READ BEFORE COMMENTING (since I keep getting the same ones over and over): - At the time I made this video, I misinterpreted the definition of "Going the Distance" - Yes, I know I said retroactive comparing Tyson and Lang. I meant to say precursor. Mistakes happen. - Never said Tyson had basic technique, was just making more of the comparison of raw power between Tyson and Lang. Also, while Tyson had conditioning, he had asthma which is why Cus trained him to knock people out early. Tyson himself confirmed this in an interview.
I don't like Tyson he after what he did to that girl omg but if rocky were to going against him or drago meaning if they were realy pro boxers my $ on drago or rocky He'll I'd pick Logan paul or Jake Paul to ko Tyson or Tyson fury would dominate him
What annoys me is Clubber is like Forman and Dame reminds me of Tyson, but since i just saw Creed 3 yesterday I wanna focus that; he kind of used a shell defense not the philly style shell either and mixed with the peek-a-boo method and it was awful to watch knowing they dont mix well. idk what the exact idea for that character was but I hated every second of it, just being honest.
Rocky 3 is my favorite cause it forced Rocky to change his style from a pressure fighter to fighting at long range and using his feet meaning you can teach a old dog new tricks
Exactly. I was always sorta liked it when I was younger (used to watch the Rocky movies religiously in high school), but after re-watching to study both Rocky and Clubber in this one, it's been pretty cool
I think Clubber Lang was indeed Rocky’s most dangerous opponent, more so than Ivan Drago. Every opponent in the series symbolized a different challenge in Rocky’s life and Clubber was the disruption to the complacency in his career at that point. They’re both from the streets and by that point, Rocky had gained immense wealth and fame by defending his title from subpar opponents chosen by Mickey, while Clubber was fueled by sheer hunger and contempt for Rocky’s position, like a hungry pit bull determined to tear the title from Rocky with brute force and furious vengeance.
Drago was engineered, a machine, and you can eventually figure out how a machine works. Lang was fire, unpredictable, the only thing Rocky had was literally letting Lang punch himself out. He didn't outfight him, he outlasted him.
That doesn't change the fact that Drago would mop the floor with Lang. He couldn't even last for 3 full rounds against Balboa, you say. What makes you think he'd last longer against the Russian?
@@cihangercekci7668 I don’t think so because Drago couldn’t beat Rocky Clubber did. Clubber would have to get his stamina up then he would beat Drago just like he beat Rocky.
@Val O'Connell rocky won because Appollo trained him and changed his style and clubber had no Endurance. Let me ask you this who's the only person to beat rocky and I'll rest on that
to be hit by a hook by clubber lang was to be hit by a swinging sledgehammer, while getting hit by a BIG right cross by Drago would compare to be hit by a pendling railroad iron beam at high speed....
@@2011persol if that was the case all his opponent's heads would have exploded on impact. There was nothing special about Drago except for intense training and steroids take those steroids away from them and he was much easier to beat then you people might think. One good thing that movie did do was convince people like yourself and others that Ivan Drago was some Unstoppable robot but even Drago knew he was beatable especially after Rocky wouldn't go down Drago even said to himself that Rocky was way more than a human being he was like a piece of iron Drago himself was scared of Rocky. Even Drago's son could beat Drago he was a much better fighter than Ivan Drago ever was.
The thing about Drago (and I take this as a personal Theory) is that he was on steroids but it was kept a secret. The reason why I say that is because the script was written around the time the Russians were doping their athletes with steroids for the Olympics and Bridget Nelson who played his wife was a swimmer and she had a very stocky build. I think Stallone heard about this story and then ran with it which made a good story although it didn't say it out right in the movie.
You forgot one thing: Clubber started to get civilized after he won the belt. Before the first fight, he violently ejected the press from he dressing room. Before the second fight, he was giving interviews.
“I live alone, I train alone, and when I win the title, I’ll win the title alone." One of the most powerful lines in boxing movie history. Lang was this extremely aggressive pitbull Spartan. Like a warrior monk with the soul of a hungry fearless wolverine. He reminds me a bit of the Greek warrior god, Ares.
@@SKBottom Too bad this fictional universe was not expanded with books and novels like Star Wars and Star Trek. Some of the scenes of the Rocky Legends video game also could have been novelized. Maybe a sequel where he is the hero of his own story after losing to Rocky. Maybe he pulls himself together and becomes a boxing trainer himself. Imagine a scene where one of his students gets really mad at his sparring partner and starts throwing a bunch of crazy wild punches that all miss and Lang says to him: "Don't waste your strength like that. Throwing wild punches with no plan while in a rage cost me my title two years ago. It was the worst mistake I ever made" or something like that to help connect it to the movie.
@@Zurround I don't know how much of a writer you are but maybe we should write a couple and start to fill that void. I think that is an excellent idea you had.
Romans 10:9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.dd
The fact that Lang trained alone and lived alone and everything, and was self taught. There is a strong possibility that Lang wasn't even using half his potential in Rocky 3. Rumor has it that Lang in Rocky Balboa on commentary was supposed to have been retired also at this point having won the rest of his fights in his career, with his only defeat at Rocky's hand. Imagine a physical specimen like Lang with all that raw talent, now humbled and willing to seek help from an experienced trainer to refine his game. @.@
Hands-down the most vicious and devastating of all the rocky opponents. It just really annoys me that nobody ever thought enough to take his story further. I would love to see him make a cameo in one of the creed films. Mr. T was the nastiest most ferocious of all Rockies opponents.
Romans 10:9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.dd
A great way to bring clubber back in a creed film would be that creed starts to lose matches and needs a new style to beat an opponent who’s almost unbeatable. Clubber shows up to teach creed about patience and power as he’s grown from the cocky hot head he was years ago
The Stallone was no joke in writing the Rocky series, he knew how boxers were in real life and applied it in a movie. Even though it's more dramatic on screen compared to reality in a ring. I too knew that Clubber was out of his element when Rocky was focused on avoiding his hits to wear him down.
I think Clubber Lang would be an interesting character to come back and see how much he has developed and hopefully moved on from his past. There's a lot of interesting psychology behind this character, often overlooked by Drago whom a film later proved to possibly be Rocky's toughest fight
I could see Clubber Lang being a lot like George Foreman. Big George totally reinvented himself from a brute to a role model. After losing to Rocky I could see Clubber having a religious epiphany, picking himself up, cleaning up his image, becoming a family friendly tv star that millions of kids look up to.
The thing I always loved about Clubber is that he didn't need steroids or people in his corner to get to the top. He was just an intense fighter who busted his ass to get to the top. Even if he's an asshole, we gotta respect his drive to get what he wants.
The Clubber Lang fight took Rocky to the limits. Remember in Rocky 4 he was “retired”. He had hung up the gloves because that Clubber Lang fight was brutal.
After the Clubber Lang fight him and Apollo did retired But Apollo Pulled out of Retirement to fight Drago but Foolishly Didn't train hard enough and that led him to his demise in Rocky 4
@@ronmichaels9206 them if he have up his title, how did he still retire with the belt and Tommy being called a paper champ bc Union never won it from Balboa??
Natural raw strength, indomitable will and an insane power boxer and Rocky was actually afraid of Clubber. Not to mention Mr.T was an actual fighter back in the day 💪🥊🥊💪
I felt Clubber Lang's statement at the statue unveiling "Politics, man! ...trynna keep me down, keep everybody weak, they don't wanna guy like me to be the champ because I'm not a puppet like that fool up there!" I think Stallone didn't want the movie to be too political so Lang never elaborated on that or espoused anything overtly in favour of civil rights, black nationalism or the Black Panther movement but you can see the subtext in what he says. Also when he taunts Apollo Creed at the start of the second fight with "Hey boy! Hey boy!" Boy was an insult used by white racists of all kinds towards black men in the US historically, aimed at condescending and suggesting they're lower in character and maturity thany any white man, and I think this suggests Clubber thought Creed was selling out by being such an establishment figure, since he is meant to be like Muhammed Ali if he'd never become political but stated Cassius Clay forever, and since Creed seemed to have come to terms with being beaten by Rocky and didn't continue to seek an official rematch. Clubber's anger at this suggests he is dedicated against the system and uncompromisingly seeks to beat it or die trying. I think it would have been easy to make this a very socio-politically charged movie but Stallone kept it focused on the sport alone. The history of boxing in America and the UK is very revealing about social history and culture, being a sport wherein white men could express acknowledgement and even admiration for black men in a way that was socially acceptable, since it was a sport with great focus on sheer strength and aggression, and an institutionally racist system and culture could in principle seeing black men prosper and succeed in such a field, but despite this there was still bias, segregation and tension and pride involved in it. If Ali had remained Cassius Clay and been like Apollo Creed, revelling in conventional American mainstream patriotism with his George Washington outfit and that James Brown performance, having dinner with the mayor and doing celebrity appearances etc as he did in Rocky 1, when many in civil rights and black nationalist and pride movement would be cynical and angry towards him, calling him an establishment sell-out etc, and I think Clubber Lang represents this somewhat. For these reasons, this is my favourite Rocky movie and I think a midway between the social realism of the first two and the larger than life elements of 4 and 5, while also having depth about the issues above and of Clubber being pissed about Rocky's "hand picked" opponents and commercialized status versus Lang's pure legitimacy as a real boxer (which Rocky was naively ignorant of but you see spelled out in the Eye of the Tiger intro to the movie) and so Rocky III is my favourite Rocky film for those reasons, and Clubber Lang is the most inspirational bad guy ever.
Your reaching for the stars with this one boy. And calling clubber lang inspirational is scary, cause if you consider a possible racist as you described him as inspirational is weird.
I’m surprised you didn’t mention Sonny Liston as an influence on Clubber’s Character. He was a felon, and a very nasty and feared fighter in the ‘60s. He absolutely destroyed champion Floyd Patterson twice, making him seem invincible to the world before Ali defeated him. And like Clubber, Liston declined as a top ranked fighter after his losses to Ali. I think (not sure) Clubber was mentioned in Rocky IV, as having been crushed by Drago before the Apollo fight. If so, maybe Clubber was just being used at that point as a test for up and coming fighters, never to get a shot at the title again. You’d think (in the real world), there should have been a 3rd match with Rocky before Clubber fought Drago, to break the 1-1 tie with Rocky.
Outside of the opening recap, I don’t recall Clubber even mentioned in Rocky 4. As for a third fight, Rocky emptied his tank to beat Clubber, and even though he knocked Clubber out, he knows he would have to dig even deeper to come out on top, something he may not want to do at that point in his life. Clubber? Rocky fought back and handed out a beating, and like most bullies, he’s not used to the opponent cracking HIM across the jaw, and doing it repeatedly. Not only that, but by no longer being afraid of Clubber, Rocky removed a major tool from Clubber’s arsenal: FEAR. In addition, with Rocky returning the favor from their first fight, Clubber would need to overcome the psychological barrier of being on the wrong end of a brutal loss in which his strength advantage was not enough. With so much to overcome both physically and emotionally, with so little for either to truly gain from a win, I don’t think either Rocky or Clubber would be interested in a third fight.
Totally agree! It seems like Clubber was modeled after Sonny Liston. It's very admirable that Sonny overcame so much to achieve the highest òf sporting accomplishments.
Clubber Lang was definitely the most dangerous. Think about it this way. >When he faced Apollo in Rocky 1 and 2, Apollo had speed and skill over Rocky. But Rocky had strength and relentlessness. >When he faced Drago in Rocky 4, he was a retired boxer who only came back to avenge his friend's death. And he still had the RAW strength over Drago. Drago had superficial power due to his steroids.And again, he was able to rely on his relentlessness to overcome the beating. >With Clubber Lang there were major concessions that happened during this film. 1. Rocky, for the first time, was flat out not as strong or powerful as Clubber and could not trade punches with him. 2. Clubber was the first person to beat him in convincing fashion. Both Apollo and Dixon both beat him by a controversial point decision. 3. He had to change up his entire fighting style. Learn how to block hits, vastly improve his speed, learn how to get out of the corner, improve his footwork, etc. 4. Even with all of that change up in fighting style, Apollo was still not convinced that Rocky could go a whole match with Clubber. And advised him to put him away ASAP. Considering that "going the distance" is his schtick, being told to "put him away early" says a lot about how dangerous Clubber was.
