Rocky
Balboa
Robert 'Rocky' balboa was born in 1945 in South Philedelphia. He grew up as a Roman Catholic and quit school after the ninth grade. It would seem that up until 1975 Balboa lived in the slums of Phily, where he worked as an enforcer for a local loan shark. However at the same time he was also fighting on the local club circuit, and he had then fought 64 fights, winning 44, 38 being knockouts. A source of pride for Baboa was that he had never had his nose broken in a professional fight, although Apollo Creed would have other ideas. In terms of friendships he enjoyed a close relationship with Paulie Pennine, whose sister Adrian Pennino he would ultimately marry.
So at this point in time Balboa was going nowhere - so when did he get his big break. It occurred when the undispute dheavyweight champion of the world, Appolo Creed, decided to give some of the local talent in Philedelphia a chance to fight for his title. After some debate, Creed chose to fight Rocky, who dismisses him as a nobody. Local boxing trainer Mickey Goldmill agrees to take Rocky under his wing, and trains Rocky hard. Against all odds, Rocky goes the distance with Creed. Though Creed wins the fight by split decision, it was the first time he had failed to knock out his opponent......and so Balboa's career began. In the second movie, Creed desired a rematch with Rocky to face public opinion, which some believed that Rocky won the fight and some felt Creed had the fight fixed, though Rocky gets the better of Creed this time, winning the rematch by knockout and becoming heavyweight champion of the world.
By the third film Rocky is challenged by a newcomer in the high ranks of boxing, James Clubber Lang, (played by Mr. T). Rocky had some issues with his trainer Mickey due to his revelation of having faced "hand-picked" challengers that were "good fighters, but not 'killers'"; Mickey insists that he will quit as Rocky's manager if he chooses to fight Lang, but Rocky convinces him to train him for one last match. Lang shoves Mickey out of the way before the match, gravely injuring him, which throws Rocky off his game. He is then knocked out in the second round, losing his title; adding to his defeat, Mickey died of a heart attack after the match, devastating Rocky. Despairing, Rocky is met by Apollo Creed, who offers to train him for a rematch and even gives him his signature red, white and blue trunks to wear. He wins the second match with Lang by KO in the third round, regaining his World Heavyweight title.
By Rocky IV, Creed and Rocky had been training together for quite some time, but Creed was itching to fight again after a five-year hiatus. He got his chance in a charity event with a fearsome Soviet Amateur World Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist-turned-professional fighter, Ivan Drago. Creed enters the ring dancing and jumps and darts about - throwing innefective punches at the Russian - yet it is Creed who is brutally beaten by the end of the first round. Rocky begs him to give up yet Creed is determined to go on, and as a consequence is savaged in the second round......Feeling responsible and facing overwhelming public outrage, Rocky sets up a match with Drago, but there was a catch: The fight was to be held on Christmas in the Soviet Union. Flying out to the USSR, he is given nothing but a simple log cabin and seemingly endless reaches of snowy, mountainous terrain in which to train. Later, in an emotional show of support, Adrian travels to the USSR to join him during his training. On the night of the fight Rocky finds himself in a foreign country in a stadium full of Soviets cheering for Ivan Drago. The fight starts off much as Drago's fight with Creed did, with Drago taking punch after punch with no visible show of damage, while pounding on Rocky relentlessly. After two rounds of this, Rocky catches Drago in the eye and cuts him, showing the world that he is in fact human. The fight continues in a bloody back-and-forth battle, with the Soviet crowd slowly turning to Rocky’s side. The fight ends with Rocky knocking out Ivan Drago in the last few seconds of the fight.
In Rocky V, a bad financial planner led Rocky to lose all of his money; he is then forced to go back to the Philadelphia slums. Though retired from boxing himself, Rocky starts training an up-and-coming fighter, Tommy Gunn. Gunn slowly becomes an excellent fighter, but ends up leaving his trainer Rocky over an argument and wins the World Heavweight title from Union Cane. However, he is ridiculed in the press; as he has never fought Rocky, he is not regarded as a real champion. This motivates Gunn to challenge Rocky to a fight. Rocky initially declines, but their tension culminates in a street brawl in which Rocky easily defeats Gunn.
In Rocky Balboa the aging champion is living out his days running a small Italian restaurant in Philadelphia, Adrian's; though his financial troubles are behind him, his wife has since died and his son is finding it difficult to get out of the shadow of his still famous father. One day, watching ESPN at a bar, he sees a computer-generated version of a hypothetical fight between the past champ, Rocky (in his prime), and the present one, Mason "The Line" Dixon. The fight has Rocky winning by knockout in the 13th round, and it stirs up some commotion. Hoping to save face by proving that he can easily beat the former champion, Dixon challenges Rocky to a charity fight. In the press, commentators dismiss Rocky's chances, assuring that the fight will be one-sided and embarrassing. After convincing his son of why he still has one fight left in him, and training one last time, Rocky gets back in the ring. Dixon starts out the fight quite impressively, only allowing Rocky to land 9 punches out of 13, in the first round. However, in the second round, Dixon breaks his hand on a low blow which hits Rocky's hip. As a result, Dixon is unable to knock Rocky out. Rocky and Dixon duke it out for the entire distance of the match. Though Dixon ends up winning the fight by split decision, Rocky's entourage has almost left the arena by the time this is announced, having accomplished his goal of simply proving a point....
And so the life of Balboa comes to an end.....I would imagine that he returned back to his restaurant and renewed ties with his son.....whilst remeniscing in his life as a supreme fighter. Will he be back???...doubtful but never say never........
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