Legendary Boxer Inspired Sylvester Stallone's Rocky. Before Rocky Balboa, there was Chuck Wepner. Feeling inspired after watching the Muhammad Ali vs. Wepner 1. 97. 5 heavyweight boxing fight, a young Sylvester Stallone went home and wrote a script for a movie that would later become Rocky. While the surprise smash, which would go on to win Best Picture in 1. The character of Rocky Balboa, with his scrappy story, was loosely based on Wepner’s career and legendary fights.“He asked me to read for the part [of Rocky],” Wepner — whose storied career included blockbuster matches against George Foreman and Sonny Liston — tells PEOPLE exclusively.

He said, ‘You’re my inspiration, I want you in the movie.’ But I’m not an actor.”After watching the film, Wepner says he knew his life was about to change.“Everybody in the audience stood up and gave me a standing ovation when the movie was over,” he recalls. I couldn’t believe it.”The iconic bouts portrayed in the film served as a source of pride — and identity — for the cocksure pugilist.“I like fighting and I like what comes from it — the money, the publicity, the recognition,” he once told PEOPLE in a 1.

My friends bring champagne when they come to see me fight, and if I win they climb up into the ring and we drink it together. That’s my lifestyle.

I like nice clothes and big cars and I like to live well. And anybody who comes to see me fight doesn’t get gypped. I come to fight, and I give them their money’s worth.”Now, 4. Wepner is coming to the big screen. Chuck, a ’6. 0s- set biopic starring Liev Schreiber as the famed heavyweight boxer, recently premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and hits theaters on May 1. Alessio Botticelli/GC Images. So who is “The real Rocky” Chuck Wepner?

Rough Beginnings. Born in 1. 93. 9, Wepner learned to fight on the streets of his hometown in Bayonne, New Jersey.“This was a tough town with a lot of people from the docks and the naval base, and you had to fight to survive,” he told the Hudson Reporter in 2.

• Watch HD Movie Online For Free and Download the latest movies without Registration at Ganool Movies.
• Tickets for Concerts, Sports, Theatre and More Online at TicketsInventory.com.
• Apollo as he tries to find a new fighter to fight. Apollo Creed first appeared in the 1976 Oscar-winning film Rocky as the charismatic, intelligent, and undefeated 34.
• Maria Menounos says Sylvester Stallone inspired her to beat cancer. The 39-year-old TV presenter admits the actor's wise words in 2006 movie Rocky Balboa helped pick.
• Issuu is a digital publishing platform that makes it simple to publish magazines, catalogs, newspapers, books, and more online. Easily share your publications and get.

Wepner joined the U. S. Marines, where he learned to put his love for fighting to use by joining the boxing team. His athletic talents served him well, and he became a military champion at one of the airbases.

Konami Slots. Konami Gaming, Inc. After three decades out of the public eye, Rocky Balboa's old foe Ivan Drago is returning for Creed 2 - but how well do you know the Siberian Express? Watch Samurai Princess Torent Free more.

Following his discharge, Wepner continued to fight in a local amateur boxing league while working as a security guard and nightclub bouncer. He eventually competed in the New York Golden Gloves tournament, where he won the heavyweight championship.“No one from New Jersey had ever won that title — and no one has won it since,” he tells PEOPLE. You have to fight every tough guy in the world to win that.”Going Pro.

Wepner turned professional in 1. Northeast’s Club Boxing circuit, earning the nickname “The Bayonne Bleeder” for his ability to withstand nonstop punches. He won a slew of boxing titles, including All American Champion, National Golden Gloves Champion, North American and National American Champion. At one point, he was ranked the No. Throughout his career, Wepner would trade blows with some of boxing’s greatest fighters, including Foreman, who defeated Wepner in a controversial 1. And while Wepner’s most famous fight was against Ali, the boxer says his most difficult one pitted him against champion Liston in 1.

The fight became so brutal that Wepner’s eyes were swollen shut by the 1. I went 1. 0 rounds with him,” he says. He was the most dangerous puncher alive and I got busted up. I had 7. 1 stitches, a broken nose and broken cheekbone. It was a war.”Wepner admits that after that fight, he considered calling it quits.“I said, ‘You know what, maybe this is the end of the road for me,’ ” he explains. Six months I laid off, but I just missed the gym. I said, ‘Let me give it one more try.’ ”“I went on a nine- bat winning streak,” he says.

