CHUCK: My name is Chuck Wepner.
You don't know me.
Well, you do know me, but you don't know you know me.
Once upon a time, I was the heavyweight champ of New Jersey.
They called me the Bayonne Bleeder.
I always hated that name, but for some reason, it stuck.
Hoboken had Sinatra, Bayonne had me.
Chuck fuckin' Wepner!
I swear, this might be the proudest day in my entire life.
It's like Christmas and All Saints' Day rolled into one. (CHUCKLES)
John, you know who this guy is?
Yeah, I know who Arty is.
Did you know Arty invented the wet T-shirt contest?
- What? - I shit you not.
No, Arty Stock, no wet nip. Period.
That was you?
Hey, I was just trying to sell some booze
without getting shut down, if you know what I mean.
That's genius right there, that's what that is.
Hey, no, Champ. You...
- What? - You're a legend.
Ah! To legends. (CHUCKLES)
CHUCK: I made a name for myself by doing a lot of crazy shit.
Not all of it's true, but this part is.
In this corner, the former New Jersey heavyweight champion,
the man who went 15 rounds with Muhammad Ali, okay?
The pride of Bayonne, Chuck Wepner!
(CROWD CHEERING)
ARTY: And in this corner,
you know him from his Hollywood movie, Paint Your Wagon,
his many Tonight Show appearances,
he's undefeated in 1,303 bouts.
It's Victor!
(CROWD CHEERING)
- All right, nothing to the face, okay? - Did you tell him that?
No face.
(VICTOR GROWLING)
Let's go!
(BELL DINGS)
CHUCK: For me, it was always about putting on a show.
Even when I was a kid, growing up in Bayonne,
me and my brother Don were a couple of real clowns.
I was not really a fighter, but this was Bayonne.
One way or another, you were gonna end up fighting.
(GRUNTING)
In 1954, Malphy Esposito stole my basketball.
I didn't wanna do anything, but he whacked me pretty good.
I may not be the greatest fighter of all time, but what I learned that day...
BOY: Chuck.
...is that I had a gift. I was special.
When you stop any guy in the street
and you ask him who Chuck Wepner was, he'll tell ya,
"That guy could take a punch."
- (BELL DINGS) - (CROWD CHEERING)
For a guy who wasn't really a fighter, I was doing pretty good.
By 1974, I was flying up the heavyweight ranks
and primed for a shot at the title against "Big George" Foreman.
The only guy who stood in my way was Terry Hinke, the Stormin' Mormon.
- MAN: Hey, Bleeder! - What?
Let it go. Let it go. Let it go!
Oh, shit. Bad?
REFEREE: Come on, Al, let me see the cut.
Looks pretty bad.
All right, get the fuck out of this corner,
and don't bother me while I'm working, all right?
CHUCK: Whatever we had to do, we did.
Al and I had an agreement, always move forward and never stop the fight.
REFEREE: AI, let the doc see the cut.
AL: Oh, sure, have a look there.
- Yeah, he's good. He's good. - Thanks, Doc.
CHUCK: They called Al "The Butcher," but it wasn't just him.
I wouldn't stop, either.
Besides, it wasn't his fault I bled so much.
I cannot close this fuckin' cut.
It's time to send this fuckin' Mormon back to Utah.
- Are you with me? - Yeah.
- All right, let's do it. - Go.
AL: You're on, Chuck. You're on. Hit him.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And the winner by knockout,
in two minutes and 18 seconds of the 11th round,
and still the North American and New Jersey heavyweight champion,
Chuck Wepner!
CHUCK: Hey, baby.
Daddy, were you boxing again?
Yeah, as a matter of fact, I was.
Is that why your face looks so funny?
(CHUCKLING)
No, sweetheart.
Daddy's face always looks funny.
The other guy was just trying to spruce it up for me a bit.
Come here, give me some sugar.
Come on, Kimby. It's 8:00.
You gotta eat your breakfast. Go. Go, go, go.
Bye, Daddy.
(CHUCK GROANING)
(CHUCK COUGHING)
PHYLLIS: Come here, let me look at you.
I'm all right.
Come here, baby.
- Let me see. - It's my ribs.
Chuck, you look terrible.
I'll be as handsome as ever a couple of days.
Here, gimme some of that.
Oh, yeah.
- Oh, and a little bit of that! - (LAUGHING)
Chuck, no. Come on, I have to get Kimberly to school.
Plus, I'm still mad at you.
- Will you stop with that, please? - No!
It's one of Arty's girls. I swear to God, I never put a hand on her.
It's not your hands I'm worried about.
- I wrote you another poem. - You can keep your poems.
Ah, it's a good one. Put it on the fridge for you.
Yeah?
- Come on, let me put it in. - No!
- Just the tip. - (LAUGHING) Chuck! No!
- Yeah, come on! - Chuck, come on! I have 15 minutes...
CHUCK: Ow! Fuck!
...to drop her off and get to work! God. I'm late.
CHUCK: "My One and Only.
"You alone are in my heart
"From break of day till evening start
"All the while I think of you
"And the lucky day that made us two."
I wrote Phyll poems all the time.
Left them around for her, you know?
How you doin'? Chuck Wepner. Life treating you good?
There was another fighter,
name of Frankie Suppone, owned the liquor route.
He was retiring, said I had a good personality and I should take his route.
I'd make a good liquor salesman.
How you doin'? Chuck Wepner.
Let me ask you something, you like Dewar's?
I figured, what the hell?
I may be ranked eighth in the world, but I still need a freakin' job.
Before that, I was a bouncer for a couple of years,
then a debt collector for Frank Giglio.
I was never good at roughing guys up. Too nice.
Felt sorry for them, you know?
Besides, who wants to hang out with a leg breaker
when you could be rubbing elbows with the heavyweight champ of New Jersey?
Hey, Champ! Nice fight with Hinke last night.
- Thanks, Joe. - You really creamed his Mormon ass.
Hey, hey. Bayonne makes, the world takes, baby.
JOE: You got it, brother.
- CHUCK: Hello, hello, hello. - Hey, here he is!
- Congratulations! - (ALL CHEERING)
MAN 1: Hey, congrats.
- How you doin'? - MAN 2: Way to go, Champ.
- How are you, Pete? - Good. How's the face?
How's my face? I don't know. What do you think?
- Oh! You're gorgeous. You're beautiful. - Improvement, right?
MAN 3: Beautiful.
- Where's Johnny? - Where the fuck you think I am?
I'm bleeding the lizard, and my prostate is fuckin' killing me.
So, don't try to hustle me today, Chuck, huh?
Johnny D, this is me. Who's hustling?
You know I already got a deal with those other guys.
I got something I wanna show you.
Look at this. See that?
- That's my girl, Dot. - Dot?
Yeah, well, I call her Dotty.
See, you turn her over and she goes from Dotty to Naughty.
- MAN 3: Yeah. That's beautiful. - You like that? Who wants one?
- I'll take one. All right. - There you go.
- CHUCK: I got one for all of you. - How you doin', Champ?
I'm good. How you doin'?
Johnny, how much Wolfschmidts you want?
All right, how bad you gonna bang me up for two cases?
Well, Johnny, for you,
I'm gonna make you a very special deal.
- Wolfschmidts, right? - Yeah. Two.
LIL: Black and blue, and you still look good, Champ.
CHUCK: Ooh.
- Hey, Champ. - How are you?
Hey, Chuck!
AL: Yeah, no, of course. Yeah, but listen...
I mean, it takes two people to dance, isn't that right?
No, no, no. Hey, calm down a little bit, okay?
CHUCK: What's up?
AL: Listen to me! Listen to me! All right, listen to me, you fuckin' gonif!
No... I mean...
You got yourself a deal.
Yeah. You, too. I'll see ya.
How's the cut? Let me look at you.
- What's that for? - I wanna see if you're gonna bleed.
Jesus, AI! You nearly took my fuckin' head off!
It's a good thing I know how to take care of your cuts.
Stormin' Mormon almost turned you into a cyclops.
- Stop! - You fuckin' hemophiliac.
Who was on the phone?
AI, come on, I know you got something going on. Who was that?
That was Don King.
No shit.
