BoxRec

I read recently that when wrestler/promoter Verne Gagne visited Japan in 1970,he came across"Monster Roussimoff"
who was wrestling there at the time and Gagne originally wanted the giant to come to America so he could be trained as a boxer and become a potential "Great White Hope",instead when Andre came to Montreal he started wrestling on the undercards of wrestling bouts,and apparently any boxing training was not taken.
You ever seen films of Andre the Giant in 1970?
He was 24 yrs old and "only". 335 lbs then and very athletic considering.

There is a video clip from 1977 showing Andre the Giant in a boxing match.
Makes you wonder how good he may have been if he had taken up boxing years earlier.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p8TNUmKSiM

A boxing match? That's stretching matters somewhat.

Anyway, basically he looked shite didn't he?

One good thing though was that Jersey Joe seemed to have found a level of "refereeing" that he was comfortable with.

Funny stuff. Especially when Andre layed The Gorilla out in the puddle of rain outside the ring.

Worth a look!

Andre looked to have a decent jab with some pop to it.
But i dunno one or 2 of those punches appeared suspicious to me.

Brutu wrote:Andre looked to have a decent jab with some pop to it.

I am assuming you are having a`laugh. :??

Gorilla Monsoon was ahead of his time with the leg punches

Jersey Joe Walcott stood an even 6 feet tall(in his socks)which give you a scale of these behemouths.
You know Jersey Joe reffed some of Joe Louis's wrestling matches back in the mid-1950's.

Gorilla Monsoon he was built sort of Tony Galento-esqe.
look at his calfs compared to the giants.

The flying ASS drop must have been moida.

That 'boxing match' in that video was as worked and
fake as a wrestling match.

And it still looked crap.

That wasnt the case a year earlier ,June 25 1976 when Andre the giant took on HW contender Chuck Wepner
for a scheduled ten round exhibition at Shea stadium in NYC.
Notice Andre the giant looks very serious as does Wepner,totally diiferent atmosphere.
there was true danger in the air that evening.Here is the link to youtube to the Andre/Wepner bout.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3EksOFtILs

Works often get real, when things slip from the pre determined
outcome.
Take Berbick vs Takada for example.

Brutu wrote: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3EksOFtILs

That 11 minute clip took about 20 minutes to download for some reason but I watched it slow.
If you notice at 6:51 Wepner really clocks Andre with a solid left hook and the giants knee seems to buckle then Andre to go ape sh*t.
I had heard before this bout was staged but it doesnt appear so to me.

TALE OF THE TAPE

ht - wt - reach

Chuck Wepner - 6ft 5 in - 232 lbs - 72"


Andre the Giant - 7ft 5 in*- 463 lbs - 87"

* There has been much discusssion over the years concerning Andre the Giant's true standing height
however it would appear that his true height around the early 1970's was about 6ft.10 inches tall(in his socks).
He wore a size 22 boot.

Wepner vs. Andre looks "worked" to me. I have heard some people say it was real, but it looks fake to me.

Depends on the rules. I would think all a decent wrestler needs to do is bull rush a boxer, get him off his feet, and beat the tar out of him.

John Galt wrote:Wepner vs. Andre looks "worked" to me. I have heard some people say it was real, but it looks fake to me.

I only watched the first few minutes but I agree it looked totally fake.

No way.I thought for a time it may have been fake after only hearing about it for years,thats when there was only clips of the bout on youtube and not the entire bout as it lasted.When the 11 minute clip was being download it stopped eeir mayvery few secons so
you can get the detail,I was watching the expressions on both Andres face and Wepners as well as their body language and the reaction of the crowd watching,their may have been parts that were prearranged such as after Wepner got back into the ring that may have been somewhat scripted in advance,but my feeling is once they stepped into the ring it was real.
Did you see Andre almost pin wepner on the canvas?That was sacary.

Brutu wrote:No way.I thought for a time it may have been fake after only hearing about it for years,thats when there was only clips of the bout on youtube and not the entire bout as it lasted.When the 11 minute clip was being download it stopped eeir mayvery few secons so
you can get the detail,I was watching the expressions on both Andres face and Wepners as well as their body language and the reaction of the crowd watching,their may have been parts that were prearranged such as after Wepner got back into the ring that may have been somewhat scripted in advance,but my feeling is once they stepped into the ring it was real.
Did you see Andre almost pin wepner on the canvas?That was sacary.

I guess we all see what we want to see. It looked worked to me but if you want to believe it was real, go for it.

Another thing I have never seen is the agility of Andre the Giant. I have read that he was strong (may have been) and agile, but he looked about as unathletic as any person I have ever seen. I know he had a serious disease that caused him to be that way, but with all the video available I have never seen anything to indicate he was athletic or quick.

Their may have been a general script to work withparticularly with the seconds,but looks to me Andre original intention going in was to pin Wepner on the canvas.
It looked awkward becaue Wepner was not a pro wrestler and didnt balance himself to make Andre look good tossing people about.
Dint hear the rules of thee bout but the were to benifit Wepner as the ref broke them apart whenever Wepner was trapped against the ropes.Unfortanetly once you download that clip its runs a little faster then real time when you play straight through.

Collins2000 wrote:

Brutu wrote:No way.I thought for a time it may have been fake after only hearing about it for years,thats when there was only clips of the bout on youtube and not the entire bout as it lasted.When the 11 minute clip was being download it stopped eeir mayvery few secons so
you can get the detail,I was watching the expressions on both Andres face and Wepners as well as their body language and the reaction of the crowd watching,their may have been parts that were prearranged such as after Wepner got back into the ring that may have been somewhat scripted in advance,but my feeling is once they stepped into the ring it was real.
Did you see Andre almost pin wepner on the canvas?That was sacary.

I guess we all see what we want to see. It looked worked to me but if you want to believe it was real, go for it.

Who knows on the Wepner Giant affair, I've heard both ways, but the rabbit shots that Wepner was throwing appeared to have full intent, and I think it got Andre's attention and throwing him out of the ring seemed to be his answer. I bet it was somewhat scripted, but some of the moments did appear to be authentic and full of reality. I agree withe the read of the body language.

I have to wonder if perhaps there was winking and maybe even a verbal agreement, who knows maybe even in writing as to aspects. But in front of all the people perhaps neither wanted to look phoney. But go over the film, maybe something went wrong when pain entered the scene because some of that is truly not acting. Vs the Monsoon stuff which looked like two grown men having some sort of kiddie pillow fight.

Have a look fixed probably, but perfectly scripted? Something went wrong and a bit of fight seem to have broken out here. Although I've never been sure about the head to head butt.....would someone really do that with intent? Isn't that a 50/50 proposition as to who's going to get the worst of that with every attempt? Unless it's aimed at the nose? I mean who's to say who's head is going to come out on top?

Here is some info on that..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozRTSSaP6p4

The head butt was ridiculous, Andre definitely didn't hit Wepner with his head. That is supposed to be what "hurt" Wepner and allowed Andre to catch him and throw him from the ring. Notice that the "injured" Wepner was able to catch the rope with his gloved hand as he was "thrown" out and break his fall so he didn't fall from the ring to the floor.

I didn't see anything about the video that looked real. Typical wrestling "work."

The knee to mid-section and head butt were probably just reflexive action by Andre,he probably didnt do them any harder then in a pro wrestling match which of course isnt as hard as it seems.
However Andre looks to be in shape ,best shape Ive seen him appear to be,and he is profusely sweating.
As for Wepner I think his plan was to just pot shot at Andre and go the distance,and probably get the decision if he did mange to go the entire 10 scheduled rounds.