Rocky was more determined than ever and trained like an absolute freak whenever he fought Drago, whom he fought to avenge Apollo's death. Against Clubber he was partying and fooling around and not taking training seriously (pretty much the typical story of when a champion gets bored and complacent and loses because of it) whenever he lost. The Rocky who fought Ivan Drago would've handled Clubber as well. Rocky didn't have raw strength over Drago, as Drago completely overpowered him in the majority of that fight and dropped him many times, and there's no way you can argue that the version of Rocky who fought Drago wouldn't have been able to go the distance against Clubber whenever Drago did in fact hit a lot harder.
@@handzofstone1152 There's no evidence of Rocky being "more determined than ever". He's been determined during every fight (excluding his first fight with Lang). >All of these for you are assumptions. I'm only going by what happened. In every film he was able to withstand punches from every single boxer no matter how fast, strong, or skilled they were. But with Lang, Rocky and his trainers flat out conceeded that he couldn't trade punches or last 15 rounds with him regardless. >And again, Apollo fought an unskilled prime Rocky. While Drago, Tommy, and Dixon fought an out of prime unskilled Rocky. Rocky 3 had his relentlessness, his skill, was in his prime, and had the entire crowd on his side. And even with all that, he conceeded that he couldn't go back and forward with him. And even during the fight he had to change plans and allow Lang to beat him up so that he could take advatnage of him when he was tired.
Rocky was still Champ when intially challenged by Ivan in Rocky 4, he was the world champion. It was Creed that stepped out of retirement to fight again. The match against Drago was unsanctioned because of Apollo's death. "I defeat old man, soon I defeat real champion." ~ Ivan after killing Apollo and referring to Rocky. His wife also refers to him as the champions as does Apollo and the media. Drago's strength was purposely super human and showed the drugs he used and the governmental training to mold him. He was less human and more petri dish Soviet weapon. Clubber Lang was strong but his punches where not the psi of shotgun blasts. Rocky lost to Clubber because Mickey was keeping him safe, he lost "the eye of the tiger." and had begun putting on shows with people like Hulk Hogan, and fighting easy wins which Clubber found disgusting. Clubber had the fire Rocky had lost. Rocky's loss to Clubber gave him an identity crisis that made him refine his style and find his fire again. When he fought him the second time it was his cleanest win. The least damage he took in any movie before or after. When Rocky had to compete with Drago he was fighting an Empire, his wife did not believe in him initially and the weight of not throwing in the damn towel haunted his heart, he was then trained by Duke in isolation, better training than even Apollo could give. Mike Tyson himself said that being a great trainer is far more difficult than being a great fighter. In short, Clubber gave Rocky and identity crisis, Ivan Drago damaged his brain and retired him. Every fight following Rocky would see Ivan when he took too much damage, not Clubber. Clubber was an identity crisis and validation. Ivan was a war he didn't know if he would survive. Sprinkles on top, the fight at the end of the Rocky 3 was later revealed Apollo had won. Meaning there is a very good chance he would of beat or contended with Clubber. He died within two rounds of fighting Ivan. There is a five year gap between Rocky 3 and 4. Not a decade or two that would see his atheletsism turn elderly. He wasn't even killed for lack of skill, although not at his best, but rather raw power to the face, something that cannot be trained for in any real capacity. Ivan has the reach, strength, he's way faster than someone his size should be and he's far heavier. 6'5 265lbs and a reach of 84 2150psi punch. Clubber is 5'10- 5'11 ( some sources say 6'1) at 236 pounds. 78 reach. That's over half a foot or even fudged a third of a foot, 8 more reach and 30lbs on Clubber for Ivan. Ivan was in a league of his own and lost to Rocky because of lack of experience.
Without Rocky 3, there's no Rocky 4 or Creed. The bromance between Apollo and Rocky really soared to uncharted heights due to that movie. Watching the two of them sprint at the beach during their training montage was a real joy.
Clubber was sort of like Rocky’s shadow. A powerful fighter who was a puncher a super hungry. It pushed Rocky to go to another level. Creed was Rocky’s most challenging fighter. However Clubber was the most dangerous fighter. Rocky fought his most complete fight - adjusting to being a boxer/puncher for the first part of the fight, but ultimately finishing off Clubber with the Eye of the Tiger. Clubber was in only one film, but he ended up hugely shaping the Rocky franchise in his own way. Surprisingly he wasn’t in more Rocky films but he served his purpose. He had a similar effect on Rocky that Foreman had on Ali. They had only one fight but it was a massive fight that stands on its own, and really cemented Ali as a fighter for the ages. Clubber was a stand-alone character whose impact was far and wide.
I really like it when fans expand on movie characters and try to give more background to them, Clubber is definitely my favourite character in the Rocky franchise
As others have argued, Clubber Lang was an antagonist, not a villain. He worked his way up the ranks and wasn't getting a fair shot because Mickey was feeding Rocky setups. As the video mentions, Rocky got his shot at the title as a 'set up.' Lang is understandably frustrated and angry that the sport seems 'rigged' against him rather than giving him a fair shot. Which is all he wanted. He was reduced to having to publicly call him out just to get the title shot that he had earned. Then Rocky half ass trains for it and gets the ass kicked. The death of Mickey papers over the getting knocked out was the fate Rocky deserved. And rather than just fight setups, he gave Rocky a rematch. I think the general love of Rocky as an established protagonist and Lang's (understandable) anger being perceived as 'scary' made him a villain. (And I don't blame him for Mickey's death. He didn't know he had a bad heart when pushed him. And Mikey was there with a poorly prepared fighter for a fight Mickey begged him not to take.)
And how are you gonna blame Mikey . Anyone that's had experience at Boxing 🥊 will tell you that there are some Fighters you don't want to Fight . Because they are too Dangerous to Fight . I mean lots of Boxers have had Fighters they avoided for that reason . So Mickey did nothing different then any other manager or Fighter has done .
Rocky 3 was always my favorite movie of the franchise because while the first 2 dealt with Rocky being the underdog working his way to the top then eventually getting there, the 3rd movie was a lesson of being at the top but maintaining that drive and hunger to stay at the top. When he got beat by Clubber and some doubted that he could bounce back (including Rocky himself) it kinda made him the underdog again in a sense and he had to reprove himself and regain that hunger that he once had. Like Apollo said, "We've been living modern but now we're gonna train old".
Clubber Lang is by far one of the best and most memorable opponents from the Rocky franchise, just like how Apollo was based on Mohammed Ail, Clubbers intensity and power always gave off strong Mike Tyson vibes to me as a kid. It'd be a crime for his character not to show up in another film or sequel, as the Drago character returned decades later. I'd like to see an old Clubber Lang training a new fighter to go up against Apollo Creed's son.
Clubber was awesome. If there is anything I would love to see as a match is Clubber Lang vs. Ivan Drago because these two were indeed the most powerful and dangerous fighters Rocky faced. No mean to disrespect my favorite character Apollo, it's just that he wasn't intimidate like Clubber and Ivan was. The only thing I would give the edge for Lang, when comparing Lang to Drago is speed. Lang was much faster, and it terms of power he was insanely strong but couldn't deliver 2150 psi punch. So Drago was without a doubt the toughest challenge of Rocky. In terms of which Villain I love it's difficult for me. As I love both Lang and Drago equally. Two amazing characters in my eyes.
Drago would have beaten Lang. And Lang is nowhere near as good boxer as Apollo. It's doubtful that he was even stronger than Creed. Apollo was much faster and better in everything, except strength, which is arguable. Rocky lost the first battle to Apollo and won the second one only in the final round, while even though he lost the first fight against Lang, is was mostly because of Mieke and he was totally off form. He beat Lang quite easily in the rematch. And Apollo was already old while facing Rocky (even though he stated he was in his best form, which is impossible because his best form would have been 3-4 years before that, age is important)
@@nikoloznasaridze6328 No doubt Dragon would have beaten Lang. I just think that if we compare the two Lang is faster. So he was strong and fast but more predictable than he thought. I think we should analyze sometimes Apollo Creed vs. Clubber Lang because neither gave easy fight to Rocky ever. So when we compare Creed movie 3 vs. Lang there is no telling who would win. I just didn't understand why Apollo wasn't the one to face him, because it seems like he wanted to. We will never know who was better. Apollo is my love, but I am not so sure about a victory for him. That doesn't seem that easy to me.
Clubber was definitely Rocky's toughest opponent. Drago had been juiced up and his gloves appeared to have been loaded too from the sound they made when Apollo tried to touch hands. The probability was high, as neither of his fights in Rocky IV were even sanctioned. Clubber at least was natural in his conditioning, as we saw from his training, the guy was legitimately tough.
If you knew anything about boxing you would know that everybody is juiced up. Also, the sound of his gloves? Really your going to take a movie sound effect so seriously to interpret him of loading his gloves. The fact of the matter is rocky beat clubber lang with all out training in a few rounds whereas he beat drago in I think the final round, sure he was juiced up but that doesn't change the fact that he is still rocky toughest opponent he may not be his most talented that title belongs to appolo creed.
@@lampad4549 so you’re saying all boxers juice up and anyone who knows anything about boxing would know this? Question: what have you been smoking, genius?😂
@@lampad4549 I'm not that naive, no. When I said juiced up, I meant to the consistent extent that Drago was portrayed as doing it. For the sake of canon, we were to assume that Drago and his camp were taking regular extra steps to cheat. The commentators also went out of their way to say the bouts were unsanctioned, therein reinforcing the point. Drago's gloves sounded loaded before Creed's fight, the sound effects are presumably there for a reason. The dude probably only lasted that long with Rocky because he was on all sorts of PEDs, not just roids, and he outboxed Rocky throughout most of the fight due to his superior reach. Clubber was legitimately strong, he was just overzealous and not conditioned to go the distance, but his power wasn't supposed to be drug enhanced. I also know what a roided up body looks like versus a natural one, it's quite obvious. Muhammad Ali definitely did not possess a roided up physique, it was quite obviously a natural build, so it's churlish to suggest ALL boxers are juiced up. In fact most boxers from his era and prior pretty much all had natural physiques. Since the 80's onwards? Definitely a case for the heavyweights, as we know that was the boom for roids and other PEDs across sport.
@@Longlostpuss don’t mind Iam PAd. He doesn’t really know what he’s talking about and just likes to troll comments to sound righteous, but without making any valid points.
The rocky films are a shining example of everything that was great about that era of cinema. One thing that sticks in my mind about clubber is the absolutely brutal set of chin ups he’s shown performing during his training montage, mr t really looked and played the part perfect.
I think a lot of people are judging Rocky's opponents while overlooking their motivations. Apollo's weakness was pride. He had Rocky beaten all ends up, but had to prove to himself he could K.O. Rocky and it cost him. Clubber was so angry at being held back and seeing Rocky as privileged that he went out to destroy him and didn't pace himself. Apollo admitted Rocky couldn't maintain his new style for more than 8 rounds. Had Clubber taken his time, he may well have been behind on the score cards in the 1st half of the fight, but Rocky would have slowed and become easier to hit. Clubber would have overturned the lead, or taken Rocky out. Drago was manufactured, a puppet of the Soviet system. His heart wasn't really in it. He wasn't there because he wanted to be. So in the end Rocky's superior desire and motivation won through Apollo lost the fight rather than Rocky winning it. Rocky beat Clubber by controlling his emotions and having a game plan to exploit his opponents weaknesses-a true victory Against Drago he didn't so much beat him as just out last him, Drago's resolve wasn't as strong as Rocky's So looking at it that way- As Clubber and Rocky's natural styles were so alike, (a more controlled) Clubber would also have beaten Drago. Apollo would have out manoeuvred Clubber just as he did Rocky. Apollo on the other hand would have been in big trouble against Drago as he didn't have the speed and reach advantage he had over them. He couldn't control the this fight at long range, and didn't have the toughness to take a beating like Rocky or Clubber Apollo beats Rocky & Clubber Rocky beats Drago Clubber beats Rocky and Drago Drago beats Apollo they all beat Tommy Gunn, including Mason Dixon STYLES MAKE FIGHTS
This was a great post! I always feel If Apollo just had chilled out and boxed his regular style he would have won. He had to try and knock him out. I still love how in the Canon Rocky Universe... Apollo is the best boxer that ever lived. 😃
It's very true about Drago. During his fight he was just being used as propaganda for his country. Without that personal desire he didn't have enough resolve to win.
