He is depicted as a working class or poor Italian-American from the slums of Philadelphia who started out as a club fighter and "enforcer" for a local Philly Mafia loan shark.

While the story of his first film was partly inspired by a 1975 fight between underdog Chuck Wepner and heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali (which nearly went the 15 round distance despite the odds), the inspiration for the name, iconography and fighting style came from boxing legend Rocco Francis "Rocky Marciano" Marchegiano, though his surname coincidentally also resembles that of Middleweight Boxing Champion Thomas Rocco "Rocky Graziano" Barbella.

Rocky gets his dream come true when the undisputed World Heavyweight Champion, Apollo Creed, decides that he wants to give an unknown fighter a chance to fight for the title after his intended challenger, Mac Lee Green, broke his hand while training.

The money he made in his match with Creed is easily and quickly frittered away, so Adrian reclaims her part-time job at the J&M Tropical Fish pet shop.

Rocky struggles to find employment with decent pay, when he is fired from a commercial studio, turned down for an office job, and even laid off at the Shamrock meat packing facility.

Over the next five years, Rocky has successfully defended his title in ten consecutive matches against various contenders, amassing a wealthy fortune and worldwide fame in the process.

Rocky begins having some issues with his trainer, Mickey Goldmill, due to his revelation of having faced "hand-picked" challengers that were "good fighters, but not 'killers'" which Lang seemingly is.

A distracted Rocky attempts to knock Lang out early with a barrage of huge blows, but his lack of proper conditioning quickly wears him out.

Apollo Creed agrees to have an exhibition match against Soviet World Amateur Champion and Olympic gold medalist-turned-professional fighter Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) in Las Vegas, with Rocky Balboa and Tony "Duke" Evers in his corner.

Upon returning to the United States (in a Soviet airplane), his press conference is interrupted by promoter George Washington Duke and Union Cane (Michael Williams).

After selling their mansion and auctioning some of their belongings, Rocky and the family now return to the old neighborhood, moving back into Adrian and Paulie's old house in South Philadelphia.

As the neighborhood gathers round to witness the fight, Tommy's punches begin to slow Rocky in his tracks due to his condition and he is knocked down, disoriented with Paulie at his side.

He runs a small but highly successful restaurant and bar called 'Adrian's', named after his wife who died of ovarian cancer four years prior in 2002.

An episode of ESPN's program, Then and Now, airs featuring a computer-simulated fight between Rocky (in his prime) and the current champion, Mason "The Line" Dixon (Antonio Tarver).

Inspired by the simulation and feeling he still has some "stuff in the basement" to deal with, Rocky decides to return to the ring and applies to renew his boxing license.

Though Rocky passes the required physical with flying colors, the licensing committee denies his application, citing his advanced age and their moral duty to protect him from himself.

The day after this debate, father and son meet over Adrianna Pennino's grave and reconcile, which is when Robert announces that he has resigned from his job to be at ringside.

3 years later, in 2015, Rocky is visited at Adrian's by Donnie Creed (Michael B. Jordan) – Apollo's illegitimate son, who grew up serving time at a juvenile detention center in Los Angeles.

After Donnie grew up, he worked as a securities firm at the Smith Boardley Financial Group, but eventually resigned to be a boxer and moved to Philadelphia.

Days after his initial offer, Rocky recommends him to his friend, Pete Sporino (Ritchie Coster), who currently runs Mighty Mick's Gym.

After Donnie's win, the media heavily publicized the story of Apollo's infidelity, which catches the eye of Tommy Holiday (Graham McTavish), who is looking for the final person to fight his trainee, light-heavyweight champion "Pretty" Ricky Conlan (Tony Bellew).

After doing a string of test ordered by the doctors at the emergency room, Rocky is diagnosed with an early case of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, making him confront his own mortality.

Drago tells him how his loss to Rocky 33 years earlier shattered his reputation, evicted him from Russia into Ukraine, and led to his divorce from his wife, Ludmilla.

Rocky and Tony "Little Duke" Evers (Wood Harris) take Donnie to a decrepit location in the California desert to retrain, describing it as a place where fighters are "reborn".

With the help of Paulie and reunited long-time acquaintance Marie, Rocky begins to move on with his life and in the process restores his relationship with his only child, Robert.

Rocky's relationship with Marie is established as platonic in the film, but a hint of romantic interest is revealed with a kiss on the lips the night before the last fight of his life.

However, after helping Adonis conquer Viktor Drago, Rocky decides to visit his son in Vancouver where they finally begin to reconcile and meets his grandson, Logan, who bears a striking resemblance to Adrian.

I relished stories of heroism, great love, dignity, and courage, dramas of people rising above their stations, taking life by the throat and not letting go until they succeeded.

The real reason for this is Sylvester Stallone tore his pectoral muscles in training,[citation needed] but the idea was probably taken from the great southpaw boxer "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler who would sometimes come out orthodox to confuse opponents.

[citation needed] Rocky was an all-or-nothing brawler coming into his first bout with Creed; however, under the training of Mickey, he began to develop his boxing skills which he eventually mastered.