Following his colossal upset of George Foreman on October 30, 1974, Muhammad Ali was a hero worldwide, and came home to national acclaim. The win over Foreman was not shown on live TV for months, unlike today’s world, where you can watch a fight on YouTube a few hours after it’s over. Ali was the champ again, and decided to do as most new champs do, schedule an easy title defense for their first bout after a huge win.
Chuck Wepner, known as the “Bayonne Bleeder”, was the the pick, a white ranked contender with about as much chance to win as me, and I was 14 at the time. The fight was signed for March 24 at the brand new Richfield Coliseum, outside of Cleveland, Ohio, with Ali a 10-1 favorite going in. Ali admittedly did very little training for the fight with the 36 year old Wepner, figuring he could get by on his superior skills alone.
I’ve seen their bout many times on tape, and the thing that drives me nuts is how referee Tony Perez allowed Wepner to blatantly hit Ali on the back of his head. Rabbit punches can be painful and deadly, and Wepner did it repeatedly, without warning. Finally, after numerous pleas to Perez about it, Ali took matters into his own hands, and starting hitting Wepner with rabbit punches, too. Finally, the madness ended, and Ali started landing enough jabs when he chose, easily winning the rounds. In the ninth, Ali went down when Wepner landed a body shot as he stepped on the champ’s foot. Falsely ruled a knockout by the totally inept Perez, the myth still remains that Wepner actually really decked Ali. Muhammad finished the bout strong, finally stopping an exhausted Wepner late in the 15th round, ending the charade of a title fight at best.
Set for May 16, Ali accepted the challenge of a real fighter in Ron Lyle, a hard-punching contender. Lyle had an impressive record of 30-2-1, with 21 KO’s, and at least had a puncher’s chance going in.
The bout from the Las Vegas Convention Center was broadcast live on ABC, with Howard Cosell calling the action. Weighing in at 224 1/2 lbs., Ali was heaviest he had been for years, figuring he was good enough to train in less than spartan like fashion. Lyle was aggressive from the start, and landed enough hard punches to force Ali on his toes, dancing by the fifth round. The champ became more determined, started landing hard blows to Lyle more often, and finally ended it in the 11th round. Despite pleas from Lyle’s corner, it was the right call in my book, and Ali had his second title defense in his second reign as champ, under his belt.
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