“I grew up on the Rocky movies and have loved them since I was in diapers. When I was given the chance to be an extra in “Rocky Balboa” back in the winter of 2005, I was thrilled. Now the cast and crew of the film had been in Las Vegas, Nevada at Mandalay Bay for a week filming the boxing scenes. I was there for the final two days.
“As the very last take was about to be shot during the last night, I was standing near the front row, right by the ring, and I was surrounded by all the other extras, Sly yelled “Action,” and the person in charge of the extras said into a microphone…..”BACKGROUND!”….and the audience started cheering as Sylvester Stallone and Antonio Tarver began battling it out. Now for the most part during the entire shoot, the fight scenes would literally last ten-to-twenty seconds before Sly yelled “CUT!”.
“The very last take was different…”
“The entire shooting of this scene lasted at least a full five minutes, and it was just Sly and Tarver boxing each other the entire time. I am guessing since Sly knew this was his last chance to shoot what he needed, he just figured he’d get all that he could. So as this intense boxing went on, myself and the other extras began the famous chant of…”ROCKY!”
“All of a sudden, I was thinking to myself – Look at me……look at where I am……look what I’m doing…….here I am….this small town guy from Texas……it’s Friday night….I’m in Las Vegas, Nevada….I’m standing right in front of this boxing ring….I’m watching Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa boxing……and I’m chanting “ROCKY!” ………Holy…..cow.
“I have a lot of great memories, but nothing will ever beat the fact that I was watching Rocky Balboa himself….my boyhood hero…..boxing right in front of me in his last match. It doesn’t get much better then that.”
Gilson
