Chuck Page #3

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.

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

"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..."

Hold on, Chuck. Hold on.

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...

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.

All right. All right. All right. Okay.

'Cause I don't want no excuses about cuts.

- Are you done? Yeah?

- For the moment.

So I took what I could get

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

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?

I think you got a pool in your room, bro.

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.

Hey, Chuck. Hey, Chuck.

How are you?

Yes, yes. That's what we're talking about.

Let's hear about this fight.

How's it going, guys? All right.

- 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.

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?

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.

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?

All right, fellas, thank you very much.

That's gonna be it for today, all right?

Come on, we got a few more questions.

"Wepner giving free transfusions."

"Bayonne's one-man blood bank."

Jesus Christ, these f***in' writers.

F***in' animals.

Champ, you got this, man.

John Stahl was my best friend.

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...

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.

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...

How she doing?

I don't know.

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.

There she is!

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.

- I'm busy here, John. You can see...

- Hurry up, pal!

Settle down, d*ckhead.

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.

- Can you beat Muhammad?

- What?

- Can you beat Muhammad?

- Yeah, absolutely, Mike.

I've been waiting 11 years for this,

you know, so, I'm hungry.

You hear that? The man just said he's hungry.

He better go get himself something to eat.

How about two all-beef patties

with special sauce?

I never been scared of nobody my entire life,

but looking at my face for the first time

on that box, it was tough.

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 f***in' p*ssy, you hear me?

Trust me, all right?

Ali is gonna look like

the schvartze putz of the century

when you knock him out.

You hear me?

Special delivery.

John, what the f*** 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.

- 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 Mike Douglas thing?

No.

Let me look at you.

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.

Come on.

You like?

Yeah, I like.

I like it better when you take it off.

Yeah, I bet.

- 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

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