50 years ago today, March 24, 1975 ... [View all]
Chuck Wepner, AKA "The Bayonne Bleeder," went 15 rounds with world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali at The Coliseum in Richfield, Ohio. Ali won the fight after he knocked out Wepner in the fifteenth round.
Wepner knocked Ali to the canvas in the 9th round. Ali would later dispute the official knockdown, claiming that Wepner had stepped on his foot and then pushed him, causing him to lose his balance and fall. Film and photographic records mostly vindicate Ali's claim, although Wepner maintains that it was a genuine knockdown.
The fight was sufficiently inspiring for Sylvester Stallone (who watched the fight live) to partly base the character of Rocky Balboa on Wepner, and of Apollo Creed on Ali.
I was a high school senior in Northeast Ohio. It was a big deal for the area.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ali_vs._Chuck_Wepner
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