Poll: How great was Chuck Wepner

In the run up to their fight Ali wanted Wepner to call him the N word to build up the gate. Wepner said he couldn't do it because he had Black friends and sparring partners. The day of the fight he bought his wife a negligee and told her she would be sleeping with the champ tonight. She asked him what room is Muhammad in.

 

Chuck was Chuck. Not the worst contender of all time, but nowhere near the best. A rugged journeyman with an unfortunate weakness who always gave it his best despite his lack of talent and athleticism. He was far from a "great" fighter, but he did have a moment of greatness proving he wasn't just some bum and did deserve his title shot dropping Ali. A past his prime, flabby Ali, but a hell of an achievement regardless. Took the ass whooping Ali gave him like a man for daring to embarrass the champ.

 

A decent regional clubfighter.

 

If it comes to courage,Chuck was up there with the very best. Not much of the sweet science to his repetoire but everybody loves a trier,don't they?

 

Man, if Chucky’s bride actually did say that to him after the Ali fight…..to lose like that and then be emasculated by your Mrs - it would’ve made Chuck’s heart bleed as much as his face did….

Seriously though, Chuck was somewhat woven into the fabric of the 70s - the golden era, replete with multiple ATGs.

You didn’t have to be great yourself to have some of the greatness rub off on you if only by mere association and pugilistic interaction.

All the old names sound great to me, Quarry, Lyle, Shavers, Norton etc. Chuck had his place.

Without such players, how could the truly great prove themselves to be so? These guys, as vanquished opponents, comprised the elite reputations.

Chuck even had his own punch (like Ali’s anchor punch). Of course Chuck’s was the Rabbit Punch - and If nothing else, it roundly pi**ed Ali off. Not an easy thing to do.

 

To be fair, he stepped on Ali's foot during the "knockdown".

 

That was one of the few times I saw Ali get visibly upset in the ring. Those rabbit punches really bothered him. All is well. He came to love Ali as most of his former opponents did. Two actually kissed him. I don't remember if it was Wepner or Cooper who saw the old Ali at a party and was almost brought to tears by seeing him wearing special shoes, presumably for balance, when they remembered he moved so fluidly and effortlessly in his youth.

 

Chuck was a 5 on a scale of 10. He was an 8 for toughness and a 2 for skills.

 

I think he was the greatest New Jersey State Heavyweight Champion in history.

 

We'll, do was Peter Courtney is you go way, way back. Who was Peter Courtney you ask? Some guy filmed and badly outclassed by James Corbett.

 

Subtle moves like that only served to uphold the brilliance of Wepner. Uneducated eyes often miss stuff like that.

I’m surprised no one has uploaded to You Tube one of those considerate technique studies on Wepner - plenty on Louis, why not Chuck? I don’t get it.

Imagine watching Chuck in super slo mo for 5 solid mins - the nuances of his every move dissected and broken down to the nth degree. What a treat.

At the very least, the film study on Chuck could accent on how NOT to fight - there’s always something to be learned from everything - even the negative.

 

That's made me feel rather sad.

 

I love Chuck. I read about the time he knocked Ali down and went back to his corner celebrating as if he’d already won. And his coach said…”You better turn around, he’s getting up and looks pi**ed off!”
I don’t know if that’s true but it made me chuckle

 

Yes, except the story started with Wepner saying something like "back the money truck up, we're gonna be rich".