"The local heroes in New Jersey were Bruce Springsteen and Chuck Wepner," Feuerzeig said. All I could see was shadows. At the count of six, with Wepner attempting to rise, referee Tony Perez waved off the fight. He won his next two, lost one, and then embarked on the best streak of his career, winning eight straight -- including a win over Ernie Terrell, two over Randy Neumann and a knockout of Terry Hinke.Wepner acquired that nickname on June 29, 1970, when as a 31-year-old journeyman heavyweight with a record of 20-5-2, he took on former champ Sonny Liston in Jersey City. With Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro.
"The Real Rocky" is a made-for-television documentary, but a few nights before its premiere on ESPN, it finds its way to the big screen as part of the Philadelphia Film Festival. First, breathe a sigh of relief. With Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro. For one night, anyway. By the time the movie was released on Dec. 3, 1976, word had spread that Wepner was Stallone's muse, and Wepner basked in the glory of hearing his first name chanted in the New York theater where he watched the film.After the Hinke win, promoter Don King promised Wepner the next shot at heavyweight champ George Foreman, after Big George was done pummeling Ali in Zaire. These include:"John Henry won. "Well, they decided to hold a test to get an idea of how practical the steam drill was. When "Cop Land," the much-anticipated movie about police corruption, hit theaters Friday, it opened against the backdrop of a real-life cop scandal in New Y ork City. Edit . Having retired from boxing with a record of 35-14-2, Wepner will never be enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame, as Stallone was this past June. According to Wepner, it was Bayonne Times sports editor Jerry "Rosey" Rosenberg, sitting ringside in a tan leisure suit that became increasingly polka-dotted red as the fight wore on, who bestowed upon him his degrading yet eternally charming handle that night.At a theater in Los Angeles, struggling actor Sylvester Stallone watched the Ali-Wepner fight and promptly went home and banged out the script for a little movie called "Rocky." Wepner sits in the back row next to his wife, Linda, watching the finished product for the first time. I had friends who owned go-go clubs, and we partied and we'd hit all the night clubs and it was fun! Gary Figgis (Ray Liotta) is as alienated as Freddy, but he believes it’s every man for himself, that the diagonal rule is more important than the golden rule — “red light, don’t fight, you make a right.” And then there’s Freddy himself, who sees merit in each argument, his inherent desire to do good muddied by the “deep and dark motherfuck” of the corruption around him.This film is a total blast. I'm very proud of the fact now that I've got about 22 or 23 years clean.