[EmpireWF]

It's 2008 and the undisputed best professional boxer in the world is scheduled to participate at WWE's flagship event, Wrestlemania on March 30th at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. Floyd Mayweather Jr. will reportedly take part in a tag team match in front of over 60,000 people. Pro boxing and professional wrestling have a storied history and will always be linked to one another. I decided to take a look back at some of the more famous Boxer vs. Wrestler contests.

The most famous boxer versus wrestler "fight" took place in July 1976 in Tokyo, Japan. Muhammad Ali, a well known pro wrestling fan (as the stories go, he grew up a HUGE fan of Classie Freddy Blassie and learned the charismatic style from him), had just beaten Joe Frazier the year before. Antonio Inoki was a popular pro wrestler in Japan and he wanted to show his form of fighting was better than boxing. To this day, this fight is regarded by some as one of the earliest forms of Mixed Martial Arts.

The issue with the Ali/Inoki fight was whether or not he would be a "shoot" (ie. legitimate fighting) or "worked" (ie. planned). As it turns out, the original plan was for it to be a worked fight between the two. However, in the days leading up to it, Ali reportedly saw Inoki training and his grappling and feared he would "shoot" and try to hurt Ali. Then rules were implemented to keep Inoki from doing much damage...or so they though. Obviously Antonio Inoki could not lose in his home country and be disgraced. Likewise, Muhammad Ali could not lose and become a genuine laughing stock for losing to a Japanese wrestler. As it was planned, Ali was going to wear boxing gloves and Inoki was given several restrictions. He could not strike Ali with his hands or take him down with any grappling holds. So when the actual fight took place, it was a "shoot" but with many limitations.

It resulted in Inoki spending the majority of 15-boring rounds on his back kicking at Ali's legs. The fight was declared a draw and Inoki became a legend in Japan and is still so to this day. Muhammad Ali went back to the States where few knew what happened and continued his career (some insist that the pounding his legs took during the course of the fight led to his health problems later in life).

Wrestling At Shea Stadium: Ali vs. Inoki (Loge 13)


While the Inoki/Ali fight happened in Japan, the other part of the show was held in New York at Shea Stadium (the pro wrestling portion). Andre The Giant took on pro boxer Chuck Wepner. Wepner is famous for being the inspiration for the character, Rocky. I believe this fight was "worked" as it ended by countout after Andre picked Wepner up and tossed him out of the ring.

Andre vs Chuck Wepner

[Gotham Dark Knight]

The Andre the Giant one is classic...

I remember the Ali bout as being rather dull.

[Lefty Noob]

Yeah, it's funny. Wepner was the inspiration for Rocky, like you said. I never knew he fought Andre though. Could that have been the inspiration for the whole Thunderlips thing in Rocky II?

[Gotham Dark Knight]

Originally Posted by Lefty Noob

Yeah, it's funny. Wepner was the inspiration for Rocky, like you said. I never knew he fought Andre though. Could that have been the inspiration for the whole Thunderlips thing in Rocky II?

you gotta think it was...with the more Hulk Hogan probably better suited for the role...

Hogan said he when he met Stallone...Sly wanted him to hit across the back at full speed to see what it would feel like...Hogan said he hit him at 3/4 speed or so...and Sly hit the mat in one big thud...but he said Sly was cool about the whole thing.

[EmpireWF]

An article at a British Boxing site lists more crossovers between boxing and pro wrestling.

Boxing: Wrestling-Boxing crossovers - Setanta Sports


One more that hasn't been talked about yet was a legit boxing match in 1998 at Wrestlemania. Butterbean fought Bart Gunn in what WWE touted as the "Toughman" competition. In weeks earlier on RAW, Gunn knocked out Dr. Death Steve Williams and Bradshaw...both reputed tough guys.

In the fight, Butterbean totally dominated Bart, knocking him out in less than a minute. lol

[Lefty Noob]

Yeah, I remember the Buttbean thing. More or less ended Bart Gunn's career. They were billing him as a tough guy and he just got slaughtered.

[Seahawker 562]

Why didnt you guys beleive me when i said verne gagne was my uncle?