Sorry but No! Clubber does NOT beat Drago - Clubber doesn't even go the distance with Drago! - You're forgetting that a huge part of Clubber's success was his ability to get to his opponents with his sledging - That doesn't work on Drago! Drago also has no fear of Clubber's punching power. And Drago's training regime is immense, along with the fact that the Soviets were clearly druggin' him up with steroids! Rocky's motivation to take Drago down after Apollo's death is the ONLY reason Rocky wins that fight! - Clubber doesn't have that motivation because Clubber has no friends or family! - Lastly....Clubber doesn't have Rocky's ability to take punch after punch - Clubber got lucky in the first fight with Rocky in that Rocky hadn't trained properly, had thought himself invincible until Micky tells him the truth AND had let Clubber get to him! Rocky destroys Clubber in the Rematch - Drago would destroy him first time out after Clubber realises his punches are doing nothing to Drago!
Rocky 2 is my favorite one. Apollo didn't play with Rocky the 2nd time around like he did the 1st fight. When they knocked each other down in the final round and Rocky stood up victorious and New Heavyweight champion brings tears to my eyes every time.
One aspect of Clubber's approach to get to Rocky by insulting Adrian was taken from the Leonard-Duran fight, where Duran insulted Leonard's wife while implying Leonard wasn't a real man.
Clubber was to Rocky as Bane was to Batman in Dark Knight Rises. Both heroes experienced success in their own ways and hadn't been pushed physically or emotionally that hard before. Both became weak in a way and defeated so badly that they weren't simply humbled but broken in spirit. To me both experienced their heroes journey to rise up and overcome what was believed impossible. That motivates people and inspires others.
Finally someone gives the character of Clubber Lang the shine he deserves. My opinion always was he was his most dangerous opponent due to the fact he forced Rocky to change styles in order to defeat. Not to mention Mr. T did a helluva job selling the character. Good video.
Great video, Clubber is such an iconic villain! I'd love to hear your thoughts on Mason Dixon at some point, while he certainly wasn't Rocky's strongest foe I feel like people tend to downplay his capabilities due to the circumstances of his match with Rocky.
@@matthewsantos8525 he spent most of the movie antagonizing Rocky, he insulted his wife Adrian, he indirectly caused the death of Rocky's mentor/father-figure Micky, he beat Rocky during their first fight, he beaten and briefly broke Rocky shaking his confidence, and he tried to break Rocky's spirit again but failed cause he got arrogant and overconfident leading to his lost.
I think Clubber was indeed Rocky’s most dangerous opponent, more so than Drago. Every opponent in the series symbolized a different challenge in Rocky’s life and Clubber was the disruption to the complacency in his career at that point. They’re both from the streets and by that point, Rocky had gained immense wealth and fame by defending his title from fixed, subpar fighters chosen by Mickey while Clubber was fueled by sheer hunger and contempt for Rocky’s position, like a hungry pit bull that was determined to tear the title from Rocky with brute force and furious vengeance.
@@realamericannegro977 Clubber would drop Drago like a bad habit! The dude was pure testosterone with street attitude. You know T was also a professional bodyguard in real life before he got into movies, so he was a real tough guy.
@@nickchang5293 I used to think Drago was tougher due to the steroids and reasons he mentioned in the video but yeah Clubber would beat him pretty bad, especially if Rocky was able to do that
@@realamericannegro977 I also dig Clubber’s attitude and the way he talks smack at everyone, but he can certainly back It up. That scene when he says to Apollo “don’t need no has beens hanging in my corner, and you better wipe off that stupid look before I knock it off!”, then Apollo says to Rocky “do us all a favor and drop this chump!”. That was all dope!
I saw someone make the great suggestion that Clubber Lang should have been the one running the desert training camp in Creed 2. Clubber Lang is definitely my favorite antagonist, and I rooted for him in the first fight.
Following the George foreman route, I would have Had clubber lang finding good and being a preacher. With adonis seeking him after finding his daughter deaf and his crisis of confidence
I always thought they should have brought him back as a bad guy turned good guy.... it would have fit with real life at the time...... with Mr. T being such a lovable person in real life.
I’ve always liked to think that the Rocky series is Sly’s imagination of what would happen if Rocky Marciano was around during the Golden Age of Boxing. Rock’s style (or lack thereof) is definitely influenced by Marciano’s, they have the same name, and Mickey is clearly inspired from Marciano’s coach Charley Goldman. I see Rocky 1 and 2 as Sly’s vision of what bouts between Marciano and Ali would’ve been like (the second fight between Balboa and Creed is even called “Superfight 2”, probably an homage to the real life computer superfight between Marciano and Ali). This is then extended to Clubber Lang representing Marciano v Foreman, Tommy Gunn representing Tommy Morrison, and Mason Dixon probably being Mayweather. I admittedly don’t know who Drago would represent in this analogy though.
You're spot on about Dixon and Mayweather. I think there was also some influence of Tyson in Rocky V (Mickey's speech to Rocky being nearly word-for-word for the same speech that D'Amato gave Tyson, Tommy Gunn also not taking it on easy on sparring partners like Tyson). As far as Drago I thought at some point someone said Max Schleming, but I'm not entirely sure on that.
no he would not be able to beat drago - they both rely on power rather than speed and technique and drago was even stronger than clubber and was trained by the entire team of coaches and scientists and there was also that "little" fact that drago was on steroids which further enhanced his already peak human level of strenght .
While I do think that saying Foreman had "no technique" is disrespectful (his style and brain for boxing are extremely underrated on a technical level), I did enjoy this video on one of my favorite movie villains. Always loved Lang's brash trash talk.
Agreed! Kind of surprised to hear that since Foreman's use of handfighting was mentioned earlier in the video. Even early Foreman was very technical, especially how he used his long guard. The version of Foreman that fought Holyfield and Moorer was just next level in terms of fight IQ.
Dolph lundgren's Ivan Drago is a great antagonist but is still second too clubber Lang. This role was made for Mr. T. And he just crushed it. He is absolutely brilliant in this role of a lifetime. And the cool thing is he's really opposite of his character. He's one of the nicest guys you would ever want to meet. Huge heart, a believer in the faith. And one who gives an honest heart at charity. Good on you Mr t. You're in number one in my book
Clubber Lang was scary to me as a kid growing up watching Rocky. Boy, he was so savage and fast. But I'm so glad Mr. T is such a nice guy in real life. That always drew me to him.
I thought Clubber was a lukewarm villain after the wonderful opponent that is Apollo Creed, but this video has given me a new appreciation for him and Rocky III!
Rocky had to learn the motivation to stand up to his opponents. He had to become Clubber. Rocky took this same mentally to fighting Ivan. It explains why he decided to go to Russia to train. In the grand scheme, I think, Rocky needed to understand his opponent in order to exploit them. It's the classic "know thy enemy." Creed: "There is no tomorrow!"
Clubber Lang is my favorite antagonist in the entire Rocky franchise, dude was a straight up WRECKIN’ MACHINE with how much he pummeled Rocky during their first match. I legitimately got worried for Rocky when his face just started getting completely battered like mash tomato with the amount of violent strike Clubber slammed Poor Rocky with
The question i have always had was, as the then-champ, clubber would have placed a rematch clause in the fight contract in the event he lost. Plus, the public and promoters would have pushed for a third fight since they split the first two. Clubber would have adjusted his training and strategy, and it may have been lights out for rocky the third time around.
@ Norm Lee Rocky was the Champ and after he lost the Titel he did take the rematch clause. After Rocky winn the rematch there is no more rematch clause. Its like after Joshua losing his titels against Ruiz, he did take the rematch clause. And after he winning the rematch there was no more a rematch clause. Joshua could give Ruiz a 3rt fight but it was not mandatory. The sam situation now in the 2nt fight between Usyk and Joshua
@@Don2438 it depends on who is the challenger and who is the champ. The champ would typically insert an optional rematch clause in the event he loses. So, if clubber was the champ, he would have inserted the option. Rocky would not have put in the rematch clause when he had the title because he intended to retire. He only got the rematch because clubber gave it to him because he saw him as no threat, not because of anything in the contract.
never will forget as a kid when I saw Rocky 3 coming out...all my friends and I could talk about was "Rocky is gonna fight Mr. T!!!!!" and it was as epic as we thought it would be.
I want to see Clubber come back during the Creed Franchise as a tv spokesman. Rocky would watching tv late nite and there’s Clubber selling his club sandwich maker. Which would be called the “Clubber”.
I think Clubber was Rocky's second toughest opponent in the series, with Apollo being his toughest. Rocky was a hungry fighter with nothing to lose and everything to gain when he fought Apollo, and that made him dangerous. I also believe that Clubber wouldn't have stood a chance against Apollo. Of all Rocky's opponents, though, Clubber is my favorite because of the believability of his character, I credit Mr. T for that.
I look at Clubber's Hunger as Rocky facing himself, Rocky's fears, etc ..Rock just did not have the anger, but Rocky is battling Rocky in a way, a good life lesson for him
@@andyjackson304 no drago is more than both of them. Drago gave rocky brain damage- apollo and clubber didn't do shit and rocky recovers after their fight within days. A worse rocky clapped clubber in 3 rounds, and prime rocky barely beat drago.
How was he most dangerous? Drago had a vast larger array of technique, was much larger than Lang (aka huge reach advantage) and had more power than Lang.
@@Rubrick23. The Klitschko brothers lay waste to a ton of black boxers. They were really shaking in their boots the whole time they were champions, I'm sure. 🙄
I don't think Clubber Lang could have beat Apollo Creed. I also think if Apollo was in his prime he would have defeated Drago but being 5 years retired, underestimating his opponent, not training enough and being well past his prime will lose anyone most fights. Great video by the way also I love the rocky Legends video game and I still play it to this day on my 360, thank God for backwards compatibility.
Clubber was pretty awesome and I personally think he's the best villain in the Rocky movies and he's a big part of making part 3 my favorite..by the way I really dig this video and I will definitely check out more..🤘
I am so glad you brought up Rocky Legends. I adored that game. It gave much more of a backstory to more prominent fighters and former fighters. Even contenders that had just been mentioned like Buddy Shaw. Clubber's story was always my favourite of the game though. Clubber is Rocky's best in ring villain imo. Apollo only set himself up as the bad guy out of desperation to get Rocky back in the ring. Whatever you think of Creed 2, it showed once and for all that Drago was not a villain. He was the poster boy of more villainous characters. He even acts out showing he is not a puppet, he fights for him. I wish they had used the alternate fight for Tommy. That shows Tommy is just a young guy who fell victim to "The dirty parts of the business" Mason was a great fighter who had no real competition to prove it. Clubber is the only true out and out villain Rocky faced to me. He forced Rocky to not only find his hunger again but also, we get to see Rocky as a true Boxer. 3 is the first time we really see bruiser vs bruiser in the first fight of the movie. Rocky adopts the style of Apollo to counter this. As the fight gets into the second round though Rocky seems to transition to something between how he has always fought and the new style Apollo has taught him. Lang is not only so dangerous that the great Apollo Creed says "You thought I was tough? This chump will kill you"! He represents the loss of Micky. Rockty finding out that his 10 title defences were against good fighters but it would have had to be a really off day for Rocky to lose to them and so he feels like a liar. All of that builds up and we see a cocky and dangerous side of Rocky manifest from it. It always gives me goosebumps. "You ain't so bad" Rocky had found the hunger he had lost and had changed his whole style. It's amazing that the first 2 movies gives us 15 whole rounds but Sly was able to make it feel like we got just as much in 3 rounds. As he once said you can't make the fans feel shortchanged. I really wish Sly had went with the idea of bringing Clubber back in Rocky Balboa as an announcer and had made it happen. Clubber is iconic no doubt but deserves more credit for other things that happened. Great video 👌
Rocky 3 was my favourite of the entire franchise. It showed how mental toughness is a large part of successful fighting as well as showing that a person must be willing to adapt in order to win consistently over different opponents. Clubbed Lang was also an incredibly scary person in and out of the ring. I hope that Mr. T. is somehow a part of any future Rocky movie.
