Many different things help to make a film as great as it is. The stories, the acting, and the directing all come together to make a movie intriguing and engaging. There is nothing quite like being able to sit down and get lost in a movie that you love. This is why going to the cinema is such a popular evening activity. No matter what sort of interests or preferences you have with your pastimes, there is a good chance that you are always going to appreciate a good movie. 

Is there anyone with a better pedigree?

The illegitimate son of former Heavyweight Champion, Apollo Creed, Adonis Creed (also Adonis “Donnie” Johnson) would be adopted by Apollo’s widow and would learn his true birthright.  When you find out that you are the son of a legend, it makes you want to see what you can do in that field doesn’t it?

According to the bio of Mickey Goldmill, he had a spectacular record of 72 and 1, with 70 by way of Knockout; which incidentally was a much better record than his famed protégé, Rocky Balboa, who had a myriad of losses prior to facing Apollo Creed in Philadelphia. The Jewish pugilist claimed that he knocked a guy out of the ring on the same night that Luis Firpo did the same to Jack Dempsey, and stated that since he had no manager, he never got noticed, nor did he get a chance. 

Mickey considered Rocky to be a good fighter, which threw away his talent and thus often berated the “Italian Stallion” calling him a “bum” in front of everyone. Mickey would eventually come to manage and train Balboa, when he was pegged to receive the bi-centennial promotional match against the Heavyweight Champion, Creed, and though Rocky did not win, he went the distance with the champ, becoming the first ever to do so, and was living up to the potential that Mickey knew he had all along.

We will say this though. We hated the way Mickey was displayed in Rocky III, having the champ duck quality opponents and dying unceremoniously after the Balboa/Lang fight. It made you wonder, did Mickey not know the secret of the “Eye of the Tiger”?

The Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame is pleased to welcome Mickey Goldmill into the Class of 2017.


The Bullet Points:
Movies Appeared:
Rocky (1976)
Rocky II (1979)
Rocky III (1982)

Actor:
Burgess Meredith

Role Portrayed:
Trainer of Rocky Balboa

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“I must break you”. Decades later, and we still remember the roided up superfreak who was engineered in a Soviet laboratory to take down Rocky Balboa. We know that he did not succeed in that task, but this was the man who killed Apollo Creed in the ring and was married to a then hot Brigitte Nielsen, before she became the grotesque trainwreck that once pined over Flavor Flav. Sure, he was symbolic of “Communist evil” and the movie aged quickly with the spirit of Glasnost, but tell us you won’t watch it when it comes on cable!

Rocky III may have been the movie where the Italian Stallion sold his soul to the box office, but it was also the flick that gave us one of the greatest fads of the 1980’s, Mr. T. He was far from a great actor, but he looked perfect as James “Clubber” Lang; the hardened fighter from Chicago who learned to box in prison. Actually, he was portrayed as someone who Rocky couldn’t beat at all.

They never claimed in the original Rocky movie that Balboa was undefeated going into the initial match with Apollo Creed. In fact, Rocky’s record wasn’t that good, though still it was never implied that he was destroyed in a fight. As such, Clubber Lang was the first man we saw demolish our cinematic hero in the ring (It was a second round KO) and take the World Heavyweight Championship. Of course Rocky got revenge in pure cinematic fashion, but Clubber was the man we wanted to hate. Actually we hated him so much, that we couldn’t get enough of him and turned him into a “good guy”. Mr. T became the top television action star of the 80’s; and yes it was all because of Clubber Lang.

For Rocky Balboa to become the most iconic hero in sports cinema, you needed a credible opponent. It does not get much better than the ying to Rocky’s yang, Apollo Creed.