Because of the beatin' you put on Hinke,
I'm looking at a guy who's got a shot at the heavyweight title.
You fuckin' Polack.
After Foreman takes care of Mahatma in Zaire...
It's Muhammad, AI. His name's Muhammad.
You should say it right, okay?
I don't give a fuck if it's Mukluk! All right?
When Foreman knocks Ali on his ass, you're in.
And what if Ali wins?
Foreman is a fuckin' monster. It's a lock.
I got...
- Title shot, huh? - That's right, kid.
Hey, this is your lucky day.
AI, lucky day, lucky man.
Come here.
I love you, AI.
- Ah! - Thank you.
- CHUCK: Come on, you're missing it. - PHYLLIS: Okay, okay.
Uppercut. Sucker punch.
CHUCK: That night, my favorite movie,
Anthony Quinn, Requiem for a Heavyweight.
Broke my heart, that movie.
You see that, you can't help but see yourself.
Who have been your past employers?
Well, you see, all I been doin' for the past 17 years is fighting.
You know, in the ring. Man, in the prize ring.
WOMAN ON TV: You mean a prizefighter?
Here it comes, here it comes.
MAN ON TV: Miss, I ain't got no special problem.
Now, to you I'm a big, ugly slob...
"...and I look like a freak.
"But I was almost the heavyweight champion of the world.
"Why don't you put that down on that paper someplace?
"Mountain Rivera was no punk.
"Mountain Rivera was almost the heavyweight champion of the world."
(LAUGHING)
You know what my old man used to say to me?
What?
He said, "When you're with a lady, you gotta treat her special."
- Yeah? - Yeah.
- How special? - Very special.
- Yeah? - Especially a lady like you.
With freckles.
- You like my freckles? - I like your freckles.
- Especially this part in here. - (PHYLLIS LAUGHING)
PHYLLIS: What are they fighting in Africa for?
CHUCK: I don't know. Two black fighters? Publicity?
Trust me, Don King knows what he's doing.
Hey, Champ. What the hell? Come with me.
Jimmy! Appreciate it. You know Phyll, right?
- Hey, how you doing? - Hey, how you doing, Champ?
- I hear you're next on the menu, huh? - Yeah.
Is that right? You gonna fight Foreman, huh?
That's what they say.
Move it! You got the Champ here!
Hey, how you doin'?
MAN: Yo, Bleeder!
- Chuck, just don't... - It's all right.
MAN: Yo.
Hey.
What'd you call me?
The Bleeder, that's what everybody calls you.
The Bayonne Bleeder.
- How you doin'? - I'm good. You?
- Good. Like the fights, huh? - Hey.
Sure.
- What the fuck! - PHYLLIS: Chuck!
Relax, Champ. Come back for you when I'm done with Foreman.
MAN: Hey, Champ, who you like?
- What are you doing, Chuck? - Nothing. Just messing with him.
What are you trying to do?
Just don't worry about it, baby. It's okay.
COMMENTATOR Foreman comes stalking across the ring,
delivering some light hooks to the body of Ali
that certainly are doing no problems,
or causing any problems to Muhammad Ali.
Ali spins him around out of the corner now.
They're very even...
- He looks good. - Who?
Ali, a sneaky right hand.
Ali.
Don't worry, Foreman will get him.
(PEOPLE CLAMORING)
CHUCK: If you had asked me or any other bum on the street,
"Was Ali gonna beat 'Big George' Foreman in Zaire?"
I'd have said, "Hell no."
But he did it.
What were they gonna do, put me in the ring with Ali?
Let's go home, baby. Come on.
I don't know,
I think I might hit the diner, maybe get a cup of coffee or something.
All right. You want company?
No, I gotta walk.
You go home. I'll be all right.
You sure?
Yeah. I just, you know... I gotta walk, that's all.
Fine.
CHUCK: It was like watching my future go down the toilet.
Phyll tried to help, but I was after something else.
Something I shouldn't have.
It was after the Foreman fight, yeah.
I took a beating, so I figured I'd get myself something nice, you know.
That's real nice. That's shiny.
If I rub it, does something lucky happen?
(BOTH CHUCKLE)
- Phyll. - Coffee, black. Thanks.
- Excuse me! - PHYLLIS: No, don't apologize.
This is, uh... This is my...
His wife. Your wife.
Ah, shit.
No, no, no. It's okay. It's okay.
Trust me. It's not your fault.
This is just what he does. It happens all the time, okay?
He sees a bimbo like you, you know,
don't even have to be pretty, and you're not.
And the bimbo says, "I got freckles on my ass."
And boom! Chuck here falls in love.
(CHUCKLES)
He just falls in love with the freckles on your ass.
I don't have freckles on my ass.
- Phyll, please... - Shut up. I'm talking here.
Of course you don't have freckles on your ass. That's not the point.
You don't have anything at all to recommend you, but that don't matter.
See, you're just the next person in line.
The next person who looks at him like he's something special.
You look at him like that, oh, you got him.
No, no, no, it's okay. Stay. You need to hear this.
See, you think you're special because of those freckles, right?
And maybe you even marry him. And have a baby with him.
And go through fuckin' hell with him. Year after year after year.
Because you think that'll make him stick.
That'll make him yours. Just yours. Only yours forever.
But you're wrong.
You see?
You're just so fuckin' wrong.
I'm taking Kimberly to my mom's. You do what you want.
- Phyll... - Fuck you, Chuck.
- (PHONE RINGING) - (TYPEWRITERS CLACKING LOUDLY)
Hey, what is this, a typing class?
All right, I'll give you a weather report. The temperatures are rising.
I need a dime, fatso.
Forget it, we're even. Crocker.
(PHONE CONTINUES RINGING)
Hello?
It's me, Al.
Hey, AI.
What are you doin'? You sittin' down?
Yeah, I'm watching Kojak.
- They're looking for a white guy. - What?
What are you talking about?
Don King wants to make this whole fight a race thing.
So, he wants Ali to fight a white guy,
and since you're the only one in the fuckin' top 10...
You hear me, bubala? You hear me?
You're the fuckin' white guy!
(AL CHUCKLES)
CHUCK: Sometimes you just can't believe your own dumb luck.
Don King decided to get creative. All they needed was a white guy.
And by process of elimination, that was me.
Ali could've been purple for all I cared.
They wanted me, Chuck Wepner.
The bum from Bayonne was getting a shot
at the heavyweight champion of the world.
(PHONE RINGING)
- Hello? - Hey, Phyll, it's me. You hear the news?
Yeah, it was on the radio.
- Pretty great, huh? - Yeah, it's great, Chuck.
But right now your daughter is staying at Grandma's house
because Mommy caught Daddy with his hands in some panties
that didn't belong to Mommy.
Yeah. No, I know. I'm sorry.
This is big for me, though, you know? Big moment, huh?
Yeah, lucky day, lucky man, right?
Yeah. I just wanna share it with you guys. Be a family?
Used to be a family here, Phyll.
Phyll? You there?
Yeah, I'm here.
I'm gonna train full-time up in the Catskills.
I never had that before.
This is the real thing, you know? This is different.
I mean, everything's gonna be different now, baby.
Congratulations, Chuck. I'm real happy for you, I am.
Phyll? Phyll?
Everything was different.
I was fighting Muhammad Ali.
The big press conference was in New York.
I figured I'd better be prepared if I was gonna get a word in edgewise with Ali.
KING: He's one of the most formidable foes, I think,
that could come into the ring.
He has an 18-inch neck and a solid-rock granite jaw.
So, I think that Ali's in for an interesting evening,
and he's not taking it lightly, he's taking it serious.
Muhammad is the master of the poem, so I wrote a poem.
Goes like this.
"What's in a word?
"And who's to say what will be?
"But there are those who say that he's the best to ever wear the crown
"And that this fight's a tune-up against someone of little renown
(CHUCKLES)
"I proved them wrong time and time again
"And won my fights in spite of them
"So, don't write me off or count me out..."
ALI: Hold on, Chuck. Hold on.
(AUDIENCE LAUGHING)
CHUCK: Did you have a feeling that was gonna happen? 'Cause I didn't.
What you gotta say now, Champ?