So, with all this talk about Rocky III, I just had to watch it tonight! Lol I noticed a little detail in the movie. When Rocky and Adrian are going to his statue ceremony, a marching band is playing. At the very beginning of it, a guy is playing his drum and they show the top of his marching drum. It’s signed by Mr. T in the middle of the drum head.
I agree with the idea that if they ever bring Clubber back as a character in the Creed films I think they should make him a born again Christian who's really nice to everyone. A bit how George Foreman was a big nasty brute in his youth and then changed into a big teddy bear after he became religious. It's just whether there's a valid reason to bring Clubber back for a Creed film. And yes as an atheist content creator people might be surprised I'd say that I'd like to see Clubber as a born again Christian but I think that would be a good story arc for him.
Clubber becoming a devout christian, cleaning up his image, becoming an 80s tv star and role model for kids. That would be perfect and very realistic because Clubber Lang IS Mr.T
If I'm not mistaken, in the original ending of Rocky 5 (where Rocky dies at the end), Rocky has a lot more flashbacks of Clubber instead of just Drago, because Clubber did a lot more psychological damage to Rocky, making him feel fear and doubt in himself.
My favorite villain in the Rocky series is, has been and remains Ivan Drago for over 35 years and counting. As for favorite antagonist and character overall (other than the obvious, Balboa himself).... That would go to Ivan's son, Viktor Drago. Is Clubber Lang dangerous? Yes. I always saw Clubber as an abrasive loudmouth, yelling all the time. A more sadistic and almost 'evil' version of Apollo Creed. Both could dominate in the ring, but Clubber wasn't a showman . His objective was simply to dominate in the ring and if he hurt you in the process, he didn't care. Accidental maybe, also, but he did trigger Mickey's fatal heart attack. The Drago-Balboa match proved to me that when he puts his mind to it, Ivan can move and defend well. He's also great at controlling distance with jabs, hooks and brutal combination punching. Lang didn't have the stamina to last three rounds with a Creed trained Balboa. Drago was a Soviet army captain. Steroid issues aside, soldiers have to pass tests and complete physical training anyone would consider strenuous to the point of extraordinary. So, not only does Drago have power, he would have to have (and does have) boxing technique and stamina that would give him the edge against Lang. Lang is a brutal puncher, but he's a hook-happy head-hunter, and has neither stamina or technique.
I've said for a very long time that Clubber was the fictional Mike Tyson before Mike came around. Love this video, and loved Rocky III as Mr T was my hero in the 80's.
I think that he continued boxing after losing to Rocky but his aura of intimidation was gone or faded quickly when opponents realized that he had bad stamina and endurance was beatable because he couldn't go the distance and relied too much on punching power, so other opponents would know he was not as tough as he looked and be able to beat him or give him a tough fight. And i like how Clubber Lang might have become a born again Christian and been humbled because of his loss, he basically learned humility from Rocky beating him and slowly became a nicer person, that was always mentioned in Rocky source material too that he might have grown up and become a better man losing his temper and rage, i think that Clubber came up poor and had to work very hard for all of his success and thought that Rocky had it handed to him by Apollo and he was angry and resentful and didn't think of him as being a tough guy like himself, watching Rocky fight handpicked opponents, he looked mad and vowed to win the title. Clubber is actually a complex character, a tough fighter from the streets that worked hard to win and was offended by sell outs like Apollo and guys like Rocky who didn't earn the title but had the chance handed to them when Clubber had to fight his way to the top, so he's just being angry at paper champions and jokes, but later on respects Rocky for beating him and becomes humble because Rocky earned his respect, just a misunderstood character.
T was the perfect character for Clubber Lang, & B.A. Barakus. Much to people's surprise, T is a born again Christian, has completely devoted his entire life to raising $$ for disadvantaged kids sports & mentorship programs, & is actually an incredibly charismatic individual. T was perfect for the 80s & 90s!
I’m actually rewatching all the Rocky movies since watching creed 3 twice and creed 2 again as well. I’m on Rocky 3 rn and yes his training for Langwas iconic he showed the adaptation of Soul Brother !
I have an analogy that can be useful, Rocky was the X factor. Meaning he could potentially have the highest stats but needed to have emotional connection. Creed, was pure determination but was cocky by it. Mr T, was like Creed, but put more into aggression, which Rocky was not used to, that and Rocky needed a loss to power up
Would love to see Clubber Lang come back in some sort of capacity in the new Creed sequel's! I bet Mike Tyson even watched a little Clubber Lang back in the day 💯💯💯
I don't remember the whole backstory of Clubber Lang from the movie, but when you described his background and style, the real-life boxer who seems to be the biggest parallel is Dwight Braxton. He was a prisoner in a state prison somewhere. I vaguely remember the prison system being New Jersey, but I could be wrong. He started as a prison fighter in the prison league. When he turned professional, they wouldn't let him out of prison to fight, and professional boxers had to agree to matches inside the prison gymnasium. Like Clubber Lang, he was a powerful puncher who didn't fight with that much finesse that I remember. When he finished his sentence, he was able to become a full-time professional boxer. He worked his way up the ranks. I'm fairly certain that he was a light heavyweight. Again, he mostly won by knockout because of his tremendous power. Eventually, he won the light heavyweight title. When he won the title, he changed his name to Dwight Muhammed Quawi (or some spelling close to that). He said after winning that this was this was his new name and that as long as Allah was god, he would be the light heavyweight champion. His first or one of his first title defenses was against Michael Spinks, and he was knocked out. In many ways, Michael Spinks brought the same style that Rocky Balboa used to beat Clubber Lang. I don't remember what happened to Dwight Muhammed Quawi. I think he fought a few more fights. I don't remember whether he regained the title. At that time, boxers didn't continue that far into their thirties, and he was late starting as a professional because of his time in jail. I don't think he was ever the jerk that Clubber Lang portrayed in the movies. I'd like to think that he got help with investing his money and lived a good life after boxing, but maybe he made bad decisions like the ones that landed him in jail in the first place. If that happened, he might have come to a bad end.
READ BEFORE COMMENTING (since I keep getting the same ones over and over):
- At the time I made this video, I misinterpreted the definition of "Going the Distance"
- Yes, I know I said retroactive comparing Tyson and Lang. I meant to say precursor. Mistakes happen.
- Never said Tyson had basic technique, was just making more of the comparison of raw power between Tyson and Lang. Also, while Tyson had conditioning, he had asthma which is why Cus trained him to knock people out early. Tyson himself confirmed this in an interview.
Q1q33
I don't like Tyson he after what he did to that girl omg but if rocky were to going against him or drago meaning if they were realy pro boxers my $ on drago or rocky
He'll I'd pick Logan paul or Jake Paul to ko Tyson or Tyson fury would dominate him
Goto bed little one don't you have school tomarrow 😂
Clubber was dangerous cause it was wrote that way 😲 its a movie
What annoys me is Clubber is like Forman and Dame reminds me of Tyson, but since i just saw Creed 3 yesterday I wanna focus that; he kind of used a shell defense not the philly style shell either and mixed with the peek-a-boo method and it was awful to watch knowing they dont mix well. idk what the exact idea for that character was but I hated every second of it, just being honest.
Rocky 3 is my favorite cause it forced Rocky to change his style from a pressure fighter to fighting at long range and using his feet meaning you can teach a old dog new tricks
Exactly. I was always sorta liked it when I was younger (used to watch the Rocky movies religiously in high school), but after re-watching to study both Rocky and Clubber in this one, it's been pretty cool
I think Clubber Lang was indeed Rocky’s most dangerous opponent, more so than Ivan Drago. Every opponent in the series symbolized a different challenge in Rocky’s life and Clubber was the disruption to the complacency in his career at that point. They’re both from the streets and by that point, Rocky had gained immense wealth and fame by defending his title from subpar opponents chosen by Mickey, while Clubber was fueled by sheer hunger and contempt for Rocky’s position, like a hungry pit bull determined to tear the title from Rocky with brute force and furious vengeance.
My favorite too. It taught me that it's okay to be afraid but never quit.
My favorite was Rocky IV because that movie literally embodies the 80s and I love it
@@grottyband8052 yes, when the Cold War was settled in the ring 🥊
Drago was engineered, a machine, and you can eventually figure out how a machine works. Lang was fire, unpredictable, the only thing Rocky had was literally letting Lang punch himself out. He didn't outfight him, he outlasted him.
That doesn't change the fact that Drago would mop the floor with Lang. He couldn't even last for 3 full rounds against Balboa, you say. What makes you think he'd last longer against the Russian?
@@cihangercekci7668 I don’t think so because Drago couldn’t beat Rocky Clubber did. Clubber would have to get his stamina up then he would beat Drago just like he beat Rocky.
@@the4thtribe709 Yes, but he wasn't the same Rocky
@@cihangercekci7668 Only because of the drugs though.
@Val O'Connell rocky won because Appollo trained him and changed his style and clubber had no Endurance. Let me ask you this who's the only person to beat rocky and I'll rest on that
Clubber represents uncontrolled hunger and rage.
Drago represents cold direct effectiveness.
Well put
to be hit by a hook by clubber lang was to be hit by a swinging sledgehammer, while getting hit by a BIG right cross by Drago would compare to be hit by a pendling railroad iron beam at high speed....
A rabid hungry dog. Clubber deserved it, he wanted the title more.
@@2011persol if that was the case all his opponent's heads would have exploded on impact. There was nothing special about Drago except for intense training and steroids take those steroids away from them and he was much easier to beat then you people might think. One good thing that movie did do was convince people like yourself and others that Ivan Drago was some Unstoppable robot but even Drago knew he was beatable especially after Rocky wouldn't go down Drago even said to himself that Rocky was way more than a human being he was like a piece of iron Drago himself was scared of Rocky. Even Drago's son could beat Drago he was a much better fighter than Ivan Drago ever was.
The thing about Drago (and I take this as a personal Theory) is that he was on steroids but it was kept a secret. The reason why I say that is because the script was written around the time the Russians were doping their athletes with steroids for the Olympics and Bridget Nelson who played his wife was a swimmer and she had a very stocky build. I think Stallone heard about this story and then ran with it which made a good story although it didn't say it out right in the movie.
I LOVE the theory of Clubber Lang being the guy who wrote that hate letter to Apollo Creed. It adds another layer to such a great villain.
That's why he didn't want no has been messing up his corner
It would make sense
I agree
@@mikerivera7509 Apollo WHO !??😂
Ayy Boy, Ayy boi!
You forgot one thing: Clubber started to get civilized after he won the belt. Before the first fight, he violently ejected the press from he dressing room. Before the second fight, he was giving interviews.
😂😂
😂😂😂😂
but your forgetting he attacked a Spectacular when he was Champion hardly sounds like someone that got civilized
Lmao no bro he was still a hell hound
“I live alone, I train alone, and when I win the title, I’ll win the title alone." One of the most powerful lines in boxing movie history. Lang was this extremely aggressive pitbull Spartan. Like a warrior monk with the soul of a hungry fearless wolverine. He reminds me a bit of the Greek warrior god, Ares.
Wasn’t Ares a bit of a coward half the time?
I really wish they had made him a deeper character and shown some of the deeper layers of his backstory.
