Living the 'Rocky' legend

Sylvester Stallone has done it again. Well, at least he has successfully made that impression on me. The script writer of the award-winning movie 'Rocky' has recently produced a reality TV series, titled 'The Contender', aiming to re-capture the passion of boxing in the hearts of people all around the world. Showing on the AXN channel of StarHub SCV, this show really proves to bring the story of 'Rocky' into real-life.

I still remember reading several articles re-counting the time when Sylvester Stallone pen-down his personal movie script for the movie 'Rocky' & being turned down by the Hollywood movie-makers. Sly wrote it out of deep conviction for the real-life boxer 'Rocky Marciano'. Similar to the movie script, Sly hoped to reflect the life of the 'Rocky Marciano' through the movie character 'Rocky Balboa'. As an underdog, 'Rocky' was given a chance & a shot at the heavyweight title of the world. In the movie, the opposing boxer was 'Apollo Creed'. Thinking back to the movie 'Rocky', my heart goes out to all the underdogs in all kinds of sports all around the world, each hoping for a chance to prove his/her worth in their area of sports.

And this is what Sly decided to do in filming 'The Contender'. The contenders are made up of 16 professional middleweight boxers from the East & West side of the US. Each coming from his own homeland to compete for the chance to become 'The Contender', who would finally get a chance to pit himself against the world's middleweight champion! Indeed a life-time opportunity not to be missed! Beyond simple words of description, Sly has really made the story of 'Rocky' come true. Not just in the movies that took the world by storm in the 1970s... he carried it further by making reality out of his script!

Think about it, how many movie-makers actually make reality out of their movie storyline? I'm referring to healthy & beneficial reality, of course... not those movies that focus viewers attention on terrorists or natural catastropes. By writing & filming 'The Contender', Sly managed to give a hope & an opportunity to all the sporting-hopefuls out there! Furthermore, through this series, he has once again managed to grip the hearts of many people out there, re-kindling the old passion for boxing in the arena.

Do not be mistaken, this show is not just for boxing fans alone, but even families out there. The life of these 16 contenders are also filmed in this show, giving viewers a chance to have a look at the lives of real-life professional career boxers. This is not a movie... its reality. We watch wives sit by the bed-side, watching their husbands during the night before their big fight, hearing the encouraging words that they say & even the emotions of the boxers themselves, as they re-count their passion & reason for going for 'The Contender'. Some do it to boost their boxing career ranking, some do it as a challenge to themselves, some do it solely to get the prize money of $1 million dollars because their family is poor.

Indeed, a portray of the real-life of boxers... right from the time when their family members shout & spur them on during the 1 minute interval fight break, till the end, when one fighter loses the fight. Wives tear, babies cry, fathers cheer, brothers hug... truly the spirit of boxing. Sly couldn't be any more proud of himself, for he has made & changed history once again.