The Rocky franchise has many wonderful and memorable characters that appear throughout
the films - you have the “Master of Disaster” Apollo Creed, “The Siberian Bull” Ivan Drago,
“Mighty” Mick Goldmill, and even outside of the boxers, you have classic characters like Paulie,
who doesn't sweat you. Perhaps one opponent that has only appeared in a single Rocky film
that gets overshadowed by boxers like Drago and Creed is Clubber Lang, the man who ended Rocky's
championship reign and the last boxer Rocky ever faced for that same title. Clubber has
always been an interesting opponent for a variety of reasons, and it brings many questions to mind:
was he the toughest opponent Rocky ever faced? If Rocky had never fought Clubber, would Apollo still
be alive? Why didn't Rocky go the distance with Clubber? This is Why Clubber Lang was Dangerous.
Let's talk about how his fighting style, what happened to him after Rocky III,
his real-world inspirations, and more.
Let's recap on what we know about Clubber so far. While I'm primarily going to recap Rocky III,
as we know that's the only film Clubber has appeared in and is the primary source for canon,
I'm also going to talk a little bit about the game Rocky Legends, as it expanded on the backstory
for a lot of Rocky's major opponents, including Clubber. Feel free to skip to the next chapter,
but be warned, you may miss some important details later on in the video. According to Rocky Legends,
before becoming a professional boxer, Clubber Lang was serving a prison sentence and nearly got into
a fist fight with fellow inmate Jack Jarrell. The two fought each other in the prison's boxing
tournament, which Clubber won. Not long after, Clubber was released from prison and started to
train to become a professional boxer. While Rocky was defending his title and achieved 10 straight
victories, Clubber became the No. 1 contender and eventually had 28 wins to his name with 0 losses.
The two first come face-to-face when Rocky announces his retirement, with Clubber
interrupting the celebration and challenging Balboa to a fight. Rocky accepts after Clubber
makes remarks about Adrian, much to Mickey's reluctance, and Clubber begins to train intensely
for the match while Rocky doesn't take it so seriously. As Rocky makes his way to the ring,
Clubber insults Rocky and chaos ensues as the two try to start the match early,
which results in Clubber pushing Mickey and causes him to have a heart attack,
worrying Rocky and causing him to be distracted during the fight. Rocky puts up a fight at first,
but Clubber's strength proves to be too much and he knocks Rocky out in the 2nd round. Apollo
agrees to help train Rocky and Clubber accepts Rocky's offer for a rematch. Although Rocky is
still not confident in training with Apollo at first, Rocky manages to adapt to Creed's style
and prepares for his rematch with Clubber. As the boxers are in their corner, Clubber nearly starts
another brawl with Apollo before they fight. Round 1 shows Rocky's new strategy prove useful as he
fights more defensively and sticks to sticking and moving, but in Round 2 Clubber manages to
catch Rocky in a corner, throwing hooks left and crosses, and knocks him down twice. However,
Rocky notices that Clubber is starting to wind and begins to defend against the onslaught, causing
Clubber to waste all of his energy. Rocky is able to turn the tide, punishing Clubber with vicious
body blows, and a flurry of his own, knocking him out in the 3rd round and regaining his title.
The last time we see Clubber, he puts his head in his hands due to the loss he just suffered.
Now with all of that in mind – what made Clubber Lang so dangerous? Let's take a look at his
motivations and his personality. More than likely due to his upbringing and what occurred in his
life prior to the events of Rocky III, Clubber has the one thing that Rocky lost – hunger.
Mickey even tells this to Rocky after the statue ceremony – he is nowhere near hungry as Clubber
is, and hasn't been like that since winning the championship. Rocky has let the fame and notoriety
go to his head, with Mickey also contributing to this by protecting him with hand-picked opponents.
If what occurred in Rocky Legends is canon to Clubber's backstory, then that makes all the
more sense of why he envied Rocky being champion and fighting opponents of low caliber. Rocky got
handpicked to be Apollo's opponent in their first bout (though this was due to most of
the top contenders not wanting to take Mac Lee Green's place on such short notice),
and was granted a rematch by Apollo in almost the same manner. Clubber on the other hand, amassed
a record of 27 wins and 0 losses from the time he was released from prison into the events of
Rocky III. He had no distractions; he lived alone, trained alone, and focused solely on becoming the
world champion. Rocky taking the first fight much too lightly is the same mistake Apollo made in the
first Rocky film – underestimating his opponent and paying the price in one form or another
(with Apollo being dissatisfied by the split decision and Rocky losing his title). Clubber was
also full of pride, ego, and is perhaps one of the more unpleasant villains of the Rocky franchise.
