(2 of 2)
Technical Knockout. Not until after his ninth-round tumble did Ali start fighting with wrath. Incarnadine but oaken-hearted, Wepner would not fall: a 10-1 underdog, he had never been knocked off his feet. Then, in the 15th round, with 19 seconds left to the fight, Ali slammed a right into Wepner's bloody face and spilled him into the ropes. Although Wepner was lurching up by the count of nine, the fight was over, ended by Perez on a technical knockout. Braverman and other aides half-hauled Wepner's beaten body back to his corner, and Ali collapsed in exhaustion on the canvas. Of his adversary, Ali later said: "There's not another human being in the world that can go 15 rounds like that." Wepner was proud. Said he: "I figure I held my own with one of the greatest fighters that ever lived." His fight of a lifetime ended with another 23 stitches over his eyes and the promise of a few weeks off before he returned to his sales route. His wife settled for a new Volvo.