Monday, 22 May 2017

Hero is Rocky

Legends nowadays was a beginner one day ago.


" It Ain't Over 'till It's Over "



Robert "Rocky" Balboa is the title character of the Rocky series. The character was created by Sylvester Stallone, who also portrayed him in all seven Rocky films. He is depicted as an everyman who started out by going the distance and overcoming obstacles that had occurred in his life and career as a professional boxer. While he is loosely based on Chuck Wepner, a one-time boxer who fought Muhammad Ali and lost on a TKO in the 15th round, the inspiration for the name, iconography and fighting style came from boxing legend Rocky Marciano.
                                              


The character is widely considered to be Stallone's most iconic role and is often considered the role that started his film career. He received critical acclaim for his performance in the first movie, earning Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations. When Stallone reprised his role once again in 2015 for Creed, his performance received wide acclaim and he received his first Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor, along with his third Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor and several other accolade


Rocky Balboa fights as a southpaw (left-handed). In the second film, against Apollo Creed, he comes out orthodox and Mickey intends for him to switch back to southpaw late in the last round, but Balboa refuses saying "no tricks, I ain't switching". Mickey tells him that Apollo is ready for him (if he continues using his right) and so towards the end of the round, he does indeed lead with his left. The real reason for this is Sylvester Stallone tore his pectoral muscles in training,[citation needed] but the idea was probably taken from the great left-handed boxer "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler who would sometimes come out orthodox to confuse opponents.


Rocky was an all or nothing brawler coming into his first bout with Creed, however under the training of Mickey he began to develop his boxing skills ahead of the rematch, which were mastered during his reign as world champion, he became a world class hybrid fighter, possessing the qualities of an inside fighter, brawler, and swarmer. With the exception of his rematch against Clubber Lang (where he fights as an outside fighter), he often advances quickly upon his opponents, driving them into the ropes in order to attack the body. Balboa's best attribute is without question his near-superhuman ability to absorb a multitude of the hardest hits without falling  an attribute he often employs on purpose to wear down his opponents, sacrificing defensive strategy to land his own punches.  


This is due to a rare brain abnormality in which Rocky's cerebral hemispheres stay tightly relative to each other due to an extremely strong corpus callosum, preventing him from losing consciousness due to latitudinal impacts. Because of this rare talent, Balboa can afford to keep his hands in position to strike rather than up high to block. Because he takes more punches than he throws, it is easy to overlook his incredible punching power. Rocky also has an uncanny ability to sense weakness in his opponents, often capitalizing on every shift in momentum possible. He is acknowledged as having the most devastating body attack in the sport, with his body blows causing internal bleeding in Creed and breaking Drago's ribs. After going two rounds with Balboa, Ivan Drago told his trainer (in Russian), "He's not human, he's like a piece of iron." Mason Dixon once remarked about Balboa: "that guy's got bricks in his gloves." These qualities, in concert, helped land him a high percentage of KO victories over the course of his career.




Honors:

The Rocky character is immortalised by a bronze statue erected near the Rocky Steps in Philadelphia recalling the famous scene from the original Rocky movie.



In 2011, Sylvester Stallone was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame for his work on the Rocky Balboa character, having "entertained and inspired boxing fans from around the world". Additionally, Stallone was awarded the Boxing Writers Association of America award for “Lifetime Cinematic Achievement in Boxing.”

A poll of former heavyweight champions and boxing writers ranked Balboa as the best boxer in the film series.

In 2014, Rocky Balboa was the Inaugural Induction to the Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame

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