uring the early '80s while preparing for the feature film Rocky III, Sylvester Stallone explored the possibility of using a real heavyweight boxer in the role of James "Clubber" Lang by inviting Earnie Shavers to spar with him. Shavers initially refused to hit Stallone with anything other than a soft jab. This frustrated Stallone, who asked Shavers, "C'mon Earnie, show me something real." Earnie responded by punching him once near the liver, forcing an immediate retirement; Stallone later said: "that nearly killed me. I went straight to the men's room and threw up."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earnie_Shavers
:haha:
Ernie Shavers.
This thread is funny because I was just watching those highlights the other day. Shavers was a monster. The thing that came to me was that he was a Football player and the boxing experts think thats where our HW Champions have gone. They rather play Football and other sports now because the money is so great and other things. We may have a World Class American HW Champ right now playing 3rd string LB on some team because boxing isnt popular anymore. That sucks
Stallone: You know, I learned my lesson. You think that you play the role long enough, and you assume, “Oh, I can compete with a professional.” Well, I had that scenario set up. In Rocky III I decided I was going to use a professional athlete – this is before Mr. T came along. The first fellow I brought in the ring, I brought in Joe Frazier. Joe Frazier got in the ring, and I’ll never forget, he was wearing a green suit, he just took his shirt off – he was wearing his street pants, his street shoes – put on the gloves and again, within less than 30 seconds, he came across the ring and cracked me. He gave me four stitches over one eye. I was looking at the lights, I couldn’t believe it. My fantasy was completely destroyed that you can last more than however long it takes a professional athlete to actually get to you, that’s how long you last in the ring. That’s how long it takes.
The next guy who came in – and this was idiotic on my behalf – was a fellow named Ernie Shavers. Ernie Shavers was sitting in the dressing room, and I saw him taping his hands, and he has a very high voice, and he goes, “Thank you, Mr. Stallone, for this opportunity. We’ll get in there and spar a little bit.” He was very cordial, and he had this really high voice. But I watched him tape his hands with air conditioning duct tape, and I’m going, “Oh my God.” So he gets in the ring, and I’ll never forget this, he hits me on the shoulder so hard that I capsize, go against the ropes, fall down to the ground, and I started to almost laugh hysterically, like when you hit your shin against a pipe. I never felt … I said, “Was there something in your glove?” Then his manager pulls me aside, and said, “Seriously, they don’t know how to pull their punches.” I said, “But he’s not even trying hard!” He said, “Oh, we have trouble in the gym because he actually breaks guys’ jaws off the hinges, that’s how hard he hits.” So I said, “He’s out.”
So I got a pansy like Mr. T. (Laughs) He was a vacation compared to this. And then I tried one more time, and I got in the ring with Roberto Duran. He stood in one spot, to prove a point, and every time I threw a punch, he would slip and bang me, and bang me, to the body, that the next day my arms were green and purple. I looked like bad cheese.
Boxing like any sport is a funnel.
Lots try, some get permanent injuries, others only become sparring partners and journeymen, the lucky few at the top level can take punches or atleast up to c level power.
Anyone that asks Ernie Shavers to hit them with a legit punch is either...
A. Extremely stupid
Or...
B. Extremely stupid.
Some of these actors will go to great lengths to get into their roles :lol1:
Stallone was a middleweight at the most, when he got the oscar for the first rocky movie Ali came out on the stage and looked like a giant next to him.
Stallone was a middleweight at the most, when he got the oscar for the first rocky movie Ali came out on the stage and looked like a giant next to him.