Rocky Baboa was in fact based on a real fighter.

[THE REED]

Mispelled the headline - baLboa

Rocky Balboa was based on a fighter named Chuck Wepner.

Sylvestor Stallone attended a fight between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner, and Chuck was basically a no skill fighter going up against the best boxer of the time, Muhammad Ali (Apollo Creed). Chuck got beaten up the whole time by Ali, but he kep coming and he didnt give up, and actually scored a flash knockdown against Ali.

Its where Stallone came up with the idea of Rocky, based on Chuck Wepner. Apollo Creed is obviously Muhammad Ali, the loud mouth ****y over confident boxer...

Only the character is based on a real person, the rest of the story is all bull****... Chuck Wepner actually tried to sue Stallone because he stole the idea from him (him being the actual idea) but Chuck didnt get anywhere with the lawsuit.







Youtube the fight I cant embed it.


Chuck Wepner had never been down in his entire career... not one time did he ever hit the canvas. He continued to call Ali by his birth name (Casius Clay) and Ali also said he had called him a ******... they didnt't like each other at all.


Ali Knocked him out in the 15th round.
---------------------------------------------------------------


Wepner served as the inspiration for the character of Rocky Balboa in the film Rocky.[6] In 2003, Wepner filed a lawsuit against Sylvester Stallone for money supposedly owed to him for the Rocky movies. He has claimed that Stallone has used Wepner's name numerous times without permission when he talks about the inspiration for Rocky Balboa. Two of his other claims were dismissed by U.S. District Court judges, and Sylvester Stallone settled the latest claim out of court for an undisclosed amount.[citation needed] In a published interview by Jim Clash of Forbes, Wepner got a question about his thoughts on Stallone. Wepner said he thought Stallone was a great actor and writer, and that he still considers Stallone a friend.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Wepner#The_.22Real.22_Rocky

and for anyone with smart ass remarks

I was merely responding to this comment...

I always thought Rocky was a fictional character? Did Rocky Balboa actually exist? News to me.

I read that in this thread

http://www.boxingscene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171400&highlight=cotto

So I figured well, maybe not everyone knows this piece of info... So I made a thread about it...

Thanks.

[Miburo]

This is pretty common knowledge (at least among boxing fans).

[THE REED]

Not everyone knows...

Matter of fact in the cotto gomez buildup 3 thread, there were people saying Rocky was a fictional character.

So..........

[Briandl]

Everyone here knows, if you don't turn in your boxing fan card and get the **** out...

[ben41193]

Old news bro lol

[Boogie Nights]

nothing new really, sly was in the attendance that night, and chuck being the underdog sparked the whole rocky idea in stallone's mind.

chuck always said that sly owed him money hehehe
appolo creed character was based on ali

[Miburo]

Not everyone knows...

Matter of fact in the cotto gomez buildup 3 thread, there were people saying Rocky was a fictional character.

So..........

Well, he is a fictional character. But he was quite strongly based on Wepner, whose fight with Ali was not seriously competitive (although he scored a knockdown, a rarity against Ali).

[ben41193]

Well, he is a fictional character. But he was quite strongly based on Wepner, whose fight with Ali was not seriously competitive (although he scored a knockdown, a rarity against Ali).

upon further review the kd was bull****

[Miburo]

upon further review the kd was bull****

Not surprising - I haven't even seen the fight myself, it was pretty much a free payday for Ali.

[ROSS CALIFORNIA]

I also seem to remember that Joe Frazier's life was also used as an inspiration for creating Rocky. Coming from Philly and supposedly Frazier also worked in a meat cutting factory, which helped develop his strength. I think I heard that on a Ali Frazier show I have.