A dramatic Muhammad Ali fight prompted Sylvester Stallone to put pen to paper and write Rocky.
In his career, ‘The Greatest’ cemented his status as a genuine sporting icon.
The boxing community holds the superstar in a very high regard, with Mike Tyson fuming at Floyd Mayweather after he said he was better than Ali.
During his time in boxing, the trash-talker delivered some spectacular moments, as well as inspiring one of the biggest film franchises of all time.
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Sylvester Stallone wrote Rocky after watching Chuck Wepner drop Muhammad Ali
On March 24, 1975, Muhammad Ali put his WBA, WBC and Ring Magazine world titles on the line against Chuck Wepner, inside the Richfield Coliseum in Ohio, USA.
The champion dominated the first eight rounds, before ending up on the canvas, when his opponent landed a body shot in the ninth. Following the contest, Ali claimed he only went down because Wepner stepped on his foot.
The knockdown did nothing but motivate Ali to punish his rival, landing brutal shots, en route to dropping his foe in the 15th and final round.
Realizing the underdog was badly hurt, the referee decided to stop the contest.
In the Taschen book ‘Rocky: The Complete Films, Stallone, who was blown away by Wepner’s courageous display, claimed that the boxer inspired him to write the script for his hit movie.
From an extract featured in a GQ article, he said: “I was young, and I had an incredible amount of energy, and I wrote it in a fury. I was very excited about the whole thing.”
Sylvester Stallone was furious when a Hall of Famer couldn’t film Rocky II
Rocky exploded, with fans around the world finding themselves engrossed in the action.
Therefore, when it was time for the second film, Stallone knew precisely who he wanted to feature in the movie.
However, a complication prevented a Hall of Famer from being able to star in the sequel.
Understandably, Stallone was furious that this legend wasn’t in Rocky II.