By Mark Vester
Rocky Balboa is not afraid to get in the ring with Antonio Tarver, but he was scared to death of former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson. Sylvester Stallone told media outlet ContactMusic that Tyson contacted him repeatedly to land the role as his final ring opponent in the Rocky series.
Stallone thought it was a bad idea to get in the ring with Tyson for "realistic" fight scenes because Tyson is a "killer." After numerous calls, Stallone promised Tyson a cameo role at ringside.
"Mike wanted to fight me in this film but I thought it was a bad idea. I know I'm not that young, but I'm still too young to die," Stallone said. "I said, 'Thanks, but I don't think that would be a very good idea. Thank you very much.' "But he kept calling the office saying he wanted to be in the film fighting me."
"Eventually, I relented and said he could be in the audience. Then I never heard from him. Suddenly, when I turn up in the ring he's there at the side. "I turned round and said to the crew, 'Can you make sure you keep that son of a bitch out of the ring. If he gets in he'll kill me.' The man's a killer."
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