Showdown with Ali. At the age of 3. 5, Wepner entered the ring with the famed prizefighter. Chatting with PEOPLE in 1.

Wepner was pumped up about his chances of victory.“I see myself winning,” he said. I feel I’m catching a guy going downhill. Ali gets himself tied up in the corners and on the ropes, and anybody who does that against me is going to get beat.”As in Rocky, the fight went 1. And while many assumed it would be an easy win for Ali, Wepner proved to be a worthy opponent. In the ninth round, Wepner scored a knockdown, which Ali claimed happened because Wepner had been stepping on his foot. In the final rounds, Ali took the lead and pummeled Wepner, leaving him with a broken nose and cuts above his eyes. Ali knocked him down with 1.

The referee counted to seven before calling a technical knockout.“It’s gone down as one of the classics because I was the first guy to have Ali down,” Wepner says today. That fight has done a lot for me.”By the end of his career, Wepner would rack up 3. Hudson Reporter. Punching Through the Big Screen. The film Chuck — which also stars Naomi Watts, Ron Perlman and Jim Gaffigan — follows the legendary boxer’s famed career and personal struggles, including a conviction for drug sales and the subsequent prison time he served.“I wanted this movie to be truthful,” he tells PEOPLE. I realized there were going to be parts of the movie that might be a little embarrassing for me, but that’s why they make motion pictures.”Today, Wepner lives a quiet life with his wife Linda — who is played in the film by Schreiber’s ex Watts — in Carlstadt, New Jersey, where he works as a liquor distributor for a wine- and- spirits company.

So is he the real Rocky or the Bayonne Bleeder?“I like Champ,” he says. Watch Merlin And The War Of The Dragons Streaming here. Most people just call me Champ — because I am one.”.

Stallone Making Rocky 7 After Rambo 5? Despite some rumblings here and there, here’s a little piece of news that I didn’t see actually becoming a reality. We already know Sylvester Stallone is well underway with his awesome looking The Expendables, and that he’s already got Rambo 5 in the pipeline. Watch Tonight She Comes Online Hoyts there.

But that’s not all – apparently after that, Sly is going to give his most well known character another bout in the ring with another Rocky flick. Stallone reportedly spoke to Tele 5 in Germany recently and since then, the quotes from that interview have made their way online and spread like wild fire (don’t they always?). The quotes are being sourced everywhere from Teen Say (special thanks to /Film for picking it up from them), where Stallone reveals his desire/intention to make Rocky 7. Here’s what he had to say: “I know I’ll probably make a fool of myself if I make another ‘Rocky’ film after turning 6.

I also know there’s gonna be a lot of criticism. Even my wife says, ‘Don’t do it. You’re embarrassing the kids’. But I told her, ‘If I don’t try I’ll be a really unhappy man…. You have to do it. Artists like me have to go through the dark over and over again.”“When I was 2. My teacher said to me, ‘If you ever put your head out there, thousands of people will try to cut it off, but that’s exactly what you need to do as an artist.’“I know it’s ludicrous and everyone would laugh.

I would laugh about it. But I also know that I’d be successful if I can make this a film about becoming older, not about boxing but about myself.”I’m sure there will be much debate on whether Stallone should go ahead and make another Rocky film, and therefore I know I’m not alone on being on the side of the fence that thinks he should just leave the franchise be. I thought Rocky Balboa was suppose to be Rocky’s “one more time” film and that would be it. To me, Sly ended that franchise perfectly with Balboa, tying it up in such a way that to me, the idea of making another takes a lot of the weight out of the whole thing. With Rambo I can understand making another one, since there’s still a lot that can still be done with the character (I think if Stallone delivers more of the carnage he did in the latter half of Rambo last year, we’ll all be happy).

But what else can he do with Rocky? It seems he’d just be retreading old water for no real reason other than milking the cash cow making it for the hell of it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure with the passion Sly has for the character, that a Rocky 7 would be be done well (if he strives for the quality of the last one). But to be honest, I’m a bit miffed as to what the point really is in making it. But that’s just me.

What are your thoughts on this: Should Stallone make Rocky 7? Or did he tie the franchise up perfectly with Rocky Balboa and he should just leave it at that? Rocky 7 doesn’t have any official shooting or release date set yet, but presumably if it goes ahead it’d start shooting in late 2. Sources: Teen. Say and /Film.