Follow us on Google News
Get the latest updates directly in your Google News feed
Sylvester Stallone is a legendary actor who achieved stardom with his superhit franchise under the nameRocky. The actor reached his greatest commercial success with his characterRocky Balboain the movieRocky, released in 1976. The franchise has a cult following, and fans watch the franchise with much nostalgia to date. The thrilling action scenes, the teeth-gritting fights, and a sweet love story were woven together beautifully in the project.
The story of the superhit franchise follows the life of an underdog and his struggles to win the world heavyweight championship. The movie involved numerous real fighters like Antonio Carver, but he refused to work with boxing legend Mike Tyson.
Also read-“It’s about grief and loss, He finally lost his love”: Film Makers Turned Their Back on Sylvester Stallone Over His Iconic $156 Million Movie
Sylvester Stallone refused to work with Mike Tyson inRocky Balboa
The Expendablesstar has worked with numerous athletes and real-life fighters like Dolph Lundgren in hisRockyfranchise. Nevertheless, when the boxer icon and athlete Mike Tyson asked to feature in theRockymovie franchise, Stallone was unsure. As per the reports, Tyson wanted to feature in one as a possible antagonist for Stallone in one of the franchises.
Rocky Balboawas the sixth film in Stallone’sRockyfranchise series. The feature was supposed to release 16 years after the fifth filmRocky V, which was not well received at the box office. Due to the average performance ofRocky V, Stallone wanted to do things differently with the next Rocky Balboa film.
The film could have been a massive success if the actor was pitting against real-life boxing legend Mike Tyson.
When the boxing star Tyson heard about the sequel toRocky, he campaigned for a part in the movie. But Stallone was not highly interested in potentially going up against Tyson, even for a shooting fight. Stallone shared with Contact Music (via Boxing Scene),
“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. I said, ‘Thanks, but I don’t think that would be a very good idea. Thank you very much.’”
Since Sylvester Stallone was aware of the excellent fighting skills of Tyson, he wanted to avoid confrontation in the boxing ring.
Also read-“If he gets in he’ll kill me”: Scared For His Life Sylvester Stallone Straight Up Rejected Once in a Lifetime Offer From Mike Tyson
Sylvester Stallone offered this role to Mike Tyson inRocky Balboa
Escape Planactor further shared that Mike Tyson kept calling his office saying he wanted to be in the film fighting with him. Hence Stallone finally offers a role to him in the film as he said,
“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 around and said to the crew, ‘Can you make sure you keep that son of a b**** out of the ring. If he gets in he’ll kill me.’ The man’s a killer.”
Even though Stallone did not fight with Tyson in the ring, he decided to cast a real boxer for Balboa for the perfect fight in the ring. Former light heavyweight champion Antonio Carver was chosen to play Mason Dixon in the film, who was Rocky Balboa’s last opponent in the movie.
Employing real fighters inRocky Balboawas a conscious attempt by Stallone to distinguish it from previous movies of theRockyfranchise.
Also read-“They wanted another Rocky”: Sylvester Stallone Was Willing to Return $1.78B Franchise Under 1 Condition But the Studio Humiliated Him With a Straight No
Source-Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Arushi Srivastava
Articles Published :711
Arushi is a keen follower of Hollywood movies and TV shows. She has an experience of 5+ years in content writing and loves to write on everything around Hollywood and fan fiction. An ardent Hollywood buff, Arushi loves to tell stories through her writing and has contributed to several posts. You will find her following celebrities and enjoying classics in her free time.
