The eye of the tiger the thrill of the fight

Rating: 7/10 (6 July 2013)

***SPOILERS**** After Rocky Balboa's winning the World Heavyweight Championship in his re-match drag out and knock down battle with "the Master of Disater" Apollo Creed, Carl Weathers, he's given a hand picked string of second tier boxers by his concerned, in not having his fighter and meal ticket Rocky hurt, trainer/manager the Willy Mickey Goldmill, Burgess Meredith, to defend his hard won tidal against. In the background there's the hard hitting training and determined 230 pounds of fighting fury Clubber Lang, Mister T, mowing his way through the heavyweight ranks, like Iron Mike Tyson did before he got his title match, nipping like an out of control pit bull terrier at Rocky's feet.
It's at an unavailing ceremony of the Rocky Balboa statue in downtown Philadelphia that Lang finally got his chance to meet face to face with Rocky not only taunting him about how scared he is of him and not willing to give him a shot at the heavyweight title. The mad and intimidating Lange really lets Rocky have it by even going so far as insulting his manhood by claiming that he, unlike Rocky, could satisfied his wife Yo Adrian, Talia Shire, both in and out of bed more then he ever could!
With Rocky at first planing to retire from boxing he puts his retirement on hold to give the big bad as well as big mouth Lang a title shot against the better judgment off his manager Mickey. And as history or the film proved it turned out to be a major disaster for Rocky Balboa. He gets clobbered by Lang in two round leaving him both defeated as well as punch drunk. It was also not long after the match with Lang that his friend and manager Mickey who was knocked cold by a crazed and uncontrollable Lang before the fight with Rocky suddenly passed away!
Now down in the dumps and the laughing stock of all the entire sports world especially after his wild and bizarre charity match with professional wrestler the 7 foot tall 350 pounds Thunderlips, Hulk Hogan, who's billed as "Every Womens Dream" Rocky goes into a deep depression. In him feeling that his entire boxing career that he was so proud of was nothing but a joke. It's non other then his former bitter opponent Apollo Creed who comes to Rocky's rescue when nobody else even his wife Yo Adrian and struggling to stay sober friend and brother in law Paulie, Burt Young, could. With Apollo taking Rocky under his wings and putting him through a vigorous and ghetto like, in a Watts L.A boxing gym, training regiment he got Rocky in the best shape of his life to take on Lang in a re-match where he wasn't taken seriously at all by Lang or the boxing and sport world.
****SPOILERS**** probably the best and shortest,three rounds, fight sequence up to then far better the the previous two Rocky movies with the title fight taken place at New York's Madison Square Garden has Rocky charge out of his corner at the opening bell and box instead of slug it out, like he did in their first match, with Clubber Lang easily taking, on all cards , the first round. In the second round Lang got over his confusion and started to punch his way through Rocky's defenses with Lang's devastating punches getting to Rocky flooring him a number of times.
It's then when it looked like curtains for Rocky that he went on the defensive letting Lang do all the swinging until by the middle of the third round his devastating punches, that can poke holes through a brick wall, were nothing more but harmless cream puffs. It was Lang not Rocky who ended up defeating himself by punching himself out so badly that by the time Rocky opened up on him with his left hooks and straight rights that he was left punchy and rubbed armed as well as flat on his back and on the mat for a ten count. With Lang so exhausted and punched out even a light tap from Rocky's old lady Yo Adrian would have done the job as well.
P.S Now with his title back Rocky has one favor to do for his friend Apollo who gave him back that hungry mean and lean "Eye of the Tiger" attitude that he needed to defeat Lang. And in an empty gym's boxing ring, probably the famous Gleason's Gym in the Dumbo section of Brooklyn, the two square off in their unannounced rubber match to see who's the best. And as Rocky & Apollo are about to let loose with straight rights and left hooks the screen freezes leaving it up to us in the audience to imagine just what the ultimate and final results of that bout would be!