Don King say they gonna leave feminine napkins...
Oh, okay.
...in Chuck's corner.
Because the way he bleed,
that's gonna be the only thing that mop up the blood.
I will beat him,
but no punches gonna land here, here. Only in here.
CHUCK: All right. All right. All right. Okay.
'Cause I don't want no excuses about cuts.
- MAN: Yeah. - (AUDIENCE LAUGHING)
- Are you done? Yeah? - For the moment.
(MUSIC PLAYING OVER CAR STEREO)
CHUCK AND AL: (SINGING) So I took what I could get
(VOCALIZING)
She looked at me with her big brown eyes
And said, you ain't seen nothing yet
Bop, bop
Baby, you just ain't seen nothing yet
Bop, bop
CHUCK: We trained at the Granit Hotel in upstate New York.
This place was top shelf. I mean, I never seen anything like it in my life.
Come on, huh?
MAN: I think you got a pool in your room, bro.
- (MEN LAUGHING) - I heard they got two pools.
I had my own room, separate dining room.
No menu. I just, you know, ordered whatever I wanted.
This was professional. Finally, I was training like a pro.
It was a big step up for a club fighter from Bayonne.
REPORTER 1: Hey, Chuck. Hey, Chuck.
CHUCK: How are you?
Yes, yes. That's what we're talking about.
REPORTER 2: Let's hear about this fight.
How's it going, guys? All right.
- AL: One at a time. One at a time. - How you doing? Good to see you.
Where's the guy from the New Jersey Sun?
- I'm here. - Get him up front.
Some people are calling this fight a joke, Chuck.
What do you think of that?
They're saying it's a fight between an artist and a house painter.
Oh, yeah? Well, that's nice they call me an artist.
I'm in the best shape of my life, so we'll see.
What are you gonna tell the fans
who think that this fight isn't worth the price of admission?
They said that? Don't worry, they'll get their money's worth.
- How do you plan to fight him, Chuck? - I'm fighting Bayonne style.
What do you mean, you're gonna bleed in his mouth until he drowns?
(REPORTERS JEERING)
Look, why don't you guys get some new shtick, all right?
The only cut Chuck needs to worry about
is what I'm taking out of his purse.
REPORTER: How do you define Bayonne style?
Dirty.
Rabbit punches to the back of the head, kidney punches.
Ali's gonna be pissing blood for a week.
What about the sweet science?
Sweet science ain't so sweet, you got a pile driver in your nuts, you know?
- (REPORTERS LAUGHING) - All right, fellas, thank you very much.
That's gonna be it for today, all right?
REPORTER: Come on, we got a few more questions.
"Wepner giving free transfusions."
AL: "Bayonne's one-man blood bank."
Jesus Christ, these fuckin' writers. Fuckin' animals.
CHARLIE: Champ, you got this, man.
- (PHONE RINGING) - CHUCK: John Stahl was my best friend.
- (JOHN SIGHS) - Knew each other since we were kids.
You need someone like that in life.
Someone who'll always answer the phone.
Hello?
Hey, John. I'm not calling too late, am I?
Hey. No.
I was just...
I was putting together the orders for tomorrow.
Thanks for covering my route, pal. I really appreciate it. I owe you one.
Yeah, yeah. You got it. Everything okay?
Yeah, yeah. I was just, uh...
I just remembered that Vic over at Sabatino's Lounge in Hoboken?
- Yeah. - He gets extra cocktail napkins.
I don't know if he's wiping his ass with them, or what.
(CHUCKLES) Yeah, yeah, I did it, Chuck. I did it.
Good to hear from you, Chuck.
Yeah. Yeah.
You seen Phyll?
Yeah, I saw her at the City Hall Park, but...
- Uh-huh. - (JOHN SIGHS)
How she doing?
- I don't know. Uh... - I...
I'd really like her to come.
You know, to the fight?
You want me to call her?
Swing by or something?
Nah, that's okay. I was gonna...
- Would you mind? - No. I mean, I'll talk to her.
JOHN: There she is!
(CHUCKLING)
Pretty lady.
Hey, John. What are you doing here?
Well, I was hoping you could give me some discount on some stamps.
For postcards.
I figured I'd be sending some from Cleveland.
(CHUCKLES)
- I'm busy here, John. You can see... - Hurry up, pal!
Settle down, dickhead.
What do you say?
What do you want me to say?
Sure? Why not? No big deal? It is a big deal, John.
Do you have any idea what it's been like for me?
For my kid?
Even thought about what you're asking?
- He needs you, Phyllis. - No.
- MIKE: Can you beat Muhammad? - CHUCK: What?
- Can you beat Muhammad? - Oh, yeah, absolutely, Mike.
I've been waiting 11 years for this, you know, so, I'm hungry.
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
MIKE: You hear that? The man just said he's hungry.
He better go get himself something to eat.
(AUDIENCE LAUGHING)
MIKE: How about two all-beef patties with special sauce?
(ALL LAUGHING)
CHUCK: I never been scared of nobody my entire life,
but looking at my face for the first time on that box, it was tough.
- (KNOCKING ON DOOR) - (DOOR OPENING)
AL: How you doing, boychik?
- What's that? - It's for you.
I guess somebody sent you some coconuts.
Gorilla balls. My brother. It's a inside joke.
- Your brother? - Yeah.
- I didn't even know you had a brother. - No, we don't talk that much.
- So, why'd he send those? - I don't know.
Hey, bubby. What's going on?
I gotta go the full ride, AI.
I can't look people in the eye if I don't make it 15 rounds.
Forty to one, you know that?
That's the odds they're giving me, 40 to 1.
Stop being such a fuckin' pussy, you hear me?
Trust me, all right?
Ali is gonna look like the schvartze putz of the century
when you knock him out.
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)
You hear me?
JOHN: Special delivery.
John, what the fuck are you doing here?
You're supposed to be on my liquor route.
Relax. No one's left in Bayonne to drink. Everyone's in Cleveland.
- PHYLLIS: Hello, AI. - Hey, Phyll.
- Friend or foe? - Friend.
That's good.
You do know he's got a fight tomorrow night, right?
- Yeah, I know. - Okay.
Thanks.
You see the, uh, Mike Douglas thing?
No.
Let me look at you.
(CHUCK SIGHS)
REPORTER: The new, not-so-well-known Cleveland Coliseum,
where Muhammad Ali will be fighting tonight.
On this, the day of his title defense,
Muhammad Ali spent his time resting, eating,
and visiting the site of his planned shopping mall
on Cleveland's East Side.
(INAUDIBLE)
Come on.
You like?
Yeah, I like. I like it better when you take it off.
Yeah, I bet.
(CHUCKLING) What are you doing? Stop it.
Come here. I wanna look at you.
- You know how gorgeous you are? - Thank you.
All right, get out. I gotta get changed.
I don't wanna go back out there. The lady is giving me the stink eye.
Okay.
Ali's saying he's gonna knock me out in three rounds like I'm nothing.
Like I didn't belong there in the first place.
I gotta show them, Phyll, you know?
I gotta show them I belong there.
Show who, Chuck? Who you gotta show?
You know, you know... Them.
Okay, "them."
Hey. Come here.
Come on, stop.
What?
I don't know, I just...
I don't wanna see you get hurt, Chuck.
I don't like seeing it.
I don't care about getting hurt.
I just gotta show them I belong, you know?
Go the distance.
Yeah.
Why are you here, spending the kind of money that you did on tickets
to see Ali and Wepner?
Ali's a good fighter. He's the best.
Well, a lot of people think that it's gonna be a quick fight.
I think it's gonna be a good one.
So, I got mixed emotions, but I'd like to see Muhammad Ali win in five.
Well, I enjoy Muhammad Ali, and, you know, that's the whole kit.
And I call him one of the greatest performers there are.
(AUDIENCE CHEERING)
(SINGING U.S. NATIONAL ANTHEM)
CHUCK: Let's face it, nobody gave me a chance in hell.
But I didn't care.
For me to turn around and see Muhammad Ali
standing right there in front of me, 15 million people watching,
that was the best.
I'll never forget that feeling.
(BELL DINGS)
Bell rings, I rush forward trying to be aggressive.
