On May 14, 1981, an exhibition match was set between the Heavyweight boxing champion Rocky Balboa and the wrestler champion Thunderlips. The fight was set up as charity and took place in Los Angeles on May 14, 1981. The fight turns vicious and unruly, but Rocky managed to lay a headlock and even throw the wrestler out of the ring.
The Fight[]
Thunderlips lifts Rocky of the ground
At first, at the beginning of the match, it seemed as if Rocky was supremely overmatched against his much larger opponent, as Thunderlips was body-slamming and tossing Rocky around like a rag-doll, and then out of the ring. Even security guards were failing to keep order as Thunderlips repelled their attempts to get in the ring. But, as the match wore on, the momentum changed in the much smaller boxer's favor, as he was able to get Thunderlips in a headlock, and fire body blows which first angered, and bewildered, then began staggering, the brawny grappler, before even body slamming him onto the canvas!
After the fight[]
Newspaper of the fight the next day
At match's end, Thunderlips congratulates Rocky on "a good match"; although it was possibly staged, as he, Rocky, Mickey and Adrian pose for a publicity photo and they raise $75,000 for the children and the youth club. Although this fight marked part of the high point of Rocky's career, there were some subtle signs of trouble ahead. Clubber Lang, who had attended Rocky's earlier title defenses, also was in the audience of this fight in order to study his desired opponent as best possible, and left with a disgusted appearance as the audience poured out. Although Lang's mannerisms lacked confidence in an anticipated victory, this was still a sign of a future challenge.
Trivia[]
- Aside from Creed series, this is the first battle that doesn't have Stu Nahan to commentate. Instead, this battle has American Commentators Dennis James and Jim Healy.
Gallery[]
