BoxRec

The Wepner/Rousimoff [Andre The Giant] bout was a 'work' for the most part. It happened the same night that Muhammad Ali took on Antonio Inoki in Tokyo, Japan.

From what I understand for the first two rounds all went accordingly to plan, until Wepner took liberties on Andre and hit him with a really hard punch that pissed off the big man.

Course this all could have been hoaxed up as well, with making this little exhibition bout seem legit...irregardless it's fun to watch, and was far more exciting than the Ali-Inoki bout, which went the entire 15 rounds to a draw.

Ironically nobody got hurt in the Wepner-Rousimoff bout, but Ali had damaged blood vessels in his legs from the repeated kicks from Inoki who more or less crab walked around the ring and whenever Ali was about to hit him Inoki hit the floor and kicked Ali away.

[sorry posted in wrong place]

OMFG! hahahahahahahahhahaha LMAO LMAO wepner got owned!!! did u see that headbut HAHAHAAHHA

The only 'boxer vs wrestler' fights that I know of that were legit were:

1- Jack Dempsey vs Laurence 'Cowboy' Luttrell

2- Muhammad Ali vs Antonio Inoki*

3- Archie Moore vs 'Iron' Mike DiBiase

4- Archie Moore vs Sterling Davis


Then of course exhibitions Antonio Inoki had with Chuck Wepner and Karl Mildenberger, course I can't say for sure if those were legit or not.

* Ali was told it was to be a work, but Ali said he wouldn't work anything crooked and supposedly had a real fight with Inoki, of course this could have been scripted to make it seem legit, but Ali did have severe injuries to his legs that prove otherwise. It does kind of make me wonder though, considering Ali had participated in wrestling matches before and worked 'crooked' fights with Gorilla Monsoon.

IrishRufusMurphy wrote:The only 'boxer vs wrestler' fights that I know of that were legit were:

1- Jack Dempsey vs Laurence 'Cowboy' Luttrell

2- Muhammad Ali vs Antonio Inoki*

3- Archie Moore vs 'Iron' Mike DiBiase

4- Archie Moore vs Sterling Davis


Then of course exhibitions Antonio Inoki had with Chuck Wepner and Karl Mildenberger, course I can't say for sure if those were legit or not.

* Ali was told it was to be a work, but Ali said he wouldn't work anything crooked and supposedly had a real fight with Inoki, of course this could have been scripted to make it seem legit, but Ali did have severe injuries to his legs that prove otherwise. It does kind of make me wonder though, considering Ali had participated in wrestling matches before and worked 'crooked' fights with Gorilla Monsoon.

Ali's match with wrestler Kenny Jay looked at first like it might just be a joke but Ali hit him with some pretty good shots and then KO'd him with a flush punch to the jaw. Looked real to me, anyway.

I know about the Jake Roberts story. Which I think is actually funny.

What I don't get is how the hell the Ali-Inoki bout was scored a DRAW when Inoki landed so many kicks and Ali only managed to throw half a dozen or so punches, landing only two or three at the most?

Highway Robbery if there ever was one, originally scripted or not.

Decagon wrote:So, whatcha' drinkin' tonight, Brocky?

dec i uploaded marciano vs vingo 30 sec highlights. want to see it?

So the rocky v hulk hogan fight in Rocky 3 was an exact copy of this?

In this case the reverse if I recall, didnt life imitate art this time? Rocky Hulk predating this affair?

This was probably Wepners best performance.

I have come across a small handful of boxers vs. Rasslers on you tube (Ali, Wepner, and Berbeck) and I wondered why the rasslers get to have their hands free, but the boxers would hav to wear gloves to make it impossible to grab their opponent. Seemed unfair to me.

Wepner could have put the Giant on the floor if he felt like it, but if Andre got up .

From what I understand some of the ROCKY movies, mostly the original, was based around the career of Chuck Wepner. When Wepner fought Andre The Giant, Stallone scripted into ROCKY 3 a match between Balboa and Hulk Hogan [Thunderlips The Ultimate Male].

If I think correctly there was actually two matches between Andre and Wepner, one was at Shea Stadium. I remember watching one, and Andre was actually wearing boxing gloves and it went three rounds before Wepner hit Andre hard to the head and The Giant rushed him and knocked him out of the ring and Wepner layed on the ground like a dead fish in the wet field [was in a baseball diamond and had rained that day].

Or it could be that Andre was matched with another boxer, but I am dead certain that there were two matches between Wepner and Andre.

This matchup wouldn't compare to Andre the Giant vs. Nikolay Valuev.

How many other professional wrestling matches did Anoki fight layng on the canvas?

Inoki has fought the following boxers, that I know of:

1- Muhammad Ali- 15 round draw

2- Chuck Wepner- W for Inoki

3- Karl Mildenberger- W for Inoki

4- Leon Spinks- [uncertain of outcome]

The Spinks match I think was a work, but was such a god awful match that the Japanese fans literally had a riot. I also know that Inoki was in MMA type matches against some Olympic medalist in Judo, but I think Inoki won that as well.

FACT: Antonio Inoki is the only man to have beaten Andre The Giant with a submission move [an arm bar].

i think inoki went to brazil challenging rickson gracie.from what i remember reading gracie and inoki fought behind closed doors with the press outside.rickson then invited them in to witness inoki out cold.

Yeah...but you have to think Gracie was in his prime in the late 80's to mid 90's, while Inoki wrestled and competed in the 70's and 80's in his peak years, and still wrestles from time to time. Not what I would call a competitive fight, considering I have talked to such guys as Jody Poff and others who have fought in MMA matches and it's true, nobody can have a long career in MMA, your body gets worn down far quicker than it would if you was a boxer.

Dec and Irish .
Do you guys remember the names of the Judoka Spinks and Inoki fought?

It was pro wrestling then?
I thought maybe he fought a Judoka in something along the lines of Gene Lebell - Milo Savage.

Lebell did choke him out . That much is true, but Savage never should have put a gi top on.
As far as the brass knuckles and such... I dont know, I read that also at Genes web site.
The whole event was wild no doubt. I suppose this was somewhat of an early MMA fight of sorts.
1963 it was I believe. The whole thing is detailed at http://www.genelebell.com.

edit

I've just realised how much like George Galloway Wepner looks.
Separated at birth?

You sure Andre the giant was not still having a collasal hangover when he was suppposedly defeated?
Man, I saw a little bit of footage years ago of Chuck Wepner going against Andre the giant.
it reminded me of the classic 1949 movie MIGHTY JOE YOUNG,
when Primo Carnera was duking it out with Mighty Joe Young.