Ali's dancing around me talking. Never stops talking.
He's saying, "Come on, whitey, let's see what you got."
Couple of other choice words I'd rather not mention.
(ALI SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)
ANNOUNCER: Let's not forget one thing,
Ali does not dance like that for seven or eight, nine rounds anymore.
He puts on these displays.
Wepner will look slow and awkward, because he is slow and awkward,
but he does deliver a pretty good blow.
Finally, I get him on the ropes. He's doing his rope-a-dope thing.
Bayonne, Chuck! Bayonne!
CHUCK: He doesn't give me much.
You know, I take what I can get.
Couple of kidney shots, behind the head... You know, dirty.
(AUDIENCE CHEERING)
ANNOUNCER: To the best of my knowledge, that was Muhammad Ali
that was unloading the illegal shots.
Shots to the head.
ANNOUNCER:...if they do penalize him for it or not is a big question.
But certainly, Muhammad Ali was no more the winner of that round
than Chuck Wepner.
Ali clearly has a much more fluid motion,
much more ability.
It's clear that he's getting through with the jab...
Bring your guard up.
- (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) - There's a quick combination.
Another three, four punches to the face of Wepner.
But Wepner not visibly shaken, as he continues to come in.
This man does not back up.
CHUCK: What good was backing up gonna do?
Look, my thing was this.
I couldn't hit him, so I figured I'd wear him down with my face.
It was working great for five or six rounds until finally, boom.
ANNOUNCER: Now it looks like Wepner may possibly have a cut above the eye.
I think I see some red stuff that might possibly be hair.
No, Wepner is cut above the eye.
Looks like a pretty good gash, too.
Come on!
Wepner holds his arm up and says,
"Come on, Champ, is that the best you can do?"
Wepner's a tough kid. There's no doubt about it.
I have tremendous respect for the courage of this man.
- Ali has no respect for his ability. - (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
(AUDIENCE CHANTING)
CHUCK: All I know is they all said I was gonna be done in three rounds,
and now they're chanting my name.
Sure, he was beating the crap out of me, but they loved it. They loved me.
Hey, John!
You hear that crowd, Chuck? They love you, Chuck! They love you!
- Hey! - What?
Look at me, you dumb fuck. Focus!
(BELL DINGS)
ANNOUNCER: Wepner not concerned with the left jab at all,
he just takes the punch.
Ali fakes the top part of his body back and slips a punch to his left and...
- Whoa! - (ALL EXCLAIMING)
ANNOUNCER: Vicious shot to the ribs of Muhammad Ali, and what a surprise!
Chuck Wepner gets to the body of Muhammad Ali!
- (AUDIENCE CHEERING) - Chuck! Holy shit!
CHUCK: I was as shocked as anyone else.
I mean, my head was spinning.
I knew I hit him hard, but to see him on his ass like that...
I saw myself as the heavyweight champion of the world.
Didn't last, though. He got back up. Boy, was he pissed.
ANNOUNCER: Ali is now going to have to get off his haunches
and start the fight!
This is no joke! Ali was surprised!
Ali sat right down on his seat.
Now watch Ali go to work.
Ali is aggravated. It looks like Wepner's in trouble now.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
CHUCK: By the 12th round,
he'd already closed both my eyes, broke my nose,
and he was still dancing circles around me.
I didn't care.
I was just happy to be in the ring with him.
I don't remember much after that, except trying to stay on my feet.
I could feel him hitting me. No pain, just the thud of his fists.
Bone on bone.
Boom.
Stay up, Chuck. Stay up.
- (BELL DINGS) - (AUDIENCE CHEERING)
ANNOUNCER: Round 15,
the heavyweight championship of the world!
People are on their feet at the Coliseum.
- (AUDIENCE CHEERING) - They are seeing a better fight
than they thought that they were going to see for their money.
Mohammed Ali wants to knock this man out.
Wepner does not want to go down.
There's a good combination, Wepner's ready to go.
Ali comes on. Wepner is staggering, he's out on his feet right now.
Ali has his man in trouble!
Wepner attempting to hang on viciously.
He's trying to hang on. He's out on his feet!
- Ali clocks him! - (AUDIENCE CHEERING)
A right hand and a left hook drops Chuck Wepner!
Get up! Get up!
ANNOUNCER: Five. Six. Seven. Eight.
- The referee stops the fight! - (BELL DINGS)
It'll be scored as a technical knockout!
Muhammad Ali retains the heavyweight championship of the world!
(INAUDIBLE)
CHUCK: Nineteen seconds.
They stopped the fight with 19 seconds to go.
I didn't make it.
Funny thing is, nobody cared. They threw me a party anyway.
(CROWD CHEERING)
AI says to me, "Forget the bank, we need a fire hose
"'cause Ali's getting up and his ass is burnin'!"
(ALL LAUGHING)
SPORTSCASTER: And what a reception for you in Bayonne.
Yeah, that was some party, huh?
You think there'll be a rematch, Chuck? You and Ali, one more time?
CHUCK: Could be. Why not?
You know, unless he's too scared of me now.
In the meantime, Bob, I'm just gonna enjoy myself.
JOHN: Chuck, you look good.
And what do you do for enjoyment, Chuck?
Wine, women, and song, Bob.
Wine, women, and song. Not necessarily in that order.
SPORTSCASTER: Okay.
CHUCK: Guess what I like first.
SPORTSCASTER: I'll leave that for the folks at home.
Getting back to the fight.
This photograph is of the knockdown in round nine.
CHUCK: Oh, come on.
SPORTSCASTER: Now, Ali says that's your foot stepping on his foot.
And he said it threw him off-balance, and that's why he went down.
Bullshit. Not even close.
I step on your foot, you goin' down, you protest, wouldn't you?
Of course, that'd be the first thing you do. You stand up and you say...
Referee calls it a knockdown and it's in the books. It's a knockdown.
That's why there's a referee there.
- Daddy. - Yeah, honey.
This guy's just trying to make something, you know?
Daddy.
- Ali knows what happened. - Oh, my God.
- Is that supposed to be me? - Yeah.
Look at this.
Who is that, Bigfoot?
- (CHUCK LAUGHING) - No, it's Daddy.
That's my girl.
(DISHES CLATTERING)
I'll be right back.
- What are you doing? - Just leave me alone.
Don't you wanna watch the show? It's still...
- You kidding me, Chuck? - What?
What, "Wine, women, and song"? On television?
You know, it's bad enough what you do on the streets, but on TV!
I said "woman," not women. I said one woman. You.
- Bullshit. - Come on, Phyll.
I'm just mouthing off. You know what it's like.
No, I don't know what it's like, Chuck. And I don't care.
It was a big night for me, all right?
We're just having fun. They were all, you know...
They were eating it up, you know? I was doing the Bayonne thing.
They loved it.
Yeah. Everybody loves you.
CHUCK: I didn't hear a freakin' word she said.
Truth is, I was so high on cloud nine,
I couldn't hear anything but the sound of my own voice.
And I buy her this beautiful powder blue negligee.
And I says, "Honey, I want you to wear this tonight,
"because tonight,
"you're gonna be sleeping with the heavyweight champion of the world."
So, after the fight, I come back to the hotel, I let myself in,
she says to me, "So, do I go to Ali's room, or does he come to mine?"
(ALL LAUGHING)
How you doin' for Smirnoff?
Good, Champ. I'll take whatever you got.
People doing a lot of celebrating this week.
CHUCK: That's what I like to hear.
Hey, Red, do me a favor. Give me a round for everybody on me.
Wait your turn. I got customers.
- Wait my turn? - Easy, Chuck. Chuck, easy, easy, easy.
That's Linda. You don't wanna mess with her.
Linda! Linda, come here.
Don't you know who this is?
Yeah, the Bayonne Bleeder.
How you doin'?
Ali says you stepped on his foot, that's why he went down.
Oh, yeah? He said that? Well, that's bullshit.
That's what he said. Dirty fighter. Called you a punk.
- Oh! - MANNY: (LAUGHING) Oh!
Punk, huh? I ain't no punk.
I was almost the heavyweight champion of the world.
Well, you're no Mountain Rivera.
