In terms of Rocky Balboa's opponents, it's typically agreed that the least antagonistic
of them all is Apollo Creed, who would go on to be one of Rocky's close friends.
However, there is one opponent Rocky has faced that would also fit in this category, or perhaps
that is overlooked as the least antagonistic of them all – Mason Dixon.
While I previously stated in my Tommy Gunn video that Tommy at least had more depth,
after giving Rocky Balboa a fresh re-watch, maybe there is more to Mason's character than
we thought.
Does Mason share some parallels with both Apollo Creed and Tommy Gunn?
Is his character meaningful, or is he just the guy that's in Rocky's way to fight what's
in the “basement?”
This is Why Mason Dixon is Underrated.
Let's talk about his struggles, his fight with Rocky, comparisons, and more.
Let's recap what we know about Mason Dixon so far.
Feel free to skip ahead to avoid the recap, but be warned – you may miss some important
details later on in the video.
Not much is known about Mason's early life, though his trainer Martin comments that Dixon
had started attending the gym as young as 10 years old.
It's not clear exactly when he turned pro but by the time 2006 rolls around, he is the
undefeated heavyweight champion, with 33 wins, 30 of them being by knockout.
However, the reception of Mason as champion isn't well received, due to a lack of challenging
contenders and the decline of boxing.
After confiding in his former trainer Martin how he feels, he returns to his home to see
ESPN simulating a dream match between himself and Rocky Balboa.
The computer predicts that Balboa would knock out Dixon, and Dixon's team denounces the
simulation to try to save face for Mason.
Dixon is then approached by Lou Dibella and his manager L.C. to try to take an exhibition
fight with Balboa to take advantage of the hype of the computer simulation.
He at first refuses until his team reminds him about his reputation as champion, the
last two Pay-Per-Views being rejected, and the lack of worthwhile contenders.
Dixon seemingly refuses and walks out to talk to Martin, but agrees to the fight off-screen
as L.C. and Lou convince Rocky to take the fight.
At the press conference, Dixon jokes around until the credibility of him as champion is
called into question, to which he fires back that if he “gets pissed, this guy will get
hurt.”
Mason resumes training under Martin at the old gym, and after the weigh-in, talks to
Rocky personally about the fight, warning if Rocky tries to hurt him, he will end the
fight quickly.
Mason dominates the first round, though mentions Rocky has “bricks in his gloves” and Martin
warns him to give his opponent respect, as Rocky came to fight.
In the second round, Mason drops Balboa twice but breaks his left hand on Rocky's ribs,
and soon gets knocked down by Rocky.
Eventually, during the last round, Mason drops Balboa one more time but the two finish the
fight strong, trading punches until the end of the round.
Dixon wins the match by split decision, earning respect not only from Rocky but from the fans
as well.
To understand Mason as a character, we need to talk about his struggle.
As I mentioned before, Mason doesn't have the best reception as champion because of
the lack of the competition in the heavyweight division.
During the opening scene, we see his 33rd straight victory, with the commentators noting
“another quick knock out.”
Even leading up to the final punch, we can hear audible boos and when the fight is over,
the fans start to pelt him with ice.
Dixon is blamed not only for the “decline of the heavyweight division but also the entire
sport.”
Although on the surface he seems unfazed or is usually joking around, we see moments where
it starts to bother him, notably when he watches the fight in his car and decides to visit
his old trainer Martin.
His trainer even mentions that Dixon has lost his pride and self-respect, stating that he
needs to be tested.
Although Dixon protests that there is no worthy challenger, Martin replies that there's “always
someone out there” who can “baptize” him “under fire.”
In this conversation, we can assume that perhaps Dixon feels he's faced everybody who could
give him a challenge and that he's the absolute best.
Whether that was the money or fame that changed his way of thinking (with Martin even mentioning
he was fired by Dixon's team), perhaps Mason has gotten complacent and “got by” as
champion.
We even hear during the press conference that he protests “What else do I have to do?”
similar words from another champion that faced this same problem – Tommy Gunn.
During the film's main fight, we finally see Mason tested with a real contender.
Despite Rocky's age and lack of speed, Mason is knocked down presumably for the first time
in his career after breaking his hand on Rocky's rib, and Rocky's signature strategy of attacking
the body.
