Interestingly,
At a theater in Los Angeles, struggling actor Sylvester Stallone watched the Ali-Wepner fight and promptly went home and banged out the script for a little movie called "Rocky." It wasn't based on a true story -- not directly. But it was inspired by and borrowed heavily from a true story.
Director Jeff Feuerzeig tells the story of retired heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner, the man Sylvester Stallone has said was the inspiration for his Academy Award winning boxing drama, Rocky. Let's just say that one man's “inspiration” is another man's “jacked my entire life story."
Rocky is an American sports drama multimedia franchise created by Sylvester Stallone, based on the life of Chuck Wepner, which began with the eponymous 1976 film and has since become a cultural phenomenon, centered on the boxing careers of Rocky Balboa and his protégé Donnie Creed.
Meet Real Life Ivan Drago; 7-Foot Chinese Boxer Taishan Dong [VIDEO] - CBS Detroit.
In Rocky IV, Creed decides to make a one-off return to the ring to fight a Soviet Union boxer by the name of Ivan Drago. The fight is billed as an exhibition, but unfortunately, Creed is knocked unconscious in the second round, resulting in his death.
Wepner had originally sued the Rambo and Demolition man star for $15 million, claiming Stallone improperly used his name “to promote the Rocky movies and related products for commercial purposes without…
Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner fought each other in a boxing match on March 24, 1975, at the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield Township, Summit County, Ohio. Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
1. Muhammad Ali. The Greatest was not only one of the best heavyweights of all time, he was also one of the most colorful. He won the gold medal at the 1960 Olympics and went on to become the first boxer to win the heavyweight title three times.
Paulie unknowingly had Rocky sign a power of attorney over to Rocky's investment accountant, who had embezzled and squandered all of his money on real estate deals gone sour. In addition, the accountant had failed to pay Rocky's taxes over the past six years and his mansion had been mortgaged by $400,000.
Why is Sylvester Stallone absent from 'Creed III'? The 76-year-old actor said in an interview that he did not participate in the filming of the movie because the story had been given a direction with which he did not agree.
Rocky doesn't agree to train Adonis for the initial fight, causing the relationship to be broken for several months, until they mend the fences to work together for the second fight (after the first did not have a proper ending).
Given that he never lost in his professional career, many people believe that he is actually unbeaten throughout his career. However, this is not the case, as throughout his boxing career, he has suffered a few defeats.
Billy Bird – 139 TKO/KOs
The record-holder for the most knockouts in boxing's history belongs to UK's Billy Bird, who had 139 knockouts out of his 356 professional fights. Bird racked up 260 wins, 73 losses and 20 draws.
Opponents. Ali and Frazier fought three fights in the span of five years; the first and third of these are widely regarded to be among the greatest of all boxing bouts, and the Ali-Frazier rivalry has been hailed as one of the greatest any sport has seen.
Muhammad Ali was SCARED to fight Mike Tyson because he feared power of punches, George Foreman reveals. GEORGE FOREMAN has revealed that Muhammad Ali once admitted to him that he didn't believe he could've beaten Mike Tyson in his prime.
On March 8, 1971, in the "Fight of the Century" at Madison Square Garden, Frazier landed a left hook in the 15th round that sent Ali careening to the canvas. The unbeaten Frazier won a unanimous decision as he handed Ali the first defeat of his pro career.
After the film was released, won the Oscar in 1977, and became a cultural phenomenon, Wepner and Stallone became pals – in fact, Stallone offered him a part in Rocky II as a sparring partner.
Stallone's basic pay was $35,000, but the actor/creator had smartly negotiated himself a percentage of the film's profits. Not knowing they had a blockbuster on their hands, United Artists agreed – and Stallone eventually made over $25million from the film.
We could make it for under a million five, and we showed the script to UA.” Winkler offered Stallone $35,000 to star in the film.
It turns out Stallone regrets killing off Carl Weathers' Apollo Creed. Instead, Stallone know wishes that instead of killing Apollo, he had been crippled instead. With Apollo now in a wheelchair, he would have assumed the role of Mickey. In the cutting room and in the mind.
After returning home, Rocky and Adrian discover they are bankrupt after Paulie was fooled into signing a "power of attorney" over to Rocky's accountant, who squandered all of his money on real estate deals gone sour and failed to pay Rocky's taxes over the previous six years.
Drago is seen receiving intramuscular injections in the movie, implied to be anabolic steroids, though the actual nature of the injected solution is never explicitly stated; instead, Ludmilla, his wife, states as a joke that Drago is like Popeye and eats spinach every day.
However, 'Iron Mike' told FightCamp that his power was no match for that of two-time heavyweight champion of the world George Foreman. “George Foreman – the heaviest puncher. I couldn't match somebody's power who's that big, with that much mass.