Wait a minute, you saw that movie?
Requiem for a Heavyweight? Sure.
Fuck me.
Not in this lifetime.
But now it's your turn. So, what are you having?
Uh...
I'll have a vodka rocks, and whatever these jim-jims are drinking.
LINDA: Sure.
- MANNY: Thanks, Champ. - CHUCK: What'd you say her name was?
MANNY: Linda. Linda.
(DISCO MUSIC PLAYING)
Here you go. Sorry for the wait.
MANNY: Hey, Chuck. Show her that ring.
- What? - Show her that ring.
I designed it. It's a metaphor.
The black onyx represents Ali. I'm the diamond.
Yeah? If I was you, I'd find the gumball machine you got it from
and get my quarter back.
Let me ask you something. What sign are you?
- You're kidding, right? - Dead serious.
Pisces.
- No shit! That's my sign! - Like that's not a line.
- I'm not lying to you. - What's your birthday, big shot?
February 26th. What?
- That's my birthday. - Shut up.
- No, that's my birthday! - Come on.
Here, look at this.
Linda Pandilano.
Anybody ever tell you you take a beautiful picture?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
No, I'm serious. Hey, I'm so in love right now, it hurts.
What are you doing later on? Let's get married.
Sure. Let me call your wife.
Look, Chuck, you don't know nothing about me.
And I don't know nothing about you. So, what are you doing, huh?
Put this one over here.
(PHONE RINGING)
That's pretty. Chuck. Will you get it? I'm busy.
Yeah. This one's so cute.
Hello? Yeah, this is him.
What?
About a year and a half after the fight, I get a phone call.
Guy says he's a producer in Hollywood.
Says some guy named Stallone wrote a screenplay inspired by me. I was like...
What?
ROCKY: That don't matter either, you know?
So, I was thinkin'...
It really don't matter if I lose this fight.
It really don't matter if this guy opens my head, either.
'Cause all I wanna do is go the distance.
- Chuck? - I know.
ROCKY: Nobody's ever gone the distance with Creed.
- (BOTH CHUCKLING) - And if I can go that distance,
just hearing that bell ring, you know, I'm still standing...
(ANNOUNCER SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)
MAN: Chuck Wepner. You're Chuck Wepner, right?
- Hey, how you doin'? - It's nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you. - It's Chuck Wepner, guys.
The real Rocky!
(ALL APPLAUDING)
CHUCK: You hear that?
Chuck Wepner, the real Rocky.
I told you you know me.
Thank you very much. Bye, everybody. Come on. Let's go.
I felt like a movie star. This guy, he really got me.
The job as a debt collector, running the steps,
even the conversation I had with my wife, for Christ sakes.
That was me. I was Rocky.
(DISCO MUSIC PLAYING)
Whoa! Ladies and gents, look who just walked in here!
It's the king himself!
It's the guy who went 15 rounds with Muhammad Ali!
The real life Rocky Balboa!
Come on, and the toughest son of a bitch in the Garden State!
Give it up for Chuck Wepner!
(ALL CHEERING)
(ROCKY THEME PLAYING)
CHUCK: Thank you!
Hey, there he is! Yeah!
All right! All right!
- (WHISTLING) - (WHOOPING)
How about that band?
Hit movie, hit song.
What can I say?
I'm a lucky guy.
- (BLOWS WHISTLE) - (DISCO MUSIC PLAYING)
CHUCK: Having fun tonight?
Go get a drink. How you doing?
Oh, this will be right here.
Hey, John, look at that.
JOHN: Whoa!
Yo, Champ!
I gotta tell you, that movie was fuckin' unbelievable.
CHUCK: Thanks, pal. Appreciate it.
- How many nominations you get? - Ten.
Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director...
Holy shit! You must've made a fuckin' fortune! Am I right?
- I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. - Yeah.
When Sly told me about Rocky,
he offered me 70 G's or 1% of the box office.
I took the 70 G's.
What do I know about movies? I'm from Bayonne, you know?
Hey, a bird in the hand, am I right?
Hey, bird in the hand is good as a hand in the bush. Capisce?
Double capisce!
(BLOWS WHISTLE)
Hey, doll, set my man up with whatever he wants! On me!
- Right on. Thanks, Champ. - All right.
All right, pal.
You got 70 grand for that?
Shut up, John.
You hear that? 70 G's.
WOMAN: What?
Chuck got 70 big ones for Rocky!
John, John, would you shut the fuck up, please?
Seriously. You know what I mean?
You're not my fuckin' agent, John.
That's my business, you know that?
I don't want my business on the street.
You know, I apologize.
- I... I didn't mean... - All right, all right, all right. Stop.
- I didn't mean it... - Forget it. Forget it.
Sweetheart, can I get a vodka on the rocks, please?
I'm sorry.
Truth is, I didn't make a fuckin' dime on that movie.
Really?
Not a dime.
That's fucked up, Chuck. I'm sorry.
- I know, but the guy asked me... - Yeah.
...you know, in front of the girls, I didn't wanna look like a chump,
so I had to say something.
- You know, this stops with me. All right? - Thank you.
Loose lips sink ships.
- You know me, I'm not a talker. - Yeah, yeah.
- I'm not gonna bring it up. - Okay.
- 70 grand, out of my mind. - Thank you.
- All right? I'm not bringing it up. - Will you stop!
Hey, Chuck! I got a friend in the bathroom
- that wants to make your acquaintance. - Ooh.
You want me to meet somebody in the toilet?
No, nobody wants to meet you in the toilet!
I want you to do a bump with me.
A what?
A bump! Come on, come on, come on. Let's go, let's go.
(LAUGHING)
What is... This is great, you know?
This stuff's fuckin' great.
ARTY: Yeah. You've never done this shit before?
CHUCK: John, you try this shit?
No, but I definitely... I think I should do it again, you know.
Yeah, absolutely, definitely you should.
Holy shit! It's like it goes right through you.
That's right. Boom!
John, you gotta try this shit.
- JOHN: Fuck, yeah! - Yeah!
- (GIRLS SCREAM) - CHUCK: Hey. Wanna bump?
- No? Wanna do a bump? - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Half's for her.
Here you go.
(WHOOPING)
PHYLLIS: Say goodbye, Chuck.
CHUCK: Huh?
Say goodbye.
Bye. Where are you going?
Nope, not me. You. You're going someplace.
Now. Today.
Oh, fuck.
What are you talking about?
I don't want you in my house anymore.
I don't want you near my kid.
You stink, Chuck. Okay?
You stink like leftover pussy.
It's making me sick.
- I'm taking Kimberly, and I'm going. - What?
And when I come back, you're gone. Okay?
- Phyll, wait a minute. - No.
Now, hang on a second. Just...
You're gone. That's all.
Listen, Phyll, please. I...
I...
I can't even fuckin' think straight right now. My head hurts so much.
You wanna talk about hurt,
you live five minutes in my shoes. Then we can talk about hurt.
(DOOR SLAMS SHUT)
(AL GRUNTING)
What are you doin', AI?
I got three words for you, bubala.
Andre the Giant.
What about him?
You're gonna kick his freak show keister, that's what about him.
I just got off the horn with Vince McMahon.
He's talking about doing a mixed match, wrestling and boxing.
- Wrestling? - Yeah.
What's the matter? You can't get me a legit fight?
Look, you wanna keep working, you're gonna have to stay famous.
And dancing around with a giant in Shea Stadium,
that's not gonna hurt anybody.
Chuck Wepner, Garden State Goliath!
Shea Stadium?
Yeah.
A crowd of 50,000 plus.
Lucky day.
Lucky man.
Hey, AI?
Yeah.
Is it real?
What?
Wrestling, they fight for real?
(CHUCKLES)
CHUCK: What's so funny?
I don't fuckin' know.
Andre the Giant, huh?
ANNOUNCER: I don't think Wepner's gonna be able to get to him!
Andre now has him!
Hanging a right to the kidney now!
Andre has him, but doesn't know what to do with him!
MAN: He can't get out of a head lock.
Linda!
- MAN: Tell him that'll cost a beer. - (MEN LAUGHING)
I think Andre showed a little mercy by just kind of dumping him down.