@@SKBottom Too bad this fictional universe was not expanded with books and novels like Star Wars and Star Trek. Some of the scenes of the Rocky Legends video game also could have been novelized. Maybe a sequel where he is the hero of his own story after losing to Rocky. Maybe he pulls himself together and becomes a boxing trainer himself. Imagine a scene where one of his students gets really mad at his sparring partner and starts throwing a bunch of crazy wild punches that all miss and Lang says to him: "Don't waste your strength like that. Throwing wild punches with no plan while in a rage cost me my title two years ago. It was the worst mistake I ever made" or something like that to help connect it to the movie.
@@Zurround I don't know how much of a writer you are but maybe we should write a couple and start to fill that void. I think that is an excellent idea you had.
Romans 10:9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.dd
The fact that Lang trained alone and lived alone and everything, and was self taught. There is a strong possibility that Lang wasn't even using half his potential in Rocky 3. Rumor has it that Lang in Rocky Balboa on commentary was supposed to have been retired also at this point having won the rest of his fights in his career, with his only defeat at Rocky's hand. Imagine a physical specimen like Lang with all that raw talent, now humbled and willing to seek help from an experienced trainer to refine his game. @.@
That would've been cool
Why would it matter ?
I heard despite that though Clubber would be rooting for Dixon. But we will never know unfortunately will never get anything like this again 😢
Lang got defeated by Union cane while Rocky fought drago in russia in IV
Mike Tyson
Hands-down the most vicious and devastating of all the rocky opponents. It just really annoys me that nobody ever thought enough to take his story further. I would love to see him make a cameo in one of the creed films. Mr. T was the nastiest most ferocious of all Rockies opponents.
Yeah but Apollo was of season for 5 years
Agreed
If anybody thinks Apollo wins hands down, go see Tommy Hearns vs Iran Barkley
The Creed films are garbage.
Romans 10:9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.dd
A great way to bring clubber back in a creed film would be that creed starts to lose matches and needs a new style to beat an opponent who’s almost unbeatable. Clubber shows up to teach creed about patience and power as he’s grown from the cocky hot head he was years ago
That would actually be pretty good.
The Stallone was no joke in writing the Rocky series, he knew how boxers were in real life and applied it in a movie. Even though it's more dramatic on screen compared to reality in a ring. I too knew that Clubber was out of his element when Rocky was focused on avoiding his hits to wear him down.
And your point is ?
I think Clubber Lang would be an interesting character to come back and see how much he has developed and hopefully moved on from his past. There's a lot of interesting psychology behind this character, often overlooked by Drago whom a film later proved to possibly be Rocky's toughest fight
Agreed
Yes, Clubber was a well conceived character motivated by hunger, anger and contempt for Rocky’s complacency with holding his title, fame and wealth.
I could see Clubber Lang being a lot like George Foreman.
Big George totally reinvented himself from a brute to a role model.
After losing to Rocky I could see Clubber having a religious epiphany, picking himself up, cleaning up his image, becoming a family friendly tv star that millions of kids look up to.
@@duprez2 George Foreman is a lot friendlier than Clubber.😊
Maybe have Clubber Lang junior fighting Adonis Creed.
"Come on Creed"
The utter disrespect to Apollo Creed by Clubber Lang was legendary!
Then Apollo says to Rocky “Do us all a favor and drop this chump!”😎
YOU wanna jump?? JUMP!! Yeah comon CREEEED!
"Hey boy. Hey boy."
"And you better get that bad look off your face, before I knock it off!"
..."Get out my face. Don't need no has been messing up my corner." ( Second meeting with Apollo creed) "After I crucify him (Rocky), you next."
The thing I always loved about Clubber is that he didn't need steroids or people in his corner to get to the top. He was just an intense fighter who busted his ass to get to the top. Even if he's an asshole, we gotta respect his drive to get what he wants.
100
The Clubber Lang fight took Rocky to the limits. Remember in Rocky 4 he was “retired”. He had hung up the gloves because that Clubber Lang fight was brutal.
No rocky planned on retiring before the first Clubber fight
@@lildroptop4178 Yeah but he didn't have the brain damage he would suffer later.
After the Clubber Lang fight him and Apollo did retired But Apollo Pulled out of Retirement to fight Drago but Foolishly Didn't train hard enough and that led him to his demise in Rocky 4
He was still champ and active.
He gave up the title to fight Dragon in Russia. For free I might add
@@ronmichaels9206 them if he have up his title, how did he still retire with the belt and Tommy being called a paper champ bc Union never won it from Balboa??
Natural raw strength, indomitable will and an insane power boxer and Rocky was actually afraid of Clubber. Not to mention Mr.T was an actual fighter back in the day 💪🥊🥊💪
Really??? Then how come Clubber just had one move, the hook?? His mouth had more variety than his "technique." Lol
@@k-dogg9086 because obviously the fight and every punch is scripted
But Drago was unnatural & superhuman and disciple Clubber was not...
@D G if u say so
@D G you know boxing has different weight classes, right?
I felt Clubber Lang's statement at the statue unveiling "Politics, man! ...trynna keep me down, keep everybody weak, they don't wanna guy like me to be the champ because I'm not a puppet like that fool up there!" I think Stallone didn't want the movie to be too political so Lang never elaborated on that or espoused anything overtly in favour of civil rights, black nationalism or the Black Panther movement but you can see the subtext in what he says. Also when he taunts Apollo Creed at the start of the second fight with "Hey boy! Hey boy!" Boy was an insult used by white racists of all kinds towards black men in the US historically, aimed at condescending and suggesting they're lower in character and maturity thany any white man, and I think this suggests Clubber thought Creed was selling out by being such an establishment figure, since he is meant to be like Muhammed Ali if he'd never become political but stated Cassius Clay forever, and since Creed seemed to have come to terms with being beaten by Rocky and didn't continue to seek an official rematch. Clubber's anger at this suggests he is dedicated against the system and uncompromisingly seeks to beat it or die trying. I think it would have been easy to make this a very socio-politically charged movie but Stallone kept it focused on the sport alone. The history of boxing in America and the UK is very revealing about social history and culture, being a sport wherein white men could express acknowledgement and even admiration for black men in a way that was socially acceptable, since it was a sport with great focus on sheer strength and aggression, and an institutionally racist system and culture could in principle seeing black men prosper and succeed in such a field, but despite this there was still bias, segregation and tension and pride involved in it. If Ali had remained Cassius Clay and been like Apollo Creed, revelling in conventional American mainstream patriotism with his George Washington outfit and that James Brown performance, having dinner with the mayor and doing celebrity appearances etc as he did in Rocky 1, when many in civil rights and black nationalist and pride movement would be cynical and angry towards him, calling him an establishment sell-out etc, and I think Clubber Lang represents this somewhat. For these reasons, this is my favourite Rocky movie and I think a midway between the social realism of the first two and the larger than life elements of 4 and 5, while also having depth about the issues above and of Clubber being pissed about Rocky's "hand picked" opponents and commercialized status versus Lang's pure legitimacy as a real boxer (which Rocky was naively ignorant of but you see spelled out in the Eye of the Tiger intro to the movie) and so Rocky III is my favourite Rocky film for those reasons, and Clubber Lang is the most inspirational bad guy ever.
That was a mouthful correct and on point...never saw it like that thanks...
Ok buddy, to pour it down,you like politics and Clubber Lang
@@malikkimanimaasai3703 more like reaching.
Your reaching for the stars with this one boy. And calling clubber lang inspirational is scary, cause if you consider a possible racist as you described him as inspirational is weird.
@@lampad4549 I think your comments are weird and you should also work on your grammar, so your messages make more sense.👍🏻
I’m surprised you didn’t mention Sonny Liston as an influence on Clubber’s Character. He was a felon, and a very nasty and feared fighter in the ‘60s. He absolutely destroyed champion Floyd Patterson twice, making him seem invincible to the world before Ali defeated him. And like Clubber, Liston declined as a top ranked fighter after his losses to Ali. I think (not sure) Clubber was mentioned in Rocky IV, as having been crushed by Drago before the Apollo fight. If so, maybe Clubber was just being used at that point as a test for up and coming fighters, never to get a shot at the title again. You’d think (in the real world), there should have been a 3rd match with Rocky before Clubber fought Drago, to break the 1-1 tie with Rocky.
Sonny Liston 100%
If anybody can defeat Patterson they are no joke. Patterson looks terrifying in his highlights.
Shannon Briggs 200%
Outside of the opening recap, I don’t recall Clubber even mentioned in Rocky 4.
As for a third fight, Rocky emptied his tank to beat Clubber, and even though he knocked Clubber out, he knows he would have to dig even deeper to come out on top, something he may not want to do at that point in his life.
Clubber? Rocky fought back and handed out a beating, and like most bullies, he’s not used to the opponent cracking HIM across the jaw, and doing it repeatedly.
Not only that, but by no longer being afraid of Clubber, Rocky removed a major tool from Clubber’s arsenal: FEAR.
In addition, with Rocky returning the favor from their first fight, Clubber would need to overcome the psychological barrier of being on the wrong end of a brutal loss in which his strength advantage was not enough.
With so much to overcome both physically and emotionally, with so little for either to truly gain from a win, I don’t think either Rocky or Clubber would be interested in a third fight.
Totally agree! It seems like Clubber was modeled after Sonny Liston. It's very admirable that Sonny overcame so much to achieve the highest òf sporting accomplishments.
Clubber Lang was definitely the most dangerous. Think about it this way.
>When he faced Apollo in Rocky 1 and 2, Apollo had speed and skill over Rocky. But Rocky had strength and relentlessness.
>When he faced Drago in Rocky 4, he was a retired boxer who only came back to avenge his friend's death. And he still had the RAW strength over Drago. Drago had superficial power due to his steroids.And again, he was able to rely on his relentlessness to overcome the beating.
>With Clubber Lang there were major concessions that happened during this film.
1. Rocky, for the first time, was flat out not as strong or powerful as Clubber and could not trade punches with him.
2. Clubber was the first person to beat him in convincing fashion. Both Apollo and Dixon both beat him by a controversial point decision.
3. He had to change up his entire fighting style. Learn how to block hits, vastly improve his speed, learn how to get out of the corner, improve his footwork, etc.
4. Even with all of that change up in fighting style, Apollo was still not convinced that Rocky could go a whole match with Clubber. And advised him to put him away ASAP. Considering that "going the distance" is his schtick, being told to "put him away early" says a lot about how dangerous Clubber was.
Rocky was more determined than ever and trained like an absolute freak whenever he fought Drago, whom he fought to avenge Apollo's death. Against Clubber he was partying and fooling around and not taking training seriously (pretty much the typical story of when a champion gets bored and complacent and loses because of it) whenever he lost. The Rocky who fought Ivan Drago would've handled Clubber as well. Rocky didn't have raw strength over Drago, as Drago completely overpowered him in the majority of that fight and dropped him many times, and there's no way you can argue that the version of Rocky who fought Drago wouldn't have been able to go the distance against Clubber whenever Drago did in fact hit a lot harder.
100%
@@handzofstone1152 There's no evidence of Rocky being "more determined than ever". He's been determined during every fight (excluding his first fight with Lang).
>All of these for you are assumptions. I'm only going by what happened. In every film he was able to withstand punches from every single boxer no matter how fast, strong, or skilled they were. But with Lang, Rocky and his trainers flat out conceeded that he couldn't trade punches or last 15 rounds with him regardless.
>And again, Apollo fought an unskilled prime Rocky. While Drago, Tommy, and Dixon fought an out of prime unskilled Rocky. Rocky 3 had his relentlessness, his skill, was in his prime, and had the entire crowd on his side. And even with all that, he conceeded that he couldn't go back and forward with him. And even during the fight he had to change plans and allow Lang to beat him up so that he could take advatnage of him when he was tired.
Rocky was still Champ when intially challenged by Ivan in Rocky 4, he was the world champion. It was Creed that stepped out of retirement to fight again. The match against Drago was unsanctioned because of Apollo's death.
"I defeat old man, soon I defeat real champion." ~ Ivan after killing Apollo and referring to Rocky.
His wife also refers to him as the champions as does Apollo and the media.
