: Wepner lasted until the final 19 seconds of the 15th round before the referee stopped the fight.
: In the ninth round, Wepner did the unthinkable—he knocked Muhammad Ali to the canvas. It was only the fourth time in Ali's career he had been knocked down. The Real Rocky
: Stallone actually tried to cast Wepner in Rocky II as a sparring partner, but Wepner famously blew the audition after a two-day partying bender. : Wepner lasted until the final 19 seconds
The Bayonne Bleeder: The Real-Life Story Behind Rocky While the world knows Rocky Balboa as the ultimate cinematic underdog, the "Italian Stallion" was born from a real-life heavyweight battle in 1975. Sylvester Stallone , then a struggling actor, was in the audience when a local club fighter named stepped into the ring against the legendary Muhammad Ali. The Man Who Wouldn’t Stay Down : Stallone actually tried to cast Wepner in
: Stallone borrowed the name, the iconic crouched fighting style, and the relentless durability of the only undefeated heavyweight champion.
While Wepner was the primary catalyst, the character of Rocky Balboa is a mosaic of several boxing legends:
: Wepner later sued Stallone for using his life story to promote the franchise without compensation. They eventually reached a private out-of-court settlement in 2006.