ANNOUNCER: The 49th Annual Academy Awards.
Live from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
JEANNE: And the winner is
- John G. Avildsen for Rocky. - (EXCLAIMING)
- (AUDIENCE CHEERING ON TV) - (LAUGHING)
All right!
Oh, my goodness.
I guess what Rocky did was give a lot of people hope.
And there was never a better feeling than doing that.
JACK: And the winner is
Rocky.
Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, producers.
Yeah! What the...
Holy...
(DOORBELL RINGING)
Chuck.
Hey, Flo. How you doin'?
Well, Chuck, come on in.
- That's for you. - Thank you.
It's called a mother-in-law's tongue. I thought that was funny.
Don! It's your brother.
It's Chuck.
DON: What?
CHUCK: Your brother, you shit bird.
What the fuck?
Hey, Donny.
What are you doin' here?
What, no "hello"?
Hello. What are you, uh...
- What's the matter? What's wrong? - Nothing.
Nothing's wrong. Everything's great.
I got something in the kitchen. Excuse me.
- You got some glasses, Flo, for... - Yeah.
Thanks.
(CHUCKLES)
- You look good. - What's going on?
You don't know, do you?
Don't know what?
(LAUGHS)
The awards!
The fuckin' Academy Awards, you goon!
I don't really watch that shit.
You didn't see it?
No, I didn't see anything.
We won.
Who won, you?
Yeah, me. Rocky. Rocky won.
Oh.
So?
What do you mean "so"?
It's me. I'm him.
- Who's you? - Rocky. It's my life.
Without me, there's no Rocky, Don.
Okay.
So?
What's with the fuckin' "so," Don? I...
So, never mind, you know.
(SIGHS) All right. You know, you don't get it.
- I gotta go. - All right, Chuck.
- CHUCK: How's the kids? - DON: Kid.
We got one kid.
Yeah, I know. How is she?
He.
- Jesus. - Yeah.
It's like that, right?
Chuck, what... What the fuck are you doin' here?
Why'd you come?
I don't know.
I just wanted to celebrate. Thought I'd come say hi.
The movie?
Yeah. My life, you know?
My lucky day on the big screen, Academy Awards, Oscars, you know?
It's nothin' to you. It was a big fuckin' deal.
Congratulations.
Thanks.
What's his name? The boy, your boy.
What, you talking about your nephew? Danny?
That's it. I... I knew that.
Tell him I said hello.
Tell him the champ was here and, uh...
You know.
Chuck, you, uh...
What are you doing?
You... You wanna stay for dinner? You can stay for dinner.
No, I can't. I got people.
Some other time, though.
See you, Donny.
(LINE RINGING)
Hello. Yeah, hi. I'd like the number for United Artists in Hollywood, please.
Hollywood.
Hey, Mr. Stallone, I'm sorry to bother you, but you know...
Hey, Sly, my name's Chuck Wepner.
I just wanna say I'm a big fan of all your...
(CHUCKLING) Hey, Sly. How are you?
My name's Chuck Wepner.
I just wanna say I'm a big fan of all your movies.
You know, uh,
Rocky, that was, you know...
Yeah, hi, this is Chuck Wepner.
I'd like to speak to Sylvester Stallone, please.
Wepner.
W-E-P-N-E-R.
Yeah. Yeah, I think he knows who I am.
(SCOFFS)
Listen, you ever heard of Rocky?
Hello?
Motherfucker.
It wasn't the money, I just wanted to meet the guy, you know?
It's like having a twin out there in the world that you never met.
JOHN: So, what did he talk about? Pussy?
I bet that guy cleans up, huh?
John, please. Sly's discreet. That's how it is in Hollywood.
- You don't talk about that stuff. - Of course.
Besides, guys who get it,
- they don't talk about it. - Yeah.
Me and him, it's professional, you know?
We talk about the Ali fight, my strategy, I give him tips.
You gave him tips?
You didn't hear that from me, all right?
- Yeah, but that's cool! - I'm not supposed to
talk about that, John.
- All right, but what do they talk... - Will you wait a second?
We go in here, can you just...
- Why are you nervous? - Just...
I mean...
CHUCK: Stallone was an off-limit kind of guy,
but I had a friend worked in the liquor business in New York.
He knew where Sly was hanging out,
so we told the bartender to give me a heads-up.
I appreciate that.
Sorry, sir, we're closed for a private function.
Yeah, I know. How you doin'? I'm Chuck Wepner.
How can I help you, Mr. Wepner?
You follow boxing?
Rocky? Tell Sly, Chuck's here.
- I can handle this. - He should know.
Would you mind telling Mr. Stallone that
Chuck Wepner's here?
Is he expecting you?
What?
Is he expecting you?
Yeah. Yeah, he's expecting us.
Hang on just a minute.
JOHN: Is that him?
Put your fuckin' hand down.
SYLVESTER: Yeah. No shit.
Oh, my God!
Hey, come here.
- CHUCK: Hey, hey, hey. - JOHN: What?
Do me a favor. Just hang back here a minute, okay?
- What? Why? - Give me a moment alone
with Stallone, all right?
SYLVESTER: Tough guy. Tough motherfucker. Yeah.
I cannot believe my eyes.
Chuck Wepner.
CHUCK: How are you, Sly?
Better now. I been wanting to meet you
- for a long time, Champ. - Thank you.
- It's an honor. - Oh, me, too.
Hey, meet the guys, all right?
- Hey, guys, you know Chuck Wepner. - How are you?
Hey, everybody! Chuck Wepner!
How are you? No. Please.
Hey. Hey, look, Sly, I hope you don't mind. I didn't mean to...
SYLVESTER: Come here. Come here. Hey.
CHUCK: Turns out, my twin had been wanting to meet me, too.
He even gave me a script for the new Rocky movie he was making.
Ching Weber, get it? Ching Weber, Chuck Wepner? It's good, right?
Hollywood doesn't do a sequel unless it's a sure thing.
This is a sure thing. Like chicken vindaloo.
Ching says, "Couldn't you think of anything tougher to say
"than, 'Oops, no stones'?"
I mean, come on, how fuckin' good is that? Right?
- It's pretty great. - You know?
You thought the Ali fight was big.
Ali's small potatoes compared to this. They should call it Wepner 2.
What are they gonna do about your face?
(ALL LAUGHING)
It's like I been training for this my whole life.
Going toe-to-toe with Sylvester Stallone on the silver screen.
Notify the other planets, John.
A star is born.
In fuckin' Bayonne.
(BOTH CHUCKLE)
Right? Give me another one of these?
That's it right there.
Rocky II.
Wow.
I never seen one of these.
Not many people have. Very... Very hush-hush.
It's called a screenplay.
- Well, how'd you get it? - Yeah.
What do you mean, how did I get it? I'm in it.
Sly wants me to go down to Philly tomorrow, meet with the producers.
Wrote me a part.
- You wanna run some lines? - What?
It's what they do, they run lines.
All right, let's run some fuckin' lines.
Here we go. Hey...
Oh, those lines.
(WOMEN SQUEALING)
CHUCK: "You know, in 1952, they had me ranked number five.
"I'm not... I'm not kidding you. They... They ranked me number five.
"Marciano, Walcott, and Charles are still around.
"But they had me up there ranked number five."
Watch. This is good.
"Miss, I got no special problem.
"I tell you what, I'm a big, ugly slob. I look like a freak.
"But I was almost the heavyweight champion of the world.
"Why don't you put that down on that paper someplace?
"Mountain Rivera was no punk.
"Mountain Rivera was almost the heavyweight champion of the world."
- (APPLAUDING) - WOMAN 1: Oh, my God.
That was good.
Seriously, that was really good.
CHUCK: Thank you.
You are ready for your close-up, Mr. Deville.
WOMAN 2: I got a lump in my throat, I swear.
For my second act,
I'd like to do my impression of Sonny Liston
in his last fight with Muhammad Ali.
Taking a dive.
(WOMEN SHRIEKING)
We gotta finish it. We gotta finish all of it!
Come on, come on, come on!
Chuck, hey, hey. You're supposed to be late.
It's show business.
All right.
Where's the button?
