Here's the post, I just found it.
Following is an interesting account of the events surrounding the taping
of the Marciano vs. Ali closed-circuit TV "Superfight."
In 1969, Murry Woroner, a Miami promoter, approached Rocky and
Muhammad Ali with a proposition. He wanted to film a fight between
them, using a computer to decide the final outcome.
Ali had been stripped of his title and banned from boxing when he refused
to be drafted into the army in 1967. Marciano was 46 years old and sixty
pounds over his fighting weight. Each man had his motivations for agreeing
to the deal. Ali needed the money. Rocky had money, but he deeply missed
his glory days in the ring.
Before he could climb into a ring again, even for a simulated fight, Rocky
had
to get into some semblance of what he had been. He began running again,
working out in the gym, eating right; in truth, he trained as hard or harder
than any
fighter preparing for a real fight. The result was a loss of almost fifty
pounds. To
cover his balding head, he was fitted with a wig.
In "Marciano, Biography of a First Son", Everett Skehan said, "When Rocky
went
to the dingy gym on the North Side of Miami Beach he was thinking tough,
expecting
things to go smoothly but prepared for anything. He had been briefed, knew
that the
punches were to be pulled, and that it would not be a real fight. But Rocky
wouldn't
go into the ring that way. Even at forty-six, he had to feel that if
something went
wrong, if suddenly the punches became real, he would be ready to win."
Ali didn't train seriously for the filming, and actually looked less in
shape than the
much older Marciano.
The filming took place in a small gym on the North Side of Miami Beach. Only
about
20 people were allowed inside the gym during the filming, which was kept as
secret as
possible. Behind the fighters was a black backdrop and no crowd of cheering
spectators.
Though punches to the head were to be pulled, both men agreed body shots
were not a
problem. They filmed one minute rounds. Angelo Dundee was on hand as Ali's
trainer,
but Rocky had to use Mel Ziegler to play the role of Charlie Goldman, his
real trainer.
Charlie had passed away the year before. Ferdie Pacheco was the ring doctor.
Seventy one-minute segments were filmed, then spliced into three minute
rounds, including
seven possible endings. All the information about the two men, their fights
and results, was
fed into the computer. Supposedly, the computer would decide the winner
completely on
the basis of the data concerning the two men and their boxing careers. Ali
would tell
different versions of how the outcome was decided; he would say he choose
the ending,
he would say it was a biased decision made by a computer in Mississippi,
etc.
During the filming, Rocky and Ali became friends, spending hours in
conversation. Ali
would later write that he became closer to Rocky than any other white
fighter he ever knew.
Said Dundee of the affair: "Muhammad acquired a lot of respect for Rocky. He
said Rocky
was a lot harder to hit with a jab than he looked."
Stories came out of the sessions. Several claimed Rocky really hurt Ali with
body shots, so
that Muhammad climbed out of the ring and demanded extra money to continue.
He was
payed additional money. (Woroner himself said Ali took such a battering that
he refused to
continue until he was guaranteed an additional two thousand dollars.)
I've talked to the son of one observer who says Rocky doubled Ali up with a
body shot
after Ali kept jabbing the wig off Rocky's head. Dundee admitted to the wig
episode, but
never told of the hard body shot that it led to. Ferdie Pacheco, however,
the ring doctor
in the film, claims Ali was dropped by a real body shot. The undeniable fact
is, Rocky
entered the ring ready to make a real fight of it if need be. Even Dundee
said he had to
be calmed down after the wig incident.
Here's the wig story as I've heard it from two sources:
Ali was dancing around jabbing and threw a high jab which just clipped
Rocky's wig
and knocked it off his head. The filming was stopped while the wig was
refitted, amid
bemused smiles from several of the observers. Marciano was embarrassed and
angry.
He said, "He did that on purpose to make me look stupid. He doesn't have any
respect
for me at all." Rocky was assured it was an accident and the filming
resumed. However,
Ali again jabbed high and sent the wig flying. Rocky was really mad this
time, and
snarled, "You better not do that again!"
They began once more and immediatly Ali flicked the wig off Rocky's head.
Without
hesitation, Marciano dug a vicious body shot into Ali's mid-section,
doubling him over.
Pacheco said Muhammad actually dropped to the floor and was completely
helpless.
Quickly Rocky was separated from Ali and Dundee related how they had to take
a
break until Rocky's temper cooled off.
Marciano offered to turn it into a real fight then and there if Ali was
game. Only when
Ali apologized did the Rock get over his anger. Observers at the filming
have said Ali's
attitude was different from that point on, as it was obvious Marciano had
come to fight
if need be rather than be disrespected.