Chuck Wepner went 15 rounds with the best boxer the world has ever seen. Muhammad Ali looked to have Chuck Wepner outclassed from the beginning. He was dancing around dogging while Wepner appeared to be using up excess energy following the dancing king around the ring. Wepner also looked awkward when punching at Ali. On occasion Muhammad Ali would lean against the ropes almost laughing while Wepner tried to pummel him with punches. It all seemed to no avail.
As the fight continued, Ali taunted his opponent as though fattening him up, indulging Wepner before dispatching him, but no. Wepner still seemed to keep going. He did not look like he could win because he did not seem to be hurting Ali and he looked less fit too. However, something kept this guy going. It was strange because as the rounds went on Ali began to seem perplexed. Chuck Wepner just would not go down. Then he caught Ali with a punch and put him on the canvass. It was euphoric as the crowd gasped in amazement.
Ali got up and was suddenly boxing and landing punches with a stronger sense of purpose. Wepner had won some respect now and was being taken much more seriously. Still Wepner stayed on his feet amid a barrage of Muhammad Ali punches. Wepner looked smashed and broken but the guy would not go down and now battered and bruised as he was, he had the audacity to start taunting Ali, mocking the Champion of the World, the same way he had been mocked at the beginning of the fight.
Chuck Wepner went to round 15. The final round and Ali was well ahead and would win unless Wepner could put Ali down again. He had no chance but he went for it anyway, and Ali managed to land a punch that finally took Wepner out of the fight. Wepner went down as he tried to defeat Ali. To be fair Ali never looked like losing, but there was something truly remarkable about Chuck Wepner. He almost went the distance and certainly turned the tables on Ali for periods of the boxing match. It was entertaining because this small no hope guy suddenly rattled the cage of the World Champion - for a brief and very entertaining moment.
I honestly believe that the idea for the Rocky movies are a jazzed up version of this fight.
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