- Where's the button? - JOHN: I'll get it.
Where's the fuckin' button?
There's gotta be...
- (ELEVATOR BELL DINGS) - (WOMEN GIGGLING)
Get your boobs out of the way.
Mr. Wepner.
Hey, how you doin'?
- Right this way. They're waiting for you. - She knows you. You're in.
- This is like a no-brainer. - Give me one of them Tic Tacs?
I gotta be fuckin' crazy.
WOMAN: I need your friends to wait here.
- Wait. They can't come with me? - Follow me.
Excuse me. Miss?
Miss, they came all the way from Jersey to meet Sly.
- You don't think... - Come on.
JOHN: Hey, you wanna run lines?
- (KNOCKING ON DOOR) - (ALL LAUGHING)
SYLVESTER: Hey, there he is.
Hey, how are you, Chuck?
Hey, Sly. How's it goin'?
I'm good. Hey. You good?
- Yeah, I'm great. - All right.
Thanks for making the trip down here.
- Hey, I was in the neighborhood? - What?
- Nothing. - Yeah.
Everybody, this is Chuck Wepner.
The real deal.
How you doin', everybody?
Boy, that's some spread you got there.
Bagels and lox, that's what I'm talking about.
- Hey, so, uh, let's do this, huh? - What?
You ready to read, Champ?
Oh, shit, yeah. Hey.
- I was born ready, you know? - Great.
- Hey, all right, Chuck. Okay. - It's what I do.
You stand right about there, all right?
All right, now, in this scene,
- Rocky and Ching are sparring, right? - Yeah.
Mickey, your old trainer, is watching ringside,
and you are jealous because you feel that, really,
- it should be you getting the title shot. - Uh-huh.
It's a bitter pill, you know?
There's somebody else getting what's rightfully yours.
Try and feel that.
Hey, I ain't gotta try to feel that, Sly. It's, you know, it's me.
Yeah, that's right. That's perfect. That's beautiful. All right.
Uh...
So, I'll do Rocky, and Charlotte's gonna read Mickey.
- All right. - Ready?
Yeah. So, we're just... We're just moving, right?
- We're just working. - We're just sparring.
- We're in the gym, yeah. - All right.
All right, ready?
Hey!
Hey, come on!
Hey, what was that?
We're supposed to be working here.
- I'm sorry, Sly. - No problem. Take your time.
"You're a bum.
"I can lick you and any other guy in this gym! One day..."
Yeah, but we're just working.
I'm getting in shape for the title fight.
Listen, you're being paid to spar with him.
Just do your job.
- Oh, shit, I'm sorry. Sorry. This line... - Nah, it's all right. Look. Look.
- Chuck, just relax. This is you. - I'm sorry.
This is you. You got it. Just do you.
Just be yourself.
Let's start over. Let's do it again.
Yeah. All right.
Ready? Yeah, okay.
- We're movin'. Come on. - Yeah.
Just be loose.
Hey!
Hey, come on, what was that?
We're supposed to be working here.
You're a bum!
I can lick you and any other guy in this gym!
And one day...
Yeah, but we're just workin'.
I'm getting in shape for the title fight.
Listen. You're being paid to spar with him.
Just do your job.
What's goin' on, huh?
I mean, he's supposed to be my sparring partner!
Thank you.
- We all right, Sly? - Hey, look, come here.
Come here.
Did I do something wrong?
No, no, no. You didn't do anything wrong.
Now listen.
I want you in this movie.
Go in the bathroom, take a minute, study the script, kick it around,
then come back, try it again.
You got this, all right?
All you gotta do is you.
- Okay, Champ? - Yeah. All right.
- All right. - Thanks, Sly.
(WATER RUNNING)
(INAUDIBLE)
Chuck.
(PHONE RINGING)
Yeah.
Hi.
Uh-huh.
Sure.
Two ounces? Gee, that's some party you're throwing there, huh?
All right. I'll call my guy.
Yeah. Okay.
I'll see you at the Silhouette at 8:00. All right, bye.
Was that Devon?
- Is that his name? - Yeah, that's his name.
Devon. Wants two ounces.
Two ounces? Geez.
He say where he was going?
(CHUCKLES)
You got a fuckin' one-track mind.
(PHONE RINGING)
Hello.
- Hey, it's Phyllis. - Hey, Phyllis.
- Where's Chuck? Is he with you? - Yeah.
Well, he's supposed to be at school with his daughter.
Right now? You sure? Chuck!
Chuck, it's Phyllis.
She says you were supposed to be at some kid's thing? At school?
- Hey, Phyll. - It's Parents' Day.
- Yeah. - What? You forgot again?
No, I know. I didn't forget.
Are you coming?
- Yeah. All right, relax. Relax. - She wants to see you right now.
I'm coming right now. All right. Bye.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! You're going to school now?
Chuck, seriously, you don't look so good.
You wanna do a bump?
Yeah.
I'm here.
Here I am. I'm sorry.
Hey! Here's my little girl.
Hi, Daddy.
How's she doin'?
Smart as a whip, huh?
Takes after her mother, thank God.
Oh, where's my manners? I'm sorry.
I'm Chuck, Kimberly's dad.
Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Wepner.
Yeah. Nice to meet you.
You can call me Chuck or Champ.
You follow boxing?
No, I don't.
No?
You see Rocky?
- Chuck. - What?
Is that the report card?
All right. Look at this.
It's upside down, Daddy.
She doesn't miss a beat, this one.
- I'm so sorry. It's... - Hey, you don't have to apologize.
- I made a mistake. - Chuck, stop it.
It's a mistake. For...
- Stop it. - Okay.
So, uh, what are we doin' here?
Actually, I was just saying that
she's one of my brightest students in class.
- Of course. - She's been doing really great.
- Very proud of her. Yeah. - Good. Good.
Hey. Hey, I wanna show you something.
I... I wrote you a poem.
You're gonna like this.
It's... It's called "My Little Girl." That's the title.
I wrote it 'cause I miss you. Miss you so much, it hurts.
Look at this.
"You are big now, not so small
"But still my baby, after all
"From time to time, as you grew..."
Let's go, baby. Come on. I'm so sorry.
What? Come on, honey. I'm just a few minutes late. What's...
Let her go, Chuck.
Come on, Phyll!
I'm sorry! I had...
- Stay away from me. - Will you stop, please, just two minutes?
- Kim... - No, don't you fuckin' move!
All right. All right.
You can do whatever you want with your own life, Chuck,
but I will not let you ruin hers.
- I'm sorry, okay? - I am scared for you!
I am scared for what's gonna happen to you!
Nothing's gonna happen.
I... I'm just a little fucked up right now, okay?
I'm gonna pray for you, Chuck.
I haven't said a prayer since grammar school,
but I'm gonna pray that you find the strength
to be a father to your daughter!
Hey, Kim, honey.
I'm gonna call you, all right? All right?
Roll the window down.
Hey, Kimberly, roll the window down!
Your poem! Honey, roll...
- Jesus Christ. - LINDA: Chuck!
How you doin'?
It's you!
Last I checked.
The one that got away.
Don't flatter yourself.
You never had me.
I know your reputation.
You got a line of 23-year-old cupcakes down at the shore.
And if you're tryin' to sell me somethin', I got all the liquor I need.
I'm not tryin' to sell you nothin'.
What are you doin' here then?
I gotta meet a guy about somethin'.
Bad day, huh?
Worst fuckin' day in my life.
I oughta be strung up by my balls and horsewhipped.
I fucked up.
What'd you do?
I went to my little... My little girl's school, you know,
for one of them parent-teacher things?
You know, I... I ain't seen her in a while, so, you know, I wrote her...
Oh, Chuck.
(SNIFFLING)
I'm sorry.
You all right?
What are the odds of me runnin' into you?
It's the worst fuckin' day in my life,
and there you are, like some angel out of the blue.
(CHUCKLES)
If that ain't a sign, I don't know what, Linda.
You and me.
We're connected. You don't see that?
I tell you what.
There's more to you than meets the eye, Chuck Wepner.
Not much, just enough.
You wanna know what I think?
What?
I think you like me.
- (CHUCKLING) Yeah? - Yeah.
