Bayonne, New Jersey (CNN) -- If you don't know Chuck Wepner's claim to fame, you will in a hurry after you enter his small apartment in this gritty North Jersey city on the Hudson River. Maybe you'll see the framed poster of the most famous boxer of all time in his office, the one autographed, "To Chuck and Linda: Good luck to my dear friends, from Muhammad Ali. After me, there will be no other. P.S. Stay off my foot!" (We'll explain that in a minute). Or maybe he'll hand you a business card for his job as a liquor salesman. Flip it over, and you'll find a photo of a young Wepner, boxing trunks pulled over his navel, standing over a fallen Ali in the ring.
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Former heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner fought Muhammad Ali in 1975
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The match, and Wepner's life story, inspired Sylvester Stallone's "Rocky" movies
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Wepner was arrested for cocaine possession in 1985; spent time in prison
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ESPN will air "The Real Rocky," a new documentary about Wepner, in October
The project has been in the works for more than seven years, and Wepner is convinced it can shock the world the way @placeholder's fictional version did 35 years ago.