The character was created for the movies.
Some ideas in creating the character were inspired by Rocky Marciano, Chuck Wepner, and Joe Frazier, according to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky#Stall...
I would guess that Rocky Graziano would have been part of the inspiration.
The character Rocky Balboa is a hired thug for a loan shark at the beginning of the movie.
In real life Graziano had a criminal past. Marciano did not.
Graziano's marked Brooklyn accent more closely resembled Stallone's voice than Marciano's Boston accent. Graziano had a tendency to slack off training unless pushed, leading to his defeat by Sugar Ray Robinson. Much like Rocky Balboa was defeated by Clubber Lang. However, Graziano did not make a comeback against Robinson, who was also quite a different person from the Clubber Lang character.
Rocky Graziano and Sugar Ray Robinson were later in an episode of "Car 54 Where Are You?". They were middleweights. So no one person is an exact model for Rocky Balboa.
Mickey Goldmill is believed to have been inspired by Charley Goldman, the trainer of Rocky Marciano. However, the writers may also have been aware of Irving Cohen, the manager of Rocky Graziano.
Um, you are a troll, right?
Just watch all the Rocky movies. You could probably find novels as well, which might tell the story in greater detail.
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It should be easy since the Rocky you're referring to is just a fictional character, created by Sylvester Stallone.
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While those movies were entertaining, I still find the fight scenes laughable at best, when compared to real boxing. I wish all of my opponents fought the way Rocky opponents did. I'd have been undefeated with all knockouts.
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They were good movies and I give Stallone a lot of credit for creativity. But they also reek a bit of self-absorption on his part.
Dream one up, that's what Sylvester Stallone did.
You deserve a medal.
I'm trying to find the complete life story of Rocky Balboa, but can only find references to the movies. How could such a famous fighter not be listed with the other great boxers of the decade. Was Balboa shafted because he was not a mainsteam fighter. He beat the heavy weight champ of the world after mere obscurity. Does anyone know where I can get a biop on this guy?
