Mike Tyson vs Tyson Fury. Evander Holyfield vs Oleksandr Usyk. Lennox Lewis vs Anthony Joshua. Fantasy fights we are doomed never to see. Fascinating clashes between today’s finest big men and the greats of a bygone era. These fights will never happen unfortunately. But in 1969, a radio producer by the name of Murray Woroner did manage to stage one such fight. Curious fight fans queued around the block at cinemas the world over to see what was dubbed The Super Fight between Muhammad Ali and Rocky Marciano.
You won’t find this hidden gem on the professional record of either man. But head over to YouTube or your video streaming service of choice and type in “Ali vs Marciano” and it is there. Over an hour of footage of ‘The Greatest’ and ‘The Brockton Blockbuster’ how we remember them best. Ali pumping out his generational jab, dancing around the ring in violently balletic style. Marciano rumbling forward, ducking punches before burrowing into his opponent with thunderous hits of his own. For a fight that never happened, it sure looks like a fight that happened.
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So why exactly were two of history’s most iconic heavyweight champions in a ring, wearing their fight gear, punching each other? The answer is part-fight, part-cinematic event, part-science fiction. Ali and Marciano may never have squared off in a sanctioned boxing match, but they did meet in the first ever filmed “computer fight”.
The concept of the computer fight was pioneered by Woroner in 1967. He set up a fantasy boxing tournament to be broadcast via the radio. Polling over 250 boxing writers and insiders, he came up with a bracket that included Ali and Marciano, along with Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney, Jack Johnson and numerous other heavyweight greats.
The legendary fighters were paired up and their statistics were loaded into the NCR-315 computer, an ancient piece of kit from the era where computers took up entire rooms rather than coat pockets. This electronic behemoth would then spit out the result, like the Bat-Computer informing Adam West that The Joker has taken hostages at an abandoned theme park.
The bouts were then broadcast as radio dramas with Woroner and announcer Gary LeBow calling the fictional action. Some of the surviving fighters even contributed to the programmes, making them a real boxing aficionado's dream. The public bought in, with some of the fictional bouts heard by over 12 million listeners.
One boxer who was not in dreamland when he heard the recordings was Muhammad Ali. Marciano had gone on to win the computerised tournament, being presented with a gold and diamond championship belt worth $10,000 to recognise him as the greatest heavyweight of them all. For a man that had been calling himself ‘The Greatest’ for years, Ali was understandably aggrieved. He was so infuriated by his “defeat” to Jim Jefferies in the second round of the tournament, he sued Woroner in a $1 million defamation suit.
Where many men would have seen this as a reason to can the series, Woroner sensed this as a chance to make it bigger than ever. The producer agreed to pay Ali a $10,000 dollar settlement in exchange for his services in the first ever live-action computer fight. Ali agreed and the format would move from the radio to the silver screen, with filming taking place in 1969. But who would stand in the corner across from Ali? None other than the winner of Woroner’s original radio bracket: Rocky Marciano. Each man’s attributes would be loaded into the trusty NCR-315 and it would decide the outcome.
The staged fight arrived at a fascinating time in the career of both men. Ali was serving his exile from the sport after refusing to participate in the Vietnam war. Meanwhile Marciano had rejected numerous offers to box again in the 14 years since his ring retirement. He was reportedly keen on the idea of making money as a boxer again without tarnishing his perfect 49-0 record in the professional ranks.
Both men took it seriously in terms of preparation. The 45-year-old Marciano lost 50 pounds and wore a toupee to resemble the fabled ‘Rock’ of boxing’s past. Never one to be shown up, ‘The Greatest’ arrived in fighting shape too. He needed to. While the fight was fictional, the film was put together from 75 one-minute rounds of genuine sparring. This wasn’t quite a full-pelt heavyweight title fight, but neither man was willing to look foolish. Hollywood, this was not.
Watching the film back now you can see the effort the two ring legends put in. Most of the blows are body punches, but when they do occasionally go upstairs there’s a little bit behind the blows. There’s a real sense of the two icons feeling each other out. One wonders whether Marciano mulled over a ring comeback as he threw not-quite-pulled punches at Ali’s midriff. Or if Ali wondered to himself if a younger Marciano could have troubled him in his heyday. As a fight, this is one of the tamer ones either man had. But as a film about fighting, it is essential viewing for a budding boxing historian.
Despite the billing as a computer fight, the Super Fight did not actually have a definitive outcome per se. At least, not a consistent one. The resulting footage was actually edited differently depending on its intended audience. Cinemagoers in the United States and Canada saw Marciano score a hard-fought knockout over Ali in the 13th round. But if you were watching in Europe, you would have seen Ali triumphing when the referee stopped the fight due to cuts on Marciano’s face. The blood wasn’t real, but Ali’s fury was when he initially saw the film.
Woroner must have known the inherent risk here. Ali’s involvement had come about specifically because he had been deemed the loser of one of the producer’s fantasy fights. Surely having him “lose” another was asking for trouble? Ali asserted the computer had not actually been used to determine the outcome, which is supported by the fact an entirely different ending was used elsewhere. Eventually Ali was calmed by the fact the remaining copies of the film would be destroyed. Or so he thought…
A surviving print of the film was discovered in 2005 and cleared for release. The Super Fight: Marciano vs Ali was released on DVD, finding a new generation of curious fans. While people the world over have now seen the film, tragically Marciano never would. The great champion passed away in a plane crash three weeks after filming the bout. Even through his dispute with Woroner, Ali spoke very highly of Marciano and they departed the filming as friends.
In the end, the influence of the computer fight extended beyond Ali, Marciano and Woroner. It is still being felt today. What was the Mike Tyson vs Roy Jones Jr exhibition if not a grandchild of the Super Fight? Two great former champions in a room without a crowd, testing each other out just enough for us to get a glimpse of how they might have matched up in their prime. The concept made it onto the silver screen too, with Sylvester Stallone using it as the basis for Rocky Balboa in 2006. A computer fight between the titular Rocky and Mason ‘The Line’ Dixon is the catalyst for the film’s final bout.
Woroner’s dream is now something any of us can live out. While it’s been a while since we’ve had a new one, those of us who have clung to our copies of Fight Night Champion are the new Woroners. Anyone with a Playstation or an Xbox can stage Wladimir Klitschko vs Jack Johnson, Manny Pacquiao vs Roberto Duran or indeed Muhammad Ali vs Rocky Marciano. Seven decades on from Woroner’s first computer fight, his legacy shows no sign of abating. In his own way, he is every bit as immortal as Ali and Marciano.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
