Muhammad Ali gets knocked down by Chuck Wepner
Lynn, I was looking for Chuck [Chuck Wepner biopic] as per Mister Barber’s recommendation and found this.
Chuck Wepner did something great for boxing when he pissed off Ali by actually hurting and embarrassing him and touched that nerve or pride in the arrogant champion which caused him to fight like he could, but rarely would. Ali made his money clowning for sissy white people and bitter black folks.
We are looking here at and extremely tough and athletically above average man fighting a physical genus. Ali probably had the best body ever designed for boxing by God and he spent many of his fights acting the fool instead because he was that much better.
One way of noting the difference is the abandonment of the hand span guard by Chuck. If chuck extends his lead hand off his shoulder and uses it as a stopping check and a gun sight he will be twice fast. The problem is, Ali is still faster, which leads him to abandon the hand span guard and protect his face because he knows that if Ali wants him gone he could be eating five punch combos that he will only be able to answer with two strokes.
Wepner’s body work was good and demonstrates an immense reserve of core body strength and deep well of relaxation in Ali. The heart punch was a sweet shot for a big man. Now, to give you an idea of why Ray Robinson was the best of all time, he had Ali's balance and hand speed but had Wepner’s work ethic and went on the hunt to the body, sending rights to the heart. Ali could have KO’d most of his opponents that matched his stature with heart punches, but that’s hard work.
Chuck did us a hell of a favor by bringing out the beast in Ali. Note how Ali is landing combos while on the balls of both of his feet, doing micro-pivots. This guy was essentially untrained and could not even explain what he did. Imagine if Ali had had the humility to let Archie Moore train him?
One thing to say for Ali is that he fought everybody and fought on heroically to put his family out of economic insecurity even after is brain was known to be separating after a CT-scan in Bermuda.
For a bonus here is Wepner on the show card against Andre the Giant.
God that ring is small—give me a knife!
(c) 2018 James LaFond
Thanks for the Ali Wepner vid. Brutal. That Wepner was a tough SOB. Mr Clay was sublime.
ReplyDeleteJohnpaul Barber set me on the Wepner trail. For a working slug like me hat fight is an inspiration. I saw it 24 years ago on an ESPN Ali weekend when I watched every fight back to back. But it didn't really touch me until I saw it as a worn out man.
DeleteAli was just coming off back to back wins against Joe Frazier and George Foreman. Don King only offered the fight to Wepner because he wanted to get a black vs white rivalry going in order to hype the fight. A change of pace for Ali. No one ever gave "The Bayonne Bleeder" a chance, and he ended up going all but the final 19 seconds of the 15th round.
ReplyDeleteI’ll gladly acknowledge Ali’s talent, but I’ve never been a fan of his either, James. Mainly due to how he treated Joe Frazier. Frazier grew up extremely poor in the swamps of Beaufort, SC before moving to Philadelphia as an adult. He was dark-skinned, ugly, and not very smart. Ali was light skinned, handsome, intelligent, and came from a middle class background in Louisville. KY. Joe Frazier was the stereotypical poor black person who didn’t have an easy life in those days. I remember watching an interview with Joe where he said he always knew whether it was raining outside by looking up at the holes in the roof of the old shack he grew up in. Joe lived this hardscrabble life, yet it was Ali who portrayed himself as the champion of the black race and using every opportunity he could to call Joe a gorilla and an Uncle Tom during the lead up to The Thrilla in Manila fight. Ali humiliated Joe and turned his own race against him, even though Joe helped Ali out financially when he was suspended from boxing for refusing to serve in Vietnam.
It’s a shame Chuck Wepner went so long before Stallone finally gave him some royalties for basing Rocky after Chuck’s life. But it’s an even bigger shame that the shit city of Philadelphia put up a statue of a fake boxer instead of a statue of Smokin’ Joe.
Ali was fast, but I think this was the fastest I’ve ever seen him move:
Sonny Liston Shoots Muhammad Ali
Between 1998 and 2000 I read about 150 boxing books written in the modern sports writing style. The book that really effected me the most was Ghosts of Manilla, where I first realized how bad Ali screwed Frazier. Liston, Moore, Patterson, Williams, four older black men who paid hard dues who Ali paid no respect to.
DeleteBad link.
ReplyDeleteSonny Liston Shoots Muhammad Ali
JP -- Thanks for that link! I had heard of that incident, but I had no idea video was available!
ReplyDeleteBlinky Palermo's umbrella must have extended pretty far to let Sonny get away with A. manhandling a white Denver cop in 1963, and B. firing off blanks in a Vegas casino!