Fame and complacency soon cause Balboa to lose his title to young thug Clubber Lang ( Mr. T ), who inadvertently causes the death of Rocky's beloved trainer, Mickey (Burgess Meredith), before their first championship bout.
Mickey's Death Makes Adrian More Important To The Rocky Franchise. With Mickey's death, the torch can be passed to other important people in Rocky's life who can offer him guidance, like Adrian.
James "Clubber" Lang is a fictional character created by Sylvester Stallone for the film Rocky III, which was released in 1982. He was portrayed by American actor and real-life wrestler Mr. T and serves as the main antagonist of the film.
While meeting up at Adrian's, Rocky is surprised when Donnie mentions a third fight between him and Apollo that happened behind closed doors (Rocky III) and presents himself as Apollo's son. Rocky compliments his father's boxing ability and reveals that Apollo won their third match.
Fame and complacency soon cause Balboa to lose his title to young thug Clubber Lang ( Mr. T ), who inadvertently causes the death of Rocky's beloved trainer, Mickey (Burgess Meredith), before their first championship bout.
Apollo won by decision, but many believed that Rocky was the real winner. According to Rocky himself in Creed, Apollo won the third fight. I don't think Rocky was lying, either, it lines up with how Rocky III and Rocky IV played out. The final shot of their iconic final rematch.
“Rocky V” (1990) — Easily the worst of the “Rocky” films. In this installment, Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) learns he has some lingering effects from the beating he took at the hands of Ivan Drago.
Rocky lost everything his manager, his title, his self respect and mostly he lost his edge! Like Apollo said "Now, when we fought, you had that eye of the tiger, man; the edge! And now you gotta get it back, and the way to get it back is to go back to the beginning." That's what I love.
In Rocky III however, his headstone lists his date of birth as 1905, making him 71 in the original film. Furthermore, the headstone lists his date of death as 1981, which implies that he was 76; the same age he was four years previously (in the original film).
Rocky tries to retire again, and the audience sees how Paulie becomes increasingly jealous that Rocky has money and fame now. Instead of asking Rocky for a job like one usually would, he tries to challenge Rocky to a fight and tear him apart verbally while drunk.
In 2006's “Rocky Balboa,” Paulie is back where he started, working at the meat-packing plant, but he's laid off and loses his skepticism about Rocky's return to the ring and serves as his cornerman. Young did not appear in 2015's “Creed,” as Paulie is said to have died in 2012.
However, after learning his mentor, Mickey, had been giving him easy fights, Rocky grew enraged. But to make matters worse, a real opponent in Clubber Lang was ready to take Rocky's title. After talking up a big game and disrespecting Rocky's wife, Balboa tried to fight back but was unprepared and unfocused.
Ivan Drago: Drago was a Soviet boxer who was trained to be a killing machine. He was incredibly strong and had a powerful punch. Rocky faced Drago in a 15-round fight in Rocky IV, and it was one of the most brutal fights in boxing history.
Immediately preceding the final round, Rocky and Drago meet in the middle of the ring where the two men touch gloves as Drago says to Rocky, "To the end". Rocky finally defeats Drago by KO in the dying seconds of the 15th and final round.
After returning home, Rocky and Adrianna discover they are bankrupt after Paulie was fooled into signing a "power of attorney" over to Rocky's accountant, who squandered all of his money on real estate deals gone sour and failed to pay Rocky's taxes over the previous six years.
The 76-year-old actor said in an interview that he did not participate in the filming of the movie because the story had been given a direction with which he did not agree. "That's a regretful situation because I know what it could have been," Stallone told THR about disagreeing with the new film's tone.
Thomas "Tommy" Gunn (also known as The Machine and the Clone Ranger) is the secondary antagonist of the 1990 film Rocky V. He was a young boxer who started off as a protégé to Rocky Balboa, but later became his opponent upon leaving him in favor for boxing promoter George Washington Duke.
Both fighters trade blows, before Balboa seizes an opening, unleashing a series of vicious blows, eventually knocking him out. Rocky gives a victory speech, acknowledging that the local crowd's disdain of him had turned to mutual respect during the fight.
Ivan Drago (Russian: Иван Драго) is the main antagonist of the 1985 film Rocky IV and the 2018 film Creed II. He was a former Soviet military captain and boxing champion bent on defeating Rocky Balboa, becoming his greatest opponent in the process.
Beaten, Rocky makes his way back to the dressing room and to the dying Mickey. Kneeling at his side, Rocky speaks to his friend, telling him that the fight ended in the second by a knockout, which Mickey misinterprets as a win for Rocky as he passes away.
In the original Rocky, he is 30 (meaning he was born in 1945). In Rocky II, he turned 31. If Rocky III takes place three years after Rocky II, Rocky should be 34, which is exactly what age he is (as pointed out on TV). All of this serves to illustrate that the film is set in 1979 and '80.
Rocky IV (1985) - Rocky IV also fudges the timeline by making it seem like it starts right after Rocky III but the movie then jumps forward to 1985 when Ivan Drago arrives in the U.S. Apollo was killed by Drago and Rocky defeated the Russian in a fight held in Moscow on Christmas 1985 when Rocky was 38 or 39.