This is a stark contrast to the beginning of the film, where the commentators stated
in his 33rd fight that Dixon needed opponents that could “fight back.”
Throughout the fight, Mason trades punches with Balboa.
Even before the 10th round, we see Dixon exhausted for the first time in his career.
Before the bell rings, Martin remarks that Dixon finally has his pride and self-respect,
with Dixon even complimenting Rocky by calling him a “crazy old man.”
Despite knocking Rocky down again, Rocky ends the fight trading punches with Dixon, calling
him a “great champion.”
This fight ends up testing Mason so much that the match results in a split decision, as
Rocky and Mason would trade off winning rounds, though Dixon would ultimately win the fight.
Finally facing adversity, Dixon earns respect from Rocky, and the crowd, and respects himself.
Despite his limited appearance and what details we know about his character, Mason shares
some parallels with some previously seen characters in the Rocky franchise.
Like some of his predecessors, Mason Dixon is a world champion, alongside Apollo Creed,
Rocky Balboa, Clubber Lang, and Tommy Gunn.
Mason has an undefeated streak of 33 fights, similar to Apollo Creed who was undefeated
for 47 fights (at least, according to the canon of the Rocky games).
Whether Apollo's streak is canon or not is up for debate, but I think it's plausible
for him to have at least a very similar streak before fighting Balboa.
Although it's never explicitly stated, I would also believe that similar to Apollo, Mason
is knocked down for the first time in his career thanks to Rocky.
Rocky manages to also go the distance with Dixon (though in 10 rounds), the first time
any of Dixon's opponents were able to do so.
Another parallel that Mason shares with Apollo is that he gives Rocky a chance to fight in
the limelight, though this time not for a title.
Dixon even fights very similarly to Apollo, relying on his speed and reach to keep opponents
away, while constantly popping a jab.
Dixon's credibility as champion is called into question due to the quality of opponents
he faced, a similar struggle not only faced by Tommy Gunn who was called a “paper champion,”
but perhaps also Union Cane, who never won the title from Balboa.
This happens during the press conference, where similar to Apollo in Rocky II, gets
mad at the press for not taking the fight seriously or himself as a champion.
Another notable parallel is that similar to both Adonis Creed and Tommy Gunn, Mason is
perhaps caught in the shadow of larger-than-life legends of yesterday, specifically that of
Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed.
Like Rocky and Apollo, Dixon had Martin not only as a coach and trainer but as a father
figure similar to Mickey or Duke.
In another parallel to Tommy Gunn, Dixon didn't have managers who had his best interest – George
Washington Duke took advantage and tempted Tommy with fame and fortune.
Both Tommy and Mason were portrayed by real-life boxers, Tommy Morrison and Antonio Tarver,
respectively.
Lastly, Dixon ends up defeating Rocky in a split decision like Apollo did, ending the
match as champion (though the difference here is that the match was an exhibition).
Let's briefly talk a bit about Mason Dixon's fighting style.
Mason fights using the Orthodox stance.
As I briefly mentioned earlier, Dixon is similar to Apollo as they are both quick and pop out
the jab to keep their opponent at bay.
Dixon's height and range, like Apollo, give him a clear advantage as he can effortlessly
move in and out of the way.
Mason then goes in for combinations or a vicious right hook, as we see at the beginning of
the film and the fight with Rocky which knocks him down twice.
He's not reliant on this right hook, however, as his straight left manages to make Rocky
stumble and also knock him down on one occasion.
Dixon can trade punches, though soon underestimates the strength of Balboa.
Mason, however, is not immortal.
When knocked down in the 2nd round, it's noted that he's “never taken punishment like this
in his career,” proving that he was never really tested in his prior fights.
Despite his top conditioning, Mason is still no match for Rocky's signature attacking-the-body
strategy, as Mason is in pain every time Rocky goes to the body.
Similarly to my Tommy Gunn video, we have to also talk about Antonio Tarver, “The
Magic Man” and the real-life boxer who portrayed Dixon.
At the time of production, Tarver was the light heavyweight champion.
During his amateur career, he was the United States Amateur Light Heavyweight Champion
in 1993 and 1995, the 1994 National Golden Gloves Light Heavyweight Champion, and won
the Light Heavyweight Bronze Medal for the United States at the 1996 Olympics.
