 9th round when he stepped on Ali’s foot as he hit him in the chest, causing the champ to fall. Wepner was tough however, and almost went the distance, until Ali stopped him via a TKO late in the 15th round.
An unknown actor named Sylvester Stallone watched the whole thing on closed circuit tv, and the idea of a movie script was born that night. An unknown contender gets a shot at the title and his name would be Rocky.
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