Well, you've been hit in the head a few times.
Yeah, that's true.
(CAR HORN HONKING)
Oh, shit.
Don't move. Please.
Don't go nowhere, all right? I...
Stay right where you are. I gotta... Gotta go talk to somebody.
- Hey, Devon. - Hey, Champ.
Everything good?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
There you go.
Sorry, Champ.
(SIREN WAILING)
CHUCK: Hey, Jimmy.
Hey, Chuck.
CHUCK: When it rains, it pours, right? It was a setup.
They said they'd let me go if I gave 'em a name.
It's two ounces, Chuck.
We're talking serious time here.
Just didn't seem right, someone else paying for my stupid mistake.
Okay, Champ.
One call.
Pick a winner.
(PHONE RINGING)
Hello?
Hey.
Chuck.
How's it goin'?
Where are you?
Over here on 38th, at the police station.
Oh, Chuck.
You're my call.
I got one call, I called you.
What, you don't have a lawyer or someone
who helps you with things like this?
Not at the moment.
You need to make bail.
It doesn't matter. You know, I'm going to prison anyway.
At least this way, I get to talk to you, you know?
What about family?
I... I had a brother, but he didn't give a fuck about me.
Linda, I know you don't see it, but we're connected.
You're crazy, you know that?
Come on, same birthday.
Fats Domino. Jackie Gleason. William Frawley.
All February 26th.
Who's William Frawley?
What do you mean, "Who's William Frawley"?
He's Fred from I Love Lucy.
That's special, Chuck.
Three fat guys and a club fighter.
You talkin' about "club fighter"?
Hey, I'm Rocky Balboa.
You never heard of the Bayonne Bleeder? (CHUCKLES)
Huh?
Listen, Chuck.
I can't do this.
I gotta go.
I'm sorry.
Let's go, Champ.
Looks like you made bail.
CHUCK: What?
Yep. You still got a fan out there.
Don.
Get in the fuckin' car, Chuck.
Possession with intent to sell?
What, are you stupid?
I was doin' a guy a favor.
Oh, yeah?
This is why you bailed on Phyllis and Kimberly?
To become some drug mule?
You know I had to mortgage my house to bail you out?
What'd you do that for?
What?
I'm sorry. I appreciate it.
No, you don't appreciate shit!
You never have, you never will, right, Champ?
CHUCK: Hi, Flo.
Hi, Chuck.
DON: Yeah, Champ. Get in the car!
Fuckin' champ!
(ENGINE STARTS)
(TURNS OFF ENGINE)
Just don't think I'm doing this because I like you,
because I don't, you selfish prick.
I'm doing this because our mother, may she rest in peace,
made me promise on her goddamn deathbed to take care of you.
You know why?
'Cause she knew you're a fuck-up!
Your own mother!
With your fancy clothes, and that bullshit with your whores
and now drugs?
You ain't foolin' anyone, Chuck! You know that, right?
- You're right. I'm a fuck-up. - You're lucky she called, instead of you.
I would have fuckin' hung up on you!
All right, I get it.
I'm sorry.
He cares about you, Chuck.
Don't say anything to him!
Do not coddle him!
I appreciate the coconuts, Don.
DON: Hey, yeah, right.
I'm still waiting for a "thank you" note.
He still follows your career, you know?
He always has.
He's got a fuckin' scrapbook with every magazine article.
Every mention in the paper, no matter how small.
You know he made us go to the Ali fight, right?
He was so proud of you.
Every time you threw a punch, he jumped three feet in the air,
telling anybody who would listen that was his brother.
I didn't know.
I don't know what to say, Don.
Learn to not say something every now and then.
Maybe you'll live longer.
CHUCK: I got plans, you know? I mean...
I got some things going on.
What do you got going on, Chuck, hmm?
You got people who love you, Chuck.
Real people. Not 'cause you fight, not 'cause you're famous,
not 'cause you show 'em a good time, just because.
It's that simple.
The only thing they want from you is you.
CHUCK: That was a real low point for me
when Linda told me she didn't wanna see me anymore.
Take care of yourself, Chuck.
CHUCK: I stopped thinkin' about the future,
but she was right. The hell was I thinkin'?
Why would she wanna have anything to do with me?
I mean, I was going to prison, for Christ sake.
To tell you the truth, that's exactly where I belonged.
INMATE 1: Chuck!
INMATE 2: Hey, Champ!
INMATE 3: Chuck fuckin' Wepner.
INMATE 4: The champ.
- INMATE 5: Big fan, Wepner. - INMATE 6: What's up, Chuck?
- (INMATES CLAPPING) - INMATE 7: Good to see you, Champ.
CHUCK: I guess it took bein' thrown in a box by myself
for me to realize what a selfish prick I'd been.
It wasn't all bad, though.
I stayed in shape. Got to read a lot.
Life went on, inside and out.
Phyllis and me called it quits, made it official.
No hard feelings.
To be honest, I was surprised she didn't do it sooner.
GUARD: All good.
Hey, Champ.
How are you?
All right, Warden. What's goin' on?
Well, someone wants to see you.
Yeah? Who?
(CHUCKLES) You'll find out.
Where we goin'?
(WARDEN CHUCKLES)
CHUCK: Then, one day, one fuckin' day,
all the pieces started to come together.
You're shittin' me.
It's called Lock Up.
Rocky goes to jail.
Why the hell was I trying so hard to be this guy?
He's a character in a movie.
Come on. I'll take you over. You can say hello.
No, I don't think so.
He knows you're here. He wants to see you.
I'm good.
Linda was right, I had people who loved me, real people.
My brother, Phyllis, my little girl, Kimberly.
I started writing Kimberly letters,
telling her how much I missed her and how sorry I was.
It was nice.
Things got better between us.
I wrote to Linda, too, but she never wrote me back.
In the end, I did 26 months down from five years for good behavior.
Could've been worse.
But, hey, listen, miracles don't happen overnight.
You don't climb out of a shithole and suddenly sprout wings,
like in some movie.
I still had to make a living.
My old friend Arty Stock had this charity event for a good cause.
To legends.
Make a few bucks.
- So, I did it. - (CHEERING)
What am I supposed to do?
MAN: Hit it!
(CROWD LAUGHING)
MAN: Get up...
(GROWLING)
CHUCK: And now, watch this.
This part really is like a movie,
because out of this embarrassing, humiliating, disgraceful,
and completely mortifying clown show that I once again got myself into,
out of this, all of a sudden...
Hey, Champ.
Oh, Jesus.
(SIGHS)
What are you doin' here?
Saturday night. I got nothing better to do.
Thought I'd come out and see you get mangled by a bear.
It's not just any bear, it's Victor the Bear.
- He's in a movie with Clint Eastwood. - Good for him.
- Cover of Sports Illustrated. - Amazing.
- Undefeated. - Including tonight.
My point is he's famous, Linda.
Yeah, and look where it got him.
I'm sorry. I didn't come here to break your balls.
So?
I heard you got divorced.
Yeah?
Yeah.
Where'd you hear that?
Got your letters.
- Got my letters, huh? - Hmm.
And you couldn't even write me back?
Timing's everything.
Oh, yeah?
A little bit.
Oh, it's just beautiful.
Oh! Oh, Jesus, God.
Okay, can we go home now?
What you talkin' about? I wanna take a picture.
- You're kiddin'. I'm gonna throw up. - Stop.
Come on. Don't cut my head off.
I'd be doin' you a favor.
Look at you, like he's your girlfriend.
Come on, just push the button.
Seriously, Chuck, what'd it get you?
It got me you.
Lucky man.
Let me see that.
Come on.
That is one handsome son of a bitch there.
You don't look so bad, either.
- You know what I'm gonna do right now? - What?
I'm gonna kiss you.
What, is that a warning?
Yeah, right now I'm gonna kiss you.
First I'm gonna weave to the left,
bob to the right...
- Boom! - (LAUGHS)
I love you, baby.
- I love you. - Yeah?
Good.
Come on. Let's get out of here.
CHUCK: Nice, huh?
This is what they call a happy ending.
Who would've thought it?
Not me. Nope.
See?
Sometimes, life really is like a movie.
Sometimes it's better.