Mickey Goldhill's "Get Up...Cause Mickey Loves You" Speech

"Get up you son of a b*ch, get up cause Mickey loves you!" (Mickey Goldhill)

In the original Rocky movie, Rocky's manager is an old crusty fellow named Mickey Goldhill.  He becomes Rocky's mentor, even a father figure for the young boxer.  As Rocky trains for his big fight with Apollo Creed, Mickey gives him a much needed pep talk.  These are his words:

"That Apollo won't know what hit him.  You're going to roll over him like an Italian bulldozer.  You know kid, I know how you fell about this fight...If you wasn't here I probably wouldn't be alive today. The fact that you're here and doing as well as you're doing gives me -- what do you call it -- motivization to stay alive.  Cause i think that people die sometimes when they don't want t o live no more.  Nature's smarter than people think.  Little by little we lose our friends, we lose everything -- keep losing and losing till we say:  What the hell am I living around here?  I've got no reason to go on.  But with you kid, boy I've got a reason to go on.  And I'm going to stay alive.  And I will watch you make good.  And I'll never leave you.  Cause when I leave you, you'll not only know how to fight, you'll be able to take care of yourself outside the ring, too.  Is that okay?"

He gives Rocky a gift, the cuff link given to him by Rocky Marciano.

"It's got to be like an angel sitting on your shoulder.  If you ever get hurt and you feel that you're going down.  This little angel is going to whisper in your ear:  'Get up you son of a b*ch, get up, cause Mickey loves you!'" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VbVGSXcOsQ)

http://hurtinbombs.tumblr.com/post/1505751569/hey-hey-love-the-blog-just-stopping-in-to-ask

Struggling Philadelphia Actor Watches Fight on Black & White TV

I`ve been a survivor all my life.  If I survived the marines, I can survive Ali. (Chuck Wepner)

Mohammed Ali versus Chuck Wepner circa 1975 courtesy http://danwmiller.hubpages.com/hub/Meet-The-Real-Rocky.

In 1975, a struggling Philadelphia actor watched a fight on his black and white TV.  The world heavyweight champion, Mohammed Ali, was paired with an unknown named Chuck Wepner.  While Ali won the match hands down, Wepner went the full fifteen rounds.  The actor, admiring his spunk, wrote a screenplay about him.  The following year, Rocky debuted in theatres, and the image of the boxer standing at the top of the steps in Philadelphia, his arms held high in victory, was forever etched on the memory of Americans.

Chuck Wepner fought his first fight in 1964.  At one point, he held the title of New Jersey Heavyweight Champion.  However, he later lost to big names like George Foreman and Sonny Liston, the latter fight costing him 72 stitches.  Wepner earned the nickname `The Bayonne Bleeder`.
But Wepner wasn`t about to go down without a fight.  After a loss to Joe Bugner, Wepner rallied and won nine out of the next eleven fights.

In 1975, crazy haired promoter Don King was looking for a new opponent for Mohammed Ali.  He chose the unknown Chuck Wepner.  Ali would receive 1.5 million for the fight while Wepner would receive $100,000.  The latter retreated to the Catskill Mountains for eight weeks of heavy training.

Ali and Wepner met at Richfield Coliseum, a city south of Cleveland, for the match.  When asked how he thought he would fare in the ring, Wepner explained:  Ì`ve been a survivor all my life.  If I survived the Marines, I can survive Ali.` Wepner did survive the fight, although he was badly beaten up in the process.

At home in Philadelphia, a young Sylvester Stallone watched the fight on his television.  He created Rocky Balboa, an underdog with a heart, to mirror Chuck Wepner.  Apollo Creed, his loud boisterous opponent who holds the world heavyweight championship, mirrored Mohammed Ali.  The script had all the ingredients of a blockbuster movie.

While Rocky required next to nothing to make, it earned 225 million at the box office and spawned a series.  Creed, the most recent in the series, is due out in November of 2015.

Rocky Balboa vs Apollo Creed in the 1976 movie courtesy http://www.vh1.com/news/4131/blockbuster-movies-low-cost/.