The Homer They Fall

Paul Winfield as Lucius Sweet
Michael Buffer as himself

"The Homer They Fall" is the third episode of The Simpsons' eighth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 10, 1996. After Homer Simpson realizes he has a bizarre medical condition that renders him unable to be knocked out, he decides to embark on a career as a boxer with Moe Szyslak as his manager. It was written by Jonathan Collier and directed by Mark Kirkland. The episode guest stars Michael Buffer as himself and Paul Winfield as Lucius Sweet.

The Simpsons visit a high-tech gadget store and Bart buys a gimmicky utility belt from Comic Book Guy for $4. He shows off its features to his classmates until he is beaten up by Dolph, Jimbo and Kearney, who steal the belt. In response, Homer decides to talk with the bullies' fathers at Moe's Tavern, but he is also beaten; however, they are unnerved when they cannot even knock Homer down, and are then chased away by a shotgun-wielding Moe.

Moe is impressed by Homer's ability to absorb severe punishment and suggests he take up boxing, with Moe – a former boxer himself – as his trainer and manager. Marge is annoyed by the idea, but a medical test diagnoses Homer with a rare genetic abnormality effectively rendering him near-invulnerable to knockout punches. However, while training, it is discovered that Homer is a weak puncher, and is extremely out of shape. Moe strategizes that Homer should stand still in the ring and let his opponents exhaust themselves trying to knock him out, and then knock them down with a tap. Marge insists that Homer get a physical by a competent doctor, hoping he won't pass the requirements for a boxing license. However, Homer easily passes the state requirement to box, wrestle or "be shot out of a cannon", as the state Springfield is in had apparently been founded by circus freaks.