The Super Fight (1970)

Truly Dreadful Film

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

AS A RESULT OF our having been a Chicago Cop for some 30+ years, it was our pleasure and purely lucky dose of happenstance that we occasionally met some celebrities from the world of Entertainment. as well as those from the area of Sports. During the period of 1973-78, it was our assignment to the Loop Traffic (Downtown) unit that brought us together with a former World's Featherweight Boxing Champion, Leo Rodak; who had the title circa 1941.WHEN THIS FILM was telecast on (we believe) CBS late night, we inquired of Mr. Rodak if he'd seen it and what was his opinion. Who would've won and in what round? LEO HADN'T HEARD of this "fight", but seemed intrigued nonetheless. Without any hesitation, he said; "Oh, it'd be Marciano with a K.O. in the 11th Round!" It was quite interesting to have had been there as his human "gray-matter" computer gave us his answer in what was a mere few seconds. (It also was remarkably close to what was contained on film.) WE SEE THAT this very unique film was an instant success, not only with those in the Boxing World and its fans; but also with a large chunk of the public at large. Sports fan or not, everyone identifies with the top dogs in any of the sports; be they Basenall. Football, Basketball, Hockey or Boxing. The Heavyweight Champ, in particular, is of high interest among even casual examiners.THE IDEA OF filming a super number of rounds with the two undefeated Champions came about as a result a series of audio-only computer generated segments on Radio, The radio shows paired such fighters from far flung eras such as: Sonny Liston vs John L. Sullivan or Primo Carnera vs. Jack Johnson (just fictitious examples, Schultz) All of the Radio installments were between opponents of which at least one was already deceased.THAT'S WHEN THE gratuities intersection of coincidences gave rise to the concept of a film. Ever since Cassius Clay appeared on the horizon of the Prize Ring of Pugilism, there was a lot of discussion about who was the greatest Heavyweight Champ of all time. The 5 top names on everyone's all-time roll were: Jack Johnson (deceased 1948), Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano and Mohammad Ali/Cassius Clay.IT ALSO WAS during this time that Ali/Clay was suspended from boxing; having had his Heavyweight Title stripped from him for his having violated the US Selective Service Act by refusing to be inducted into the Army.IT WAS THEN that producer, David Woroner, pitched the idea to the two Champions to bring the computer fight concept of his fro the radio waves to the visual medium. According to what we've heard, both agreed PDQ. Marciano was anxious to show what he still had and quickly got into fighting shape, dropping 25 pounds. Ali, being rendered inactive by his being banished to the scrapheap, during his prime years, also jumped at the chance.THERE WAS CERTAINLY a lot of personal pride involved, but doubtless, there was a great financial component that came into play; particularly for Mohammed Ali.AS FOR THE fight, it really managed to generate a great deal of excitement for the viewer. While we all know that it is not a contest, the filmed sparring that the two men performed was among the best ever recorded for a movie. and why wouldn't it? After all, they were two of the very best in their field and there were reports of Ali being injured from Rocky's persistent pummeling.THE "FIGHT" WAS originally telecast over the closed circuit network in movie houses throughout the country. The trailer declared how it would never be shown again following its pay-per-view premiere; which wasn't exactly true. It was certainly an excellent tool in promoting the film; but as we said earlier, we saw it on CBS about 5 years or so later. You can purchase a DVD of it on Amazon.com, if interested.WELL< THAT JUST goes to show you, "you can't believe everything you hear!"; right Schultz!NOTE: WE CANNOT CLOSE without making reference to the tragic death of Rocky Marciano just three weeks after the filming finished. Mr. Marciano met his maker following the crash of the crash of the Newton Cessna 172 light aircraft in which he was a passenger. By all accounts, the man was a Champion in every respect and a real, true regular guy, who never lost touch from his roots.You are missed, Sir! We know you are resting in Peace with the Lord.

The poster above me said, "For this fight, the computer used a ton of attributes for Ali and Marciano, and came up with a decision as to who would be the best fighter ever. To film this fight, they did film the two sparring, despite both fighters already being in retirement (Rocky for many more years than Ali)." That is false. When Muhammad Ali retired, Marciano was already DEAD for years. Marciano died in 1969 at the young age of 45. Marciano and Ali shot the footage in 1968-early 1969. Aside from that, the DVD was a very good one, and I think as years go on, many, many, many boxing fans will be adding this one to their collection. I give this DVD production 5 out of 5.

This is definitely a must for any boxing, Ali or Marciano fan. It is something that I had heard about but never thought that I would have a chance to see.A Miami radio producer, in the late 1960s, put together a series of radio fantasy fights among the all-time great heavyweight champions. A computer determined the outcome and Rocky Marciano defeated Jack Dempsey in the final. Muhammad Ali lost earlier in the tournament and sued for defamation. Murry Woroner, the producer, settled the suit by agreeing to have the computer do a fight between Ali and Marciano. In addition, he convinced Marciano and Ali to film the fight. Ali, then 27, was an undefeated heavyweight champion of the world, who had been suspended from boxing for refusing induction into the military. Marciano, 45, was the retired heavyweight champion of the world, thirteen years and sixty pounds removed from his ring days. Rocky lost the weight and got back into decent shape, training as if it were real. the two men sparred 70 rounds, pulling their head shots, but the body shots were real. Many different endings were filmed. It was edited together into what the computer created.Three weeks after filming ended, Marciano died in a plane crash. The film aired one time only on January 20, 1970. All prints were collected and burned afterward. Some theater owners attempted to keep their print and show it again, but these were eventually collected and burned. Woroner alleged that a number of theater owners cheated him out of profits and because of this he allowed the film to be shown once on ABC's Wide World of Sports. There was also a Super 8 film, but it soon disappeared too. One print was given to the Library of Congress and in 2005, the Woroner family petitioned for access to it to create a DVD. The DVD includes a new documentary , an alternate ending to the fight, the radio fantasy fights and other extras.The film is enjoyable, but dated by today's standards. You can tell, particularly early in the fight that the punches are being pulled. You hear a crowd, but do not see them. Some of the prefight footage is of less than good quality.Both fighters put on a great show. Ali is at his dancing, jabbing best. Marciano is in decent shape and seems to enjoy being back in the ring and performs with great gusto, throwing punches to the body that greatly resemble the blows he threw in his youth. However, if you look closely, you can see he is older than in his ring days, wearing a toupee and not in the great shape that he had been.Who wins? I will not spoil it for you, but I will say the DVD shows the one and only version of the fight to be previously aired and one of the alternate endings filmed. There is a myth that different versions, one with Ali winning and one with Marciano winning were shown in different cities. This is not true.Does the film get it right? Who can say? This film supposes both fighters were at their best. Fighters are seldom or never both at their best when they meet in the ring. Also, the fight is done from a 60s perspective of Ali, much faster and able to keep dancing and slicing apart an opponent for a much longer period of time. Does this Ali cut up Marciano and win on a TKO? In the 70s, we learned that Ali could take a tremendous amount of punishment from punchers like Frazier, Foreman and Shavers. This information was not available in the 60s. That super fast Ali had never taken big shots. Does the computer think he would be knocked out? Marciano had been cut up and nearly TKoed by much older and slower fighters than Ali. Could Rocky, with his much shorter reach get to Ali before being sliced to pieces. You be the judge and enjoy the chance to see this forgotten classic.