Chuck Wepner sent Muhammad Ali to the ground and inspired Stallone to create the character Rocky Balboa! The life story of the “real Rocky”

Chuck Wepner may not have been the most successful boxer in history, but his fight with Muhammad Ali inspired Sylvester Stallone, among others, to write his film about Rocky.

The streets of Bayonne, New Jersey shaped a boxing great

Now 83 years old, former professional boxer Chuck Wepner has experienced ups and downs during his life. However, he left a huge mark on the world of sport, and not just because he fought the titans of world boxing.

His life story begins on the streets of Bayonne, New Jersey, where he grew up practically from a young age. “There were always two or three gangs where I grew up, ” Wepner told the BBC

He always had a knack for sports and played basketball in high school because of his height. However, when he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps at age 15, he took up boxing as an amateur. Ten years later, he was boxing among the professionals and it must be said that his ability to take a punch, in particular, made him famous in the early stages of his career.

He was nicknamed “Bayonne Bleeder” because of his frequent bleeding and the frequency of injuries to his face. “I had 328 stitches in my career. I’ve had my nose broken nine times. But it never bothered me too much.”

Chuck Wepner fought the titans of boxing

Over the course of his 51-fight career, he achieved 35 wins and fought some of the sport’s true greats. In 1970, he wanted to become one of the elite in boxing history by fighting the legendary Sonny Liston. After the fight, however, he thought about never entering the ring again.

“I thought I would take a shortcut. But it wasn’t much of a shortcut because Sonny was too big and too tough. He broke my nose, gave me 71 stitches and cracked my left jaw,” he recalled of the fight, which had to be stopped by a doctor in the 10th round because of multiple injuries to Wepner.

“But I was ready to die in the ring. In fact, I was in a semi-coma after the Liston fight and I was in shock; my doctor told my mother I was totally messed up. I really wondered if I wanted to continue. But then I decided that I just had to give it another chance,” he finally decided to continue his boxing career.

But the biggest fight of his career was yet to come. After his loss to Liston he could not find his lost confidence, but then suddenly he was back on a winning streak and in 1975 his moment came. In a golden era of boxing dominated by boxers of color, famed promoter Don King was looking for a white man to step into the ring against the legendary Muhammad Ali.

The pinnacle of his career came against the legendary Muhammad Ali

In a fight that was promoted as “Give a white man a chance” few gave Wepner the slightest chance. Ali had just carved up a memorable bout with “The Rumble in the Jungle” fighter George Foreman, who absolutely demolished Joe Frazier.

The title fight with Ali itself exceeded all expectations. In the ninth round, Wepner shocked the crowd by sending his star opponent to the ring floor. “Start the car, we’re going to the bank. We’re millionaires, ” Wepner told his manager after the knockout. “You better turn around, he’s up and looking pissed,” came the clear reply from his corner.

In the remaining rounds Ali gave his brash challenger a good charge, breaking his nose and giving him lacerations above both eyes. After a hard knockdown with just 19 seconds left in the final 15 rounds, Wepner begged referee Tony Perez not to stop the fight in the first place. When asked how many fingers he could see, Perez replied, ” How many times can I guess?”

During this match with the legend of legends, he won the crowd in the hall and the heart of Sylvester Stallone. He was inspired by Wepner’s story and wrote the screenplay for his Oscar-winning film Rocky based on his career.

His performance inspired Stallone to create the character of Rocky

In particular, his duel with wrestler “Andre the Giant”, who threw him out of the ring, gave rise to a memorable excerpt from Rocky 3. In it, Stallone as Rocky takes on wrestler Hulk Hogan and, in the manner of Wepner, is thrown into the third row by the wrestler.

After his career ended, he then started doing drugs and his life went downhill. Then in 1985 he was arrested by the police with a large amount of cocaine and the court sent him to prison for ten years. After three years, he was only released from prison on parole. In 2011, the ESPN documentary “The Real Rocky” was released.

Over the years, Wepner sued Stallone for compensation for his part in inspiring the Rocky film. Stallone denied for years that he had inspired “Bayonne Bleeder”, but later admitted that it was Wepner who inspired him to create the story of the Rocky character.

Source: BBC, Wikipedia, Twitter accounts – John Petkovic and Boxing History