One Rocky Trend Makes Balboa's Biggest Boxing Wins Even Better

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There's one trend that is overlooked in the Rocky films that made Balboa's biggest wins even better. In all his greatest wins, from Apollo Creed to Tommy Gunn, Rocky was portrayed as the ultimate underdog, but he still found a way to come out on top. He sent the message that sheer will and determination can overcome anything. Still, there's a lingering trend in all these victories that seems to be forgotten.

Rocky's greatest opponents from his first five films included Apollo Creed, Clubber Lang, Ivan Drago, and Tommy Gunn. All four of these opponents were the favorites before they ran into the Italian Stallion. Balboa didn't always win in his first fight against these opponents, and he often took a beating bad enough to land him in the hospital, but he ultimately always found a way to win. He truly epitomized one of his most famous quotes, "It's not about how hard you can hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward."

Related: Sylvester Stallone Is Right: Rocky Balboa Really Was A Miracle

The trend that often gets overlooked in all these title fights is that Rocky's opponents were previously undefeated. Apollo Creed was a whopping 46-0 when he and Balboa first met in Rocky, whereas Rocky was 44-20. The underdog Rocky Balboa took the fight, and no one gave him a chance at winning. Balboa made it all fifteen rounds of the match and ended up losing by decision. Then in Rocky II, «The Italian Stallion,» as he was known, knocked out Apollo Creed, handing him his first and only defeat in his career thus far. Rocky was truly the only man who could defeat Creed, which made the victory that much more impressive.

Rocky III introduced maybe the most intimidating villain in all of sports films, Clubber Lang.