Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone has become an integral part of boxing due to the success and influence of his blockbuster movie franchise ‘Rocky’. ‘Sly’ was a pioneer in the genre trying to make his movies as real as possible. This was the reason why he bought on former heavyweight title challenger Earnie Shavers to spar with him for a role in Rocky 3.
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Stallone called up Shavers’ to spar with him but was in for a surprise. Initially, the title challenger went easy on the Holywood actor. However, Stallone, being the man he is, asked him to punch harder, which was not a good idea.
Why did Sylvester Stallone fire Boxing legend Ernie shavers from ‘Rocky 3’?
Shavers would then end up hitting Stallone with a body shot to the liver that sent him down to the ground. He would then go into the bathroom and would not meet with Shavers again. Following this, the boxer received a message from Stallone’s team that he would not get the role.
The role of Clubber Lang was eventually given to Mr. T who garnered massive praise for his portrayal. Stallone was wise not to have a professional boxer playing the role as he could have been severely injured during the movie. In the end, ‘Sly’ would see great success with the film and went on to become a part of some major action blockbusters as well.
WWE icon Stone Cold Steve Austin called Stallone ‘Alpha Dog’ while filming ‘Expendables’
In an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience, Page revealed how Austin touted Stallone as a ‘Top Alpha Dog’. He stated that while Austin was on the set of ‘Expendables’ along with a bunch of other Hollywood A-Listers, ‘Sly’ stood at the top of the rest.
“He says I’ll tell you what D and you remember it every top alpha dog is in that first movie because he grabbed the, you know the heavies of the heavies the guys who were the biggest names, and Austin said in a world of Alpha dogs there is one number one guy and his name is Sylvester Stallone and he said when he was doing the Hollywood fight in the back Stallone was like come on bring it like meant it.” he said.
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Austin was certainly impressed by Stallone’s macho persona and declared him the ‘Top’ among alphas. However, fighting with a trained boxer like Shavers might have been a humbling moment for ‘Rocky’.
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Do you agree with Austin that Stallone is an ‘Alpha Dog’? Let us know in the comments.