Chuck Page #2

You nearly took my f***in' 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 f***in' hemophiliac.

Who was on the phone?

AI, come on, I know you got

something going on. Who was that?

That was Don King.

No sh*t.

Because of the beatin' you put on Hinke,

I'm looking at a guy

who's got a shot at the heavyweight title.

You f***in' 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 f*** if it's Mukluk!

All right?

When Foreman knocks Ali on his ass,

you're in.

And what if Ali wins?

Foreman is a f***in' 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.

Thank you.

- Come on, you're missing it.

- Okay, okay.

Uppercut. Sucker punch.

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.

You mean a prizefighter?

Here it comes, here it comes.

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."

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.

What are they fighting in Africa for?

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'?

Yo, Bleeder!

- Chuck, just don't...

- It's all right.

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 f***!

- Chuck!

Relax, Champ. Come back for you

when I'm done with Foreman.

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.

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.

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.

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?

- Phyll.

- Coffee, black. Thanks.

- Excuse me!

- No, don't apologize.

This is my...

His wife. Your wife.

Sh*t.

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.

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, 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 f***in' 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 f***in' wrong.

I'm taking Kimberly to my mom's.

You do what you want.

- Phyll...

- F*** you, Chuck.

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.

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 f***in' top 10...

You hear me, bubala? You hear me?

You're the f***in' white guy!

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.

- 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.

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