Drago's strength was purposely super human and showed the drugs he used and the governmental training to mold him. He was less human and more petri dish Soviet weapon. Clubber Lang was strong but his punches where not the psi of shotgun blasts.
Rocky lost to Clubber because Mickey was keeping him safe, he lost "the eye of the tiger." and had begun putting on shows with people like Hulk Hogan, and fighting easy wins which Clubber found disgusting. Clubber had the fire Rocky had lost.
Rocky's loss to Clubber gave him an identity crisis that made him refine his style and find his fire again. When he fought him the second time it was his cleanest win. The least damage he took in any movie before or after.
When Rocky had to compete with Drago he was fighting an Empire, his wife did not believe in him initially and the weight of not throwing in the damn towel haunted his heart, he was then trained by Duke in isolation, better training than even Apollo could give.
Mike Tyson himself said that being a great trainer is far more difficult than being a great fighter.
In short, Clubber gave Rocky and identity crisis, Ivan Drago damaged his brain and retired him. Every fight following Rocky would see Ivan when he took too much damage, not Clubber.
Clubber was an identity crisis and validation.
Ivan was a war he didn't know if he would survive.
Sprinkles on top, the fight at the end of the Rocky 3 was later revealed Apollo had won. Meaning there is a very good chance he would of beat or contended with Clubber. He died within two rounds of fighting Ivan. There is a five year gap between Rocky 3 and 4. Not a decade or two that would see his atheletsism turn elderly. He wasn't even killed for lack of skill, although not at his best, but rather raw power to the face, something that cannot be trained for in any real capacity.
Ivan has the reach, strength, he's way faster than someone his size should be and he's far heavier. 6'5 265lbs and a reach of 84 2150psi punch.
Clubber is 5'10- 5'11 ( some sources say 6'1) at 236 pounds. 78 reach.
That's over half a foot or even fudged a third of a foot, 8 more reach and 30lbs on Clubber for Ivan.
Ivan was in a league of his own and lost to Rocky because of lack of experience.
I don't feel Clubber is much of a match for Drago or Apollo. Clubber was just the perfect style to match Rocky's old style. Brawl and little defense.
Without Rocky 3, there's no Rocky 4 or Creed. The bromance between Apollo and Rocky really soared to uncharted heights due to that movie. Watching the two of them sprint at the beach during their training montage was a real joy.
Clubber was sort of like Rocky’s shadow. A powerful fighter who was a puncher a super hungry. It pushed Rocky to go to another level. Creed was Rocky’s most challenging fighter. However Clubber was the most dangerous fighter. Rocky fought his most complete fight - adjusting to being a boxer/puncher for the first part of the fight, but ultimately finishing off Clubber with the Eye of the Tiger. Clubber was in only one film, but he ended up hugely shaping the Rocky franchise in his own way. Surprisingly he wasn’t in more Rocky films but he served his purpose. He had a similar effect on Rocky that Foreman had on Ali. They had only one fight but it was a massive fight that stands on its own, and really cemented Ali as a fighter for the ages. Clubber was a stand-alone character whose impact was far and wide.
Didn't we see Clubber in a brief shot in R6?? Even he was training, I think..
Clubber Lang, to me, was the scariest of the Rocky opponents.
Depends on what you mean by 'scary'. Lang had a bigger mouth. Drago had 1850 PSI of punching power.
@@cihangercekci7668 scary as in intimidating and terrifying in general kinda like Tyson Liston was. Punching power doesn’t mean ‘scary’.
@@jawbreaker8363 tbh I find Drago’s stare and silence more intimidating than Clubber’s big mouth. That’s just me tho
I really like it when fans expand on movie characters and try to give more background to them, Clubber is definitely my favourite character in the Rocky franchise
Thanks so much!
As others have argued, Clubber Lang was an antagonist, not a villain. He worked his way up the ranks and wasn't getting a fair shot because Mickey was feeding Rocky setups. As the video mentions, Rocky got his shot at the title as a 'set up.' Lang is understandably frustrated and angry that the sport seems 'rigged' against him rather than giving him a fair shot. Which is all he wanted. He was reduced to having to publicly call him out just to get the title shot that he had earned.
Then Rocky half ass trains for it and gets the ass kicked. The death of Mickey papers over the getting knocked out was the fate Rocky deserved.
And rather than just fight setups, he gave Rocky a rematch.
I think the general love of Rocky as an established protagonist and Lang's (understandable) anger being perceived as 'scary' made him a villain. (And I don't blame him for Mickey's death. He didn't know he had a bad heart when pushed him. And Mikey was there with a poorly prepared fighter for a fight Mickey begged him not to take.)
Mickey also called the man an ape. Slightly racist overtones if u ask me😂
And how are you gonna blame Mikey . Anyone that's had experience at Boxing 🥊 will tell you that there are some Fighters you don't want to Fight . Because they are too Dangerous to Fight . I mean lots of Boxers have had Fighters they avoided for that reason . So Mickey did nothing different then any other manager or Fighter has done .
Clubber is my favorite villain ever. Didn’t lie cheat or steal, just worked harder and stayed focused.
Rocky 3 was always my favorite movie of the franchise because while the first 2 dealt with Rocky being the underdog working his way to the top then eventually getting there, the 3rd movie was a lesson of being at the top but maintaining that drive and hunger to stay at the top. When he got beat by Clubber and some doubted that he could bounce back (including Rocky himself) it kinda made him the underdog again in a sense and he had to reprove himself and regain that hunger that he once had. Like Apollo said, "We've been living modern but now we're gonna train old".
Clubber Lang is by far one of the best and most memorable opponents from the Rocky franchise, just like how Apollo was based on Mohammed Ail, Clubbers intensity and power always gave off strong Mike Tyson vibes to me as a kid. It'd be a crime for his character not to show up in another film or sequel, as the Drago character returned decades later. I'd like to see an old Clubber Lang training a new fighter to go up against Apollo Creed's son.
I would of loved to see clubber lang trained Deontay wilder if a third movie ever came out for CREED.
I think Clubber would be more like a good guy by now.
As a kid I always thought it would be cool to see Lang vs Drago.
Same here
Clubber was awesome. If there is anything I would love to see as a match is Clubber Lang vs. Ivan Drago because these two were indeed the most powerful and dangerous fighters Rocky faced. No mean to disrespect my favorite character Apollo, it's just that he wasn't intimidate like Clubber and Ivan was. The only thing I would give the edge for Lang, when comparing Lang to Drago is speed. Lang was much faster, and it terms of power he was insanely strong but couldn't deliver 2150 psi punch. So Drago was without a doubt the toughest challenge of Rocky. In terms of which Villain I love it's difficult for me. As I love both Lang and Drago equally. Two amazing characters in my eyes.
I would love to see those two fight
Clubber instantly wins with his prediction for the fight tho. Pain
@@dawnmaximumsportsnetwork That is true good point.
Drago would have beaten Lang. And Lang is nowhere near as good boxer as Apollo. It's doubtful that he was even stronger than Creed. Apollo was much faster and better in everything, except strength, which is arguable. Rocky lost the first battle to Apollo and won the second one only in the final round, while even though he lost the first fight against Lang, is was mostly because of Mieke and he was totally off form. He beat Lang quite easily in the rematch. And Apollo was already old while facing Rocky (even though he stated he was in his best form, which is impossible because his best form would have been 3-4 years before that, age is important)
@@nikoloznasaridze6328 No doubt Dragon would have beaten Lang. I just think that if we compare the two Lang is faster. So he was strong and fast but more predictable than he thought. I think we should analyze sometimes Apollo Creed vs. Clubber Lang because neither gave easy fight to Rocky ever. So when we compare Creed movie 3 vs. Lang there is no telling who would win. I just didn't understand why Apollo wasn't the one to face him, because it seems like he wanted to. We will never know who was better. Apollo is my love, but I am not so sure about a victory for him. That doesn't seem that easy to me.
Mr. T should have got an Oscar for his awesome performance. One of movies very best "bad guys". The best installment of the Rocky series.
Yea, Clubbers words to Apollo before the fight are some of the best lines written in cinema history. 😂
Clubber Lang was the shit! He’s deadly for the same reason rocky was. He comes from the slums and doesn’t have anything but To WIN WIN WIN
100%
Clubber was definitely Rocky's toughest opponent.
Drago had been juiced up and his gloves appeared to have been loaded too from the sound they made when Apollo tried to touch hands. The probability was high, as neither of his fights in Rocky IV were even sanctioned.
Clubber at least was natural in his conditioning, as we saw from his training, the guy was legitimately tough.
If you knew anything about boxing you would know that everybody is juiced up. Also, the sound of his gloves? Really your going to take a movie sound effect so seriously to interpret him of loading his gloves.
The fact of the matter is rocky beat clubber lang with all out training in a few rounds whereas he beat drago in I think the final round, sure he was juiced up but that doesn't change the fact that he is still rocky toughest opponent he may not be his most talented that title belongs to appolo creed.
@@lampad4549
Rocky even states in V that it was, "the best fight of my life" against Drago. This vid is dumb
@@lampad4549 so you’re saying all boxers juice up and anyone who knows anything about boxing would know this? Question: what have you been smoking, genius?😂
@@lampad4549 I'm not that naive, no. When I said juiced up, I meant to the consistent extent that Drago was portrayed as doing it. For the sake of canon, we were to assume that Drago and his camp were taking regular extra steps to cheat. The commentators also went out of their way to say the bouts were unsanctioned, therein reinforcing the point.
Drago's gloves sounded loaded before Creed's fight, the sound effects are presumably there for a reason.
The dude probably only lasted that long with Rocky because he was on all sorts of PEDs, not just roids, and he outboxed Rocky throughout most of the fight due to his superior reach.
Clubber was legitimately strong, he was just overzealous and not conditioned to go the distance, but his power wasn't supposed to be drug enhanced.
I also know what a roided up body looks like versus a natural one, it's quite obvious.
Muhammad Ali definitely did not possess a roided up physique, it was quite obviously a natural build, so it's churlish to suggest ALL boxers are juiced up. In fact most boxers from his era and prior pretty much all had natural physiques.
Since the 80's onwards? Definitely a case for the heavyweights, as we know that was the boom for roids and other PEDs across sport.
@@Longlostpuss don’t mind Iam PAd. He doesn’t really know what he’s talking about and just likes to troll comments to sound righteous, but without making any valid points.
The rocky films are a shining example of everything that was great about that era of cinema.
One thing that sticks in my mind about clubber is the absolutely brutal set of chin ups he’s shown performing during his training montage, mr t really looked and played the part perfect.
He's doing the pull ups on some strings, not even a bar.. LMAO! AAAGHH!! AAAAAAGHHH!! AAAUUUUUGGHHH!!!!
Clubber was Rocky's BEST opponent, for real. He was a master at getting inside of his opponents' heads...✊🏾✊🏾🥊🥊
I think a lot of people are judging Rocky's opponents while overlooking their motivations.
Apollo's weakness was pride. He had Rocky beaten all ends up, but had to prove to himself he could K.O. Rocky and it cost him.
Clubber was so angry at being held back and seeing Rocky as privileged that he went out to destroy him and didn't pace himself. Apollo admitted Rocky couldn't maintain his new style for more than 8 rounds. Had Clubber taken his time, he may well have been behind on the score cards in the 1st half of the fight, but Rocky would have slowed and become easier to hit. Clubber would have overturned the lead, or taken Rocky out.
Drago was manufactured, a puppet of the Soviet system. His heart wasn't really in it. He wasn't there because he wanted to be. So in the end Rocky's superior desire and motivation won through
Apollo lost the fight rather than Rocky winning it.
Rocky beat Clubber by controlling his emotions and having a game plan to exploit his opponents weaknesses-a true victory
Against Drago he didn't so much beat him as just out last him, Drago's resolve wasn't as strong as Rocky's
So looking at it that way-
As Clubber and Rocky's natural styles were so alike, (a more controlled) Clubber would also have beaten Drago.
Apollo would have out manoeuvred Clubber just as he did Rocky.
