New Jersey’s own Chuck Wepner (left) fought the late Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight crown in 1975, in one of the all time memorable losing efforts, a noble beat down for the ages, which in part inspired Sylvester Stallone to write Rocky.
Appearing at a Dick Codey fundraiser in 2010, The Bayonne Battler relayed the following joke about the day he fought Muhammad Ali:
“I told my wife the morning of the fight, ‘Baby, tonight, you’re going to be sleeping with the heavyweight champion of the world,” recalled Wepner of his notorious showdown.
When he lost after 15 brutal rounds and crawled into bed that night, his wife asked him, “Is Ali going to come here or do I have to go to him?”
