CONTAINS A SOURCE OF QUOTATION - At the nearest boxing stadium to Bugs Bunny's neighbourhood, he witnesses from his rabbit hole that unfair contests are being performed. When he challenges the heavyweight boxing champion, Bugs finds himself at the ring. He gets into the spirit of boxing right away, but cannot gain an advantage over the Champ; till he brings his usual sly and dodgy methods to the ring.-(1)Bugs grabs the sportscaster's microphone and begins describing action that's not taking place, all of it so much in his favor that it wears down the Champ's resistance. "The Champ is confused," says Bugs "Bugs lands a beauty to the solar plexus!" and the Champ tries ward it off, flinching from its impact at the very thought. "The Champ is groggy!" shouts Bugs as the sportscaster, getting more feverish, making up so many 'rabbit punches' the Champ can't figure out where all the punches are coming from, and finally "The Champ is down!"(1). - The Champ really falls down when he gets the shaft of the invisible rabbit punches. But this was just one round, and after that the Champ uses Bugs Bunny's methods till the 110th round has Bugs tied up to railway tracks, while the Champ becomes the locomotive driver that is about to mash Bugs Bunny.How Bugs saves himself from that trouble is very unique. For a second time after he's beaten by Yosemite Sam in Hare Trigger(1945), this time the Champ beats Bugs; but only on paper(again). When the screen goes white, Bugs comes out of the side with a scissors in his hand; revealing that his ego is larger than the story writers'.Bugs becomes his own contest sportscaster, masquerades as a doctor, pretends as a popcorn peddler, and even cuts the motion picture film he's printed on. Rabbit Punch not only offers a lot of punches, it also adds more to Bugs Bunny's unconventional methods to outpower his adversaries. This episode is available on MGM/UA video Bugs Bunny Classics(1989).(1): Fifty Years and Only One Grey Hare(1990) by Joe Adamson, pg:146, Henry Holt and Company New York

Chuck Jones's 'Rabbit Punch' is a great cartoon in which Bugs is drawn into a boxing match with The Champ (later redubbed The Crusher in the far inferior wrestling-based sequel 'Bunny Hugged') and ends up going 110 rounds with him, each round escalating in its levels of violence until finally Bugs finds himself tied to a train track! A fast paced, beautifully orchestrated cartoon which eventually turns into a series of unusual spot-gags, 'Rabbit Punch' is full of great sequences, the best being Bugs's grease-assisted ice skating routine which is abruptly ended by a glove to the head. There's also a famous ending in which Bugs admits psychical defeat by resorting to tampering with the very cartoon itself. Unlike the lifeless follow-up 'Bunny Hugged', 'Rabbit Punch' is filled with invention and moves along at a fast lick, making it an enormously enjoyable short.

Written by Tedd Pierce & Michael Maltese, and directed by Chuck Jones, "Rabbit Punch" is a fine Bugs Bunny cartoon that teams him up with a familiar burly, mean-looking prizefighter who I believe was later known as the Crusher. This film certainly has the look and the boisterous atmosphere of an outdoor nocturnal prizefight, where plenty of funny gags abound as Bugs and his gargantuan opponent are not above a fair amount of subterfuge in order to win the match.There are a couple of scenes in "Rabbit Punch" that I think especially stand out. After Bugs dares to boo the multi-muscular palooka, Bugs makes a couple of hilarious facial expressions as he gets hoisted out of his hole, literally thrown into a dressing room and flying out wearing a pair of pink boxing trunks. While Bugs has a struggle with one of his challenger's legs, the big galoot peacefully lies onto the canvas playing solitaire, to the familiar accompaniment of Mendelssohn's Spring Song.As with all of Bugs' larger-than-life nemeses, in "Rabbit Punch" he takes care of his opponent not with his brawn, but with his brain. Problem is, after 110 rounds, I'm still unsure as to who the winner is.

Avid fans may note the resemblance of this toon's plot to Freleng's Baseball Bunny (1946); i.e. Bugs berates big, hulking athlete(s) for playing dirty and boasts that he can defeat said athlete(s) and athlete(s) takes him up on it (actually, lots of toons borrowed plots and themes from other toons, but whatever). Chuck Jones was a big fan of Friz Freleng and didn't think he was in the same league (though I myself would beg to differ). I see this cartoon as either an attempt to place himself in that league or a tribute to recognize Freleng's ability. Whatever it is, it's a great cartoon. Those toons where Bugs defeats his adversary but not without taking a few lumps himself tend to be the best Bugs cartoons. This one's one of my favorites.