Tarver is also the only boxer in history to win gold at the PanAm Games, World Championships,
and U.S. Nationals all in the same year – 1995.
Antonio's record is 31 wins, 6 losses, and 1 draw, with notable wins over Reggie Johnson,
Roy Jones Jr., and Clinton Woods.
With all of this into account, who was Mason Dixon based on?
Just like with previous films in the franchise, Rocky Balboa has some biographical material
based on Sylvester Stallone's life.
On the DVD commentary for Rocky Balboa, Stallone explains that “Mason Dixon is based on himself,
a man who has made some bad decisions after taking advice from people who really didn't
have his best interest.”
It should also be noted that the fight between Dixon and Balboa is based on the fight between
George Foreman and Michael Moorer that also took place in Vegas in 1994.
This took place during Foreman's second comeback of his boxing career, where he challenged
the much younger champion who was 26 at the time, while Foreman was 45 (who ironically
had not fought since being defeated by Tommy Morrison).
Foreman was an underdog in this fight and was outboxed by Moorer for the first 9 rounds.
However, in the 10th round, Foreman made a comeback and floored Moorer with a right,
and became champion after Moorer couldn't reach the 10 count.
As the film also makes mention of it, the simulation between Mason Dixon and Rocky Balboa
is based on the Super Fight, a computer simulation that pits Muhammad Ali vs Rocky Marciano,
where the computer determined Marciano would win the fight in the 13th round (though European
audiences at the time were shown a cut where Ali won the fight).
The film also mimics the decline of the heavyweight division at that time, where it instead has
Mason Dixon as the champion during this era.
There are also speculations that Dixon being “spoon-fed” his opponents and having an
undefeated record was based on Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
What happened to Mason Dixon after the events of Rocky Balboa?
While Mason is never mentioned again by name in future films, I would like to propose a
theory that hints at Mason's involvement in the Creed franchise.
When Rocky trains Adonis for his match with Leo Sporino, he takes Adonis to the Front
Street Gym instead of Mighty Mick's so the two opponents do not train in the same place.
Rocky introduces his friends, one of them being Jacob “Stitch” Duran, the cutman
who later in the film helps Adonis respond to the referee's question of how many fingers
he's holding up by tapping his fingers on the back of Donnie's neck.
Prior to this film, Stitch was also seen as the cutman for Mason Dixon in his fight against
Rocky Balboa.
While Duran is a cutman in real life, given the fact that Mason and Rocky have mutual
respect at the end of their fight, it wouldn't be that unlikely that Rocky would call Dixon
for a favor, who is now retired, and ask for some help gathering a crew together for his
student, Adonis Creed.
Yes, Rocky states that Duran is the “best cutman in Philly,” though I wonder if at
some point after Dixon retired, Duran moved and became a cutman for other fighters now
that Dixon no longer fights.
There are theories that Dixon may have crossed paths with Danny Wheeler, or perhaps even
Ricky Conlan, but we have no in-universe proof of that unless a future Creed film establishes
what happened to Mason.
Here are my final thoughts on Mason Dixon.
Dixon is certainly the least vile out of the Rocky opponents, and had a different struggle
than some of his predecessors – he had to prove that he wasn't a fluke and that he could
overcome a tough opponent.
I believe he's often overlooked as Rocky Balboa focuses more on the dynamics of Rocky's life
– coping with the loss of Adrian, the relationship with his son, and dealing with the “beast
in the basement.”
Perhaps if there were more scenes revolving around Dixon, we would be able to see more
of his motivations as a character.
I believe this may have been partly due to Tarver holding up the filming of the match
of Balboa vs Dixon, demanding a higher salary.
Stallone would give in to his demands and cut a large part of his salary to Tarver.
Sly would later confirm this on Howard Stern, where he made no money from the film.
I believe this may also be why he isn't mentioned in the Creed films, but like Tommy Gunn, he
is still part of the canon and is partly why the Rocky Balboa film is so great – the
match proved that even at an older age, Rocky could hang with the best of them, even if
they were 2 decades younger.
Perhaps the real dream match would be Rocky from Rocky III vs Mason Dixon – I think
that would be a completely different story than what we saw.
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