Apollo on the other hand would have been in big trouble against Drago as he didn't have the speed and reach advantage he had over them. He couldn't control the this fight at long range, and didn't have the toughness to take a beating like Rocky or Clubber
Apollo beats Rocky & Clubber
Rocky beats Drago
Clubber beats Rocky and Drago
Drago beats Apollo
they all beat Tommy Gunn, including Mason Dixon
STYLES MAKE FIGHTS
I fuck wit u....
Good analysis. 👍
This was a great post! I always feel If Apollo just had chilled out and boxed his regular style he would have won. He had to try and knock him out. I still love how in the Canon Rocky Universe... Apollo is the best boxer that ever lived. 😃
It's very true about Drago. During his fight he was just being used as propaganda for his country.
Without that personal desire he didn't have enough resolve to win.
Sorry but No!
Clubber does NOT beat Drago - Clubber doesn't even go the distance with Drago!
-
You're forgetting that a huge part of Clubber's success was his ability to get to his opponents with his sledging - That doesn't work on Drago!
Drago also has no fear of Clubber's punching power.
And Drago's training regime is immense, along with the fact that the Soviets were clearly druggin' him up with steroids!
Rocky's motivation to take Drago down after Apollo's death is the ONLY reason Rocky wins that fight! - Clubber doesn't have that motivation because Clubber has no friends or family!
-
Lastly....Clubber doesn't have Rocky's ability to take punch after punch - Clubber got lucky in the first fight with Rocky in that Rocky hadn't trained properly, had thought himself invincible until Micky tells him the truth AND had let Clubber get to him!
Rocky destroys Clubber in the Rematch - Drago would destroy him first time out after Clubber realises his punches are doing nothing to Drago!
Dude how could you not mention one of Rocky's toughest opponent's, Spider Rico...
😂😂
You right
He’s a bum!!! 😂
Mickey
Yea rocky got a lucky win with Rico
U shoulda seen him
That damn head bud
Rocky 2 is my favorite one. Apollo didn't play with Rocky the 2nd time around like he did the 1st fight. When they knocked each other down in the final round and Rocky stood up victorious and New Heavyweight champion brings tears to my eyes every time.
Clubber Lang was the ultimate villain, bravo Mr.T, played the role well. He crossed the line when he invited Adrian to his apartment
Rocky 3 is by far my favorite rocky movie
One aspect of Clubber's approach to get to Rocky by insulting Adrian was taken from the Leonard-Duran fight, where Duran insulted Leonard's wife while implying Leonard wasn't a real man.
Clubber was to Rocky as Bane was to Batman in Dark Knight Rises. Both heroes experienced success in their own ways and hadn't been pushed physically or emotionally that hard before. Both became weak in a way and defeated so badly that they weren't simply humbled but broken in spirit. To me both experienced their heroes journey to rise up and overcome what was believed impossible. That motivates people and inspires others.
I cannot believe what I'm reading. I have been making this EXACT same comparison since 2012!
"I live alone. I train alone. I'll win the title alone!"
- Clubber "Mr.T" Lang -
Finally someone gives the character of Clubber Lang the shine he deserves. My opinion always was he was his most dangerous opponent due to the fact he forced Rocky to change styles in order to defeat. Not to mention Mr. T did a helluva job selling the character. Good video.
Thank you so much!
I like how you talk about them like you would any other boxer like they are real people.
Tbh Clubber was just a more disrepectful mean version of Rocky he wasn't a villain. He was on a mission.
Great video, Clubber is such an iconic villain! I'd love to hear your thoughts on Mason Dixon at some point, while he certainly wasn't Rocky's strongest foe I feel like people tend to downplay his capabilities due to the circumstances of his match with Rocky.
Thank you! Plan to make a video on him in the future as well
@@StryfetheWarrior and you could also make a video on Ivan Drago or his son Viktor Drago or both.
Mm! He beat the breaks off rocky.
what made Clubber Lang a villain?
@@matthewsantos8525 he spent most of the movie antagonizing Rocky, he insulted his wife Adrian, he indirectly caused the death of Rocky's mentor/father-figure Micky, he beat Rocky during their first fight, he beaten and briefly broke Rocky shaking his confidence, and he tried to break Rocky's spirit again but failed cause he got arrogant and overconfident leading to his lost.
I think Clubber was indeed Rocky’s most dangerous opponent, more so than Drago. Every opponent in the series symbolized a different challenge in Rocky’s life and Clubber was the disruption to the complacency in his career at that point. They’re both from the streets and by that point, Rocky had gained immense wealth and fame by defending his title from fixed, subpar fighters chosen by Mickey while Clubber was fueled by sheer hunger and contempt for Rocky’s position, like a hungry pit bull that was determined to tear the title from Rocky with brute force and furious vengeance.
Who do you think would win between Clubber and Drago?
@@realamericannegro977 Clubber would drop Drago like a bad habit! The dude was pure testosterone with street attitude. You know T was also a professional bodyguard in real life before he got into movies, so he was a real tough guy.
@@nickchang5293 I used to think Drago was tougher due to the steroids and reasons he mentioned in the video but yeah Clubber would beat him pretty bad, especially if Rocky was able to do that
@@realamericannegro977 I also dig Clubber’s attitude and the way he talks smack at everyone, but he can certainly back It up. That scene when he says to Apollo “don’t need no has beens hanging in my corner, and you better wipe off that stupid look before I knock it off!”, then Apollo says to Rocky “do us all a favor and drop this chump!”. That was all dope!
@@nickchang5293 Yeah he is fun. Should have had more parts in Rocky
I saw someone make the great suggestion that Clubber Lang should have been the one running the desert training camp in Creed 2.
Clubber Lang is definitely my favorite antagonist, and I rooted for him in the first fight.
Following the George foreman route, I would have Had clubber lang finding good and being a preacher. With adonis seeking him after finding his daughter deaf and his crisis of confidence
That would've been sick
I always thought they should have brought him back as a bad guy turned good guy.... it would have fit with real life at the time...... with Mr. T being such a lovable person in real life.
I always liked the wind noises Clubber’s swings made….
I’ve always liked to think that the Rocky series is Sly’s imagination of what would happen if Rocky Marciano was around during the Golden Age of Boxing. Rock’s style (or lack thereof) is definitely influenced by Marciano’s, they have the same name, and Mickey is clearly inspired from Marciano’s coach Charley Goldman. I see Rocky 1 and 2 as Sly’s vision of what bouts between Marciano and Ali would’ve been like (the second fight between Balboa and Creed is even called “Superfight 2”, probably an homage to the real life computer superfight between Marciano and Ali). This is then extended to Clubber Lang representing Marciano v Foreman, Tommy Gunn representing Tommy Morrison, and Mason Dixon probably being Mayweather. I admittedly don’t know who Drago would represent in this analogy though.
You're spot on about Dixon and Mayweather. I think there was also some influence of Tyson in Rocky V (Mickey's speech to Rocky being nearly word-for-word for the same speech that D'Amato gave Tyson, Tommy Gunn also not taking it on easy on sparring partners like Tyson). As far as Drago I thought at some point someone said Max Schleming, but I'm not entirely sure on that.
@@StryfetheWarrior I always assumed Gunn was based on Tyson by how they were both the youngest heavyweight champion
It think drago supposed to be thomas hearns because i know the fight between rocky vs drago is based on hagler vs hearns
Drago=Communism
@@StryfetheWarrior Max Schleming was German. So German=Fascism.
It makes me wonder if Clubber Lang could have beaten Ivan Drago, if he'd still been on fire and ready to step in the ring with him before Creed.
no he would not be able to beat drago -
they both rely on power rather than speed and technique and drago was even stronger than clubber and was trained by the entire team of coaches and scientists
and there was also that "little" fact that drago was on steroids which further enhanced his already peak human level of strenght .
While I do think that saying Foreman had "no technique" is disrespectful (his style and brain for boxing are extremely underrated on a technical level), I did enjoy this video on one of my favorite movie villains. Always loved Lang's brash trash talk.
Agreed! Kind of surprised to hear that since Foreman's use of handfighting was mentioned earlier in the video.
Even early Foreman was very technical, especially how he used his long guard. The version of Foreman that fought Holyfield and Moorer was just next level in terms of fight IQ.
Dolph lundgren's Ivan Drago is a great antagonist but is still second too clubber Lang. This role was made for Mr. T. And he just crushed it. He is absolutely brilliant in this role of a lifetime. And the cool thing is he's really opposite of his character. He's one of the nicest guys you would ever want to meet. Huge heart, a believer in the faith. And one who gives an honest heart at charity. Good on you Mr t. You're in number one in my book
Clubber Lang was scary to me as a kid growing up watching Rocky. Boy, he was so savage and fast. But I'm so glad Mr. T is such a nice guy in real life. That always drew me to him.
I thought Clubber was a lukewarm villain after the wonderful opponent that is Apollo Creed, but this video has given me a new appreciation for him and Rocky III!
Thanks so much!
Rocky had to learn the motivation to stand up to his opponents. He had to become Clubber. Rocky took this same mentally to fighting Ivan. It explains why he decided to go to Russia to train. In the grand scheme, I think, Rocky needed to understand his opponent in order to exploit them. It's the classic "know thy enemy."
Creed: "There is no tomorrow!"
Clubber Lang is my favorite antagonist in the entire Rocky franchise, dude was a straight up WRECKIN’ MACHINE with how much he pummeled Rocky during their first match. I legitimately got worried for Rocky when his face just started getting completely battered like mash tomato with the amount of violent strike Clubber slammed Poor Rocky with
I think it'd be great if Sly did a Netflix backstory series on Clubber Lang's life. With the right writers it could be awesome!
Agreed
@@StryfetheWarriorlike cobra kia,, have all different story's,, like micky in his fighting prime etc.
The question i have always had was, as the then-champ, clubber would have placed a rematch clause in the fight contract in the event he lost. Plus, the public and promoters would have pushed for a third fight since they split the first two. Clubber would have adjusted his training and strategy, and it may have been lights out for rocky the third time around.
@ Norm Lee
Rocky was the Champ and after he lost the Titel he did take the rematch clause. After Rocky winn the rematch there is no more rematch clause. Its like after Joshua losing his titels against Ruiz, he did take the rematch clause. And after he winning the rematch there was no more a rematch clause. Joshua could give Ruiz a 3rt fight but it was not mandatory. The sam situation now in the 2nt fight between Usyk and Joshua
@@Don2438 it depends on who is the challenger and who is the champ. The champ would typically insert an optional rematch clause in the event he loses. So, if clubber was the champ, he would have inserted the option. Rocky would not have put in the rematch clause when he had the title because he intended to retire. He only got the rematch because clubber gave it to him because he saw him as no threat, not because of anything in the contract.
So glad you made this video. Clubber was my favorite, and Mr. T was phenomenal.
Thank you so much!
Clubber Lang had the scariest look even before Mike Tyson came around...When I was a kid and saw Rocker 3 I literally was frightened of that man!!
I think Drago’s stone cold emotionless killer machine type of look he gave Rocky was scarier than an angry Clubber look.
@@J0nath0n. Well that's your opinion,I go for Clubber too!
@@interplanetaryspecies9488 I couldn’t disagree more but I respect your opinion
never will forget as a kid when I saw Rocky 3 coming out...all my friends and I could talk about was "Rocky is gonna fight Mr. T!!!!!" and it was as epic as we thought it would be.
Man I wish Clubber would have come back to the films and series. Such a great character.
Clubber Lang changed his name to B.A. Barracus and joined the A-Team...
I want to see Clubber come back during the Creed Franchise as a tv spokesman. Rocky would watching tv late nite and there’s Clubber selling his club sandwich maker. Which would be called the “Clubber”.
Stallone isn't going to be in Creed 3
I think Clubber was Rocky's second toughest opponent in the series, with Apollo being his toughest. Rocky was a hungry fighter with nothing to lose and everything to gain when he fought Apollo, and that made him dangerous. I also believe that Clubber wouldn't have stood a chance against Apollo. Of all Rocky's opponents, though, Clubber is my favorite because of the believability of his character, I credit Mr. T for that.
