Rocky V (1990)

Rocky V

Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Sage Stallone, Burgess Meredith, Tommy Morrison, Tony Burton

After the fight with Drago, Rocky Balboa is diagnosed with brain damage and is forced to retire from the ring. As if that isn't bad enough, the Balboa fortune is all gone due to an unscrupulous accountant. Rocky's family returns to their old neighborhood: Adrian returns to the pet store she used to work at, while, in a subplot, Rocky Jr. (played by Sylvester Stallone's real son) deals with bullying at the local high school and Rocky reopens Mickey's old gym. He meets a boxer named Tommy Gunn (played by real-life fighter Tommy Morrison) and begins training him. Unfortunately, a sleazy fight promoter named George Washington Duke convinces Tommy that Rocky is holding him back, and Tommy throws over Rocky for Duke. After Tommy wins the heavyweight championship, he makes a short speech thanking Duke, and is met with jeers and the familiar chant of "Rocky" from the crowd. Seething from this insult, as well as being called "Rocky's Robot" in the papers, Tommy decides to seek out his former mentor for a final showdown. Rocky starts to walk away from the public challenge, but Paulie decides to let Tommy have a piece of his mind about how Tommy has treated Rocky - after which Tommy punches out Paulie. Rocky then challenges Tommy, "Hey - you knocked him down, why don't you try knocking me down now?" Duke tells Rocky that the fight will be in the ring, but Rocky tells Tommy "My ring's outside." The two proceed outside for a bare-knuckle street fight, which Rocky wins.