ESPN Films' The Real Rocky Delivers Epic Knock Out for Chuck Wepner

Chuck Wepner hasn't boxed since 1978, but he delivered a knock out blow to audiences around the world last night.

ESPN Films' "30-for-30" series premiered a documentary titled, "The Real Rocky" about Wepner's career.

Almost everyone has heard of Sylvester Stallone's iconic, Academy Award-winning film, Rocky, but not everybody knows its origin.

Stallone didn't come up with the concept out of the blue. He came up with the concept because he watched Wepner, a.k.a. "The Bayonne Bleeder," take an absolute beating at the hands of Muhammad Ali in 1975.

The outclassed boxer last all but 19 seconds of a 15-round fight with the world's most famous fighter and even knocked him down in the ninth round.

Stallone took dramatic license from there and turned the Rocky idea into a six-part series, but there is so much more to Wepner himself than just the inspiration for a Hollywood blockbuster.

People from all over were dazzled by the documentary directed by Jeff Feuerzeig and had plenty to say about it.

The fan reaction on Twitter was overwhelmingly positive as many said they knew nothing of "The Real Rocky."

Whether it be a beat writer who covers sports for a living:

Or simply a fan:

The consensus on "The Real Rocky" was a total knockout.

Wepner himself was very excited about the opportunity. Stallone initially said it was Wepner that inspired the film only to turn tail on the admission later.

"The Bayonne Bleeder" then sued the Hollywood actor and earned a knock out there, too.

Stallone not only paid the man, but also admitted that it was indeed Wepner who sparked the idea.

The documentary gave people a chance to see who the real Rocky really is. 

Wepner didn't deserve to go down as just the inspiration of a great fictional character—he deserved to go down with a reputation of his own.

"The Real Rocky" accomplished that, and if you haven't seen the documentary yet I implore you to do so.

Wepner fought Andre the Giant and a 900-pound bear for goodness sake.

Tell me that isn't more legendary than watching Stallone pound raw pieces of meat in a factory.