I look at Clubber's Hunger as Rocky facing himself, Rocky's fears, etc ..Rock just did not have the anger, but Rocky is battling Rocky in a way, a good life lesson for him
@@jasonlutan8495 I agree with you 100%!
@@andyjackson304 no drago is more than both of them. Drago gave rocky brain damage- apollo and clubber didn't do shit and rocky recovers after their fight within days. A worse rocky clapped clubber in 3 rounds, and prime rocky barely beat drago.
Can we possibly get a video about why/how Apollo went from rival to friend and his impact on Rocky himself?
I do plan on making an Apollo video after Creed III comes out
As a kid Rocky 4 was my favorite but as a adult Rocky 3 became my favorite cause it has a deeper story
Agreed
Clubber was more dangerous in relation to Rocky's style, but I think he would have lost too against drago
How was he most dangerous? Drago had a vast larger array of technique, was much larger than Lang (aka huge reach advantage) and had more power than Lang.
Na! He'd beat the fuck out of Drvko
@@blankname6629 bro stop. Russians always been scared of black boxes. I mean he killed a man who wasn't fighting in a real match
@@blankname6629 don’t argue with him, it’s a waste of time. You can’t win against a moron
@@Rubrick23. The Klitschko brothers lay waste to a ton of black boxers. They were really shaking in their boots the whole time they were champions, I'm sure. 🙄
I don't think Clubber Lang could have beat Apollo Creed. I also think if Apollo was in his prime he would have defeated Drago but being 5 years retired, underestimating his opponent, not training enough and being well past his prime will lose anyone most fights. Great video by the way also I love the rocky Legends video game and I still play it to this day on my 360, thank God for backwards compatibility.
I don’t hate Balboa but I pity the fool!
Rocky 3 is my favorite Rocky because of Clubber Lang.
Clubber lang vs drago would’ve been an amazing fight in rocky lore.
Man Clubber is and always will be my favorite.
Clubber was pretty awesome and I personally think he's the best villain in the Rocky movies and he's a big part of making part 3 my favorite..by the way I really dig this video and I will definitely check out more..🤘
Thank you!
I am so glad you brought up Rocky Legends. I adored that game. It gave much more of a backstory to more prominent fighters and former fighters. Even contenders that had just been mentioned like Buddy Shaw. Clubber's story was always my favourite of the game though. Clubber is Rocky's best in ring villain imo. Apollo only set himself up as the bad guy out of desperation to get Rocky back in the ring. Whatever you think of Creed 2, it showed once and for all that Drago was not a villain. He was the poster boy of more villainous characters. He even acts out showing he is not a puppet, he fights for him. I wish they had used the alternate fight for Tommy. That shows Tommy is just a young guy who fell victim to "The dirty parts of the business" Mason was a great fighter who had no real competition to prove it. Clubber is the only true out and out villain Rocky faced to me. He forced Rocky to not only find his hunger again but also, we get to see Rocky as a true Boxer. 3 is the first time we really see bruiser vs bruiser in the first fight of the movie. Rocky adopts the style of Apollo to counter this. As the fight gets into the second round though Rocky seems to transition to something between how he has always fought and the new style Apollo has taught him. Lang is not only so dangerous that the great Apollo Creed says "You thought I was tough? This chump will kill you"! He represents the loss of Micky. Rockty finding out that his 10 title defences were against good fighters but it would have had to be a really off day for Rocky to lose to them and so he feels like a liar. All of that builds up and we see a cocky and dangerous side of Rocky manifest from it. It always gives me goosebumps. "You ain't so bad" Rocky had found the hunger he had lost and had changed his whole style. It's amazing that the first 2 movies gives us 15 whole rounds but Sly was able to make it feel like we got just as much in 3 rounds. As he once said you can't make the fans feel shortchanged.
I really wish Sly had went with the idea of bringing Clubber back in Rocky Balboa as an announcer and had made it happen. Clubber is iconic no doubt but deserves more credit for other things that happened. Great video 👌
Thank you! I feel like the Rocky games could've been better but considering there were not much games for the franchise, they were great.
I have a head canon that Clubber's defeat made Clubber a better person, probably learned to respect Rocky more as a fighter.
Rocky 3 was my favourite of the entire franchise. It showed how mental toughness is a large part of successful fighting as well as showing that a person must be willing to adapt in order to win consistently over different opponents. Clubbed Lang was also an incredibly scary person in and out of the ring.
I hope that Mr. T. is somehow a part of any future Rocky movie.
Here's hoping
So, with all this talk about Rocky III, I just had to watch it tonight! Lol
I noticed a little detail in the movie. When Rocky and Adrian are going to his statue ceremony, a marching band is playing. At the very beginning of it, a guy is playing his drum and they show the top of his marching drum. It’s signed by Mr. T in the middle of the drum head.
I agree with the idea that if they ever bring Clubber back as a character in the Creed films I think they should make him a born again Christian who's really nice to everyone.
A bit how George Foreman was a big nasty brute in his youth and then changed into a big teddy bear after he became religious.
It's just whether there's a valid reason to bring Clubber back for a Creed film.
And yes as an atheist content creator people might be surprised I'd say that I'd like to see Clubber as a born again Christian but I think that would be a good story arc for him.
I agree, it would make sense to me
That would be perfect. I'm an atheist too but that would fit the character.
Clubber becoming a devout christian, cleaning up his image, becoming an 80s tv star and role model for kids.
That would be perfect and very realistic because Clubber Lang IS Mr.T
No!
Tony Burton, who played Creed's manager in Rocky, said Mr T legit didn't know how to box in a Rocky documentary.
Great analysis. In many ways "Clubber Lang" was a too often overlooked character from the Rocky series.
Thank you!
If I'm not mistaken, in the original ending of Rocky 5 (where Rocky dies at the end), Rocky has a lot more flashbacks of Clubber instead of just Drago, because Clubber did a lot more psychological damage to Rocky, making him feel fear and doubt in himself.
Well psychological damage doesn't really compare to the brain damage Rocky suffered when Drago essentially ended his career.
Yep. I mentioned that in the video as well
Rocky Balboa should have gave Clubber Lang a rematch a third and final fight for all the marbles.
I think Clubber lang is the most memorable character in Rocky
My favorite villain in the Rocky series is, has been and remains Ivan Drago for over 35 years and counting. As for favorite antagonist and character overall (other than the obvious, Balboa himself).... That would go to Ivan's son, Viktor Drago.
Is Clubber Lang dangerous? Yes. I always saw Clubber as an abrasive loudmouth, yelling all the time. A more sadistic and almost 'evil' version of Apollo Creed. Both could dominate in the ring, but Clubber wasn't a showman . His objective was simply to dominate in the ring and if he hurt you in the process, he didn't care. Accidental maybe, also, but he did trigger Mickey's fatal heart attack.
The Drago-Balboa match proved to me that when he puts his mind to it, Ivan can move and defend well. He's also great at controlling distance with jabs, hooks and brutal combination punching. Lang didn't have the stamina to last three rounds with a Creed trained Balboa.
Drago was a Soviet army captain. Steroid issues aside, soldiers have to pass tests and complete physical training anyone would consider strenuous to the point of extraordinary. So, not only does Drago have power, he would have to have (and does have) boxing technique and stamina that would give him the edge against Lang. Lang is a brutal puncher, but he's a hook-happy head-hunter, and has neither stamina or technique.
Yeah Drago definitely beats Clubber in the technique, stamina, and defense department (unless Clubber shook him like Rocky shook Drago by cutting him)
But he's not!
Rocky IV directors cut really put the film back in place with the others by taking out alot of the wacky stuff like the robot.
I've said for a very long time that Clubber was the fictional Mike Tyson before Mike came around. Love this video, and loved Rocky III as Mr T was my hero in the 80's.
Thank you!
I think that he continued boxing after losing to Rocky but his aura of intimidation was gone or faded quickly when opponents realized that he had bad stamina and endurance was beatable because he couldn't go the distance and relied too much on punching power, so other opponents would know he was not as tough as he looked and be able to beat him or give him a tough fight.
And i like how Clubber Lang might have become a born again Christian and been humbled because of his loss, he basically learned humility from Rocky beating him and slowly became a nicer person, that was always mentioned in Rocky source material too that he might have grown up and become a better man losing his temper and rage, i think that Clubber came up poor and had to work very hard for all of his success and thought that Rocky had it handed to him by Apollo and he was angry and resentful and didn't think of him as being a tough guy like himself, watching Rocky fight handpicked opponents, he looked mad and vowed to win the title.
Clubber is actually a complex character, a tough fighter from the streets that worked hard to win and was offended by sell outs like Apollo and guys like Rocky who didn't earn the title but had the chance handed to them when Clubber had to fight his way to the top, so he's just being angry at paper champions and jokes, but later on respects Rocky for beating him and becomes humble because Rocky earned his respect, just a misunderstood character.
Bob Sapp on MMA and Kickboxing. It was a scary force up until people saw through it, and then basically became a joke.
If Clubber had been in Rocky Balboa, Clubber would've been more respectful of Rocky when talking about his fights with Rocky.
T was the perfect character for Clubber Lang, & B.A. Barakus.
Much to people's surprise, T is a born again Christian, has completely devoted his entire life to raising $$ for disadvantaged kids sports & mentorship programs, & is actually an incredibly charismatic individual.
T was perfect for the 80s & 90s!
Clubber had a Big Mouth,But He really Hit Hard. 🥊
Anyone would be proud after making a drastic change of style in fighting
I’m actually rewatching all the Rocky movies since watching creed 3 twice and creed 2 again as well. I’m on Rocky 3 rn and yes his training for Langwas iconic he showed the adaptation of Soul Brother !
When i watched rocky 3, bro i couldnt sleep anymore clubber langs intimidation power and trash talk was amazing
Being that Drago was on steroids and Clubber Lang was all natural... I'm taking Clubber Lang for a convincing win.
💯
I have an analogy that can be useful, Rocky was the X factor. Meaning he could potentially have the highest stats but needed to have emotional connection. Creed, was pure determination but was cocky by it. Mr T, was like Creed, but put more into aggression, which Rocky was not used to, that and Rocky needed a loss to power up
Would love to see Clubber Lang come back in some sort of capacity in the new Creed sequel's! I bet Mike Tyson even watched a little Clubber Lang back in the day 💯💯💯
Clubber is a manifestation of pure force of will. He is absolute hunger and drive.
I don't remember the whole backstory of Clubber Lang from the movie, but when you described his background and style, the real-life boxer who seems to be the biggest parallel is Dwight Braxton. He was a prisoner in a state prison somewhere. I vaguely remember the prison system being New Jersey, but I could be wrong. He started as a prison fighter in the prison league. When he turned professional, they wouldn't let him out of prison to fight, and professional boxers had to agree to matches inside the prison gymnasium. Like Clubber Lang, he was a powerful puncher who didn't fight with that much finesse that I remember.
When he finished his sentence, he was able to become a full-time professional boxer. He worked his way up the ranks. I'm fairly certain that he was a light heavyweight. Again, he mostly won by knockout because of his tremendous power. Eventually, he won the light heavyweight title.
When he won the title, he changed his name to Dwight Muhammed Quawi (or some spelling close to that). He said after winning that this was this was his new name and that as long as Allah was god, he would be the light heavyweight champion. His first or one of his first title defenses was against Michael Spinks, and he was knocked out. In many ways, Michael Spinks brought the same style that Rocky Balboa used to beat Clubber Lang.
I don't remember what happened to Dwight Muhammed Quawi. I think he fought a few more fights. I don't remember whether he regained the title. At that time, boxers didn't continue that far into their thirties, and he was late starting as a professional because of his time in jail. I don't think he was ever the jerk that Clubber Lang portrayed in the movies. I'd like to think that he got help with investing his money and lived a good life after boxing, but maybe he made bad decisions like the ones that landed him in jail in the first place. If that happened, he might have come to a bad end.
Apollo might be Rocky's most important fight.
Drago might be Rocky's most famous fight.
But Clubber is Rocky's most prooving fight.
Solid statement