He would aggressively confront anybody, at any place, any time, regardless of whether it was the
right time or not, and disregarded the occasion. Clubber had no problems insinuating what went on
in Adrian and Rocky's personal life, nor did he care about shoving Mickey which resulted in him
having a heart attack. Despite wanting to be the best, Clubber had no respect for the sport and
his peers, as evidenced by his interactions with Apollo Creed. The first time, he swats Apollo's
hand and insults him, calling him a “has-been” and coaxing him to try to fight. During the 2nd fight,
Clubber insults Apollo again, and when Apollo retorts with “stay out of my face”
and turns his back, Clubber shoves him and another brawl almost ensues, echoing what happened before
Rocky and Clubber's first fight. A popular theory is that Clubber wrote one of the hate mail letters
in Rocky II that Apollo reads to Mary Anne, which states: “How much did you get to carry that bum
for 15 rounds? You're a disgrace to your people.” If this is true, this would explain why Clubber
dislikes both Rocky and Apollo so much in the film, especially the first interaction between
Apollo and Clubber. It's clear that Clubber was smart enough to analyze Rocky's style and follow
his career, as he often analyzed Rocky by observing a few fights in person.
With all that being said, who were some real life inspirations that Clubber Lang was based on?
The first that comes to mind would be George Foreman. Outside of the famous grill,
George was known for his brutal punching power. Before fighting Muhammad Ali, he was undefeated
for 40 fights, and throughout his entire career, won 80% of the 76 fights before the 6th round,
with 60% of those wins in the first 3 rounds. You would be crazy to try to go toe-to-toe with
George, and despite his basic technique, many found out the hard way. George was also known for
throwing his opponents off balance, manipulating their arms so they couldn't hit him properly,
almost in a clinching-like manner. Larry Holmes is another possible influence, as like Clubber,
he was on his own quest for respect to prove that he was also one of the greats. Larry Holmes was
a sparring partner of Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Earnie Shavers, and Jimmy Young. He was a hybrid
fighter in the sense that his longtime training with Ali rubbed off on him, throwing jabs from
the outside, and possessed some of the same guard manipulation tactics that George Foreman used.
It's also worth mentioning that before being upset by Michael Spinks and Mike Tyson,
he almost would've tied with Rocky Marciano's undefeated record of 49 wins and 0 losses,
and had 19 title defenses before facing Spinks. Last but not least, Mike Tyson is somewhat of a
retroactive influence. What I mean by this is that Tyson's first professional fight was not
until March 6th, 1985, almost 3 full years after Rocky III was released, but the similarities are
there – Tyson was known for his brutal punching power, and was unstoppable for nearly 5 years,
undefeated for 37 matches, and was known to end his fights very quickly, hardly ever going the
distance throughout his career. Iron Mike was a force to be reckoned with, at often times
feared by his opponents, and not many could go toe-to-toe in terms of trading punches.
That brings us to Clubber's fighting style. Throughout the entire film (and the same could be
assumed about the rest of his fights off screen), Clubber never throws a SINGLE jab in any of his
fights. He purely relies on his power through hooks and crosses, more than likely ending all
of his fights early by knockouts. This would echo the likes of Foreman and Tyson, as both were noted
for their raw punching power few could match. Clubber's punches are so powerful that he manages
to knock one boxer out of the ring, another into the ropes causing them to rebound off of them,
and is easily able to floor Rocky in both matches. Rocky even remarks out loud in both matches that
Clubber is strong, indicating this is the first time he's possibly fought someone stronger than
he is. Lang also mirrored some guard manipulation tactics used by both Holmes and Foreman, as we see
him throwing opponents into corners and trapping them. In regards to taking punches, Clubber seems
to just absorb all of the damage, going so far as to goad his opponents into throwing even more so
he can counter. This trash talk was also more than likely used to reinforce the hopelessness in the
mind of his opponents, as no one seemed to be able to trade punches with Clubber without undergoing
a huge risk of punishment. Clubber could be described as a more relentless version of Rocky
Balboa – a pure Southpaw brawler with very little technique who could outmuscle nearly any opponent.
It's also worth noting that in regards to major opponents (not including Tommy Gunn),
Clubber is the only fighter that Rocky doesn't go the distance with – more on that later.
With all of this taken into account – how was Rocky Balboa able to beat Clubber Lang?
The first factor is that Rocky was able to change his style to match that of Apollo Creed's – an
outside fighter. Despite being able to power through punishment in the past and typically being
stronger than his opponents, Rocky simply could not trade punches back and forth with Clubber.
Apollo also knew this, and it's also why he focused on changing Rocky's style – Rocky
needed to punch faster, move in and out faster, and increase his stamina to outlast Clubber.
Apollo went even so far to train Rocky on how to evade Clubber's guard manipulation
tactic – showing him how to get out of the corner if he ever got trapped in one.
These tactics pay off in the first round alone – Rocky is able to chip away at Clubber from
the outside while dodging almost every hook and cross that Lang throws, only taking damage for
the first time when Clubber catches him in a clinch and follows up with some punches.
The second factor is that Rocky is able to turn the mind games back onto Clubber.
In their first fight, due to Mickey being hurt and realizing Lang is more powerful than he is,
the trash talk Rocky endures gets to him and throws him off his game. Because of the loss to
Clubber, the knowledge that he was being protected by Mickey, and the death of his trainer, Rocky's
fear gets to him and he doesn't put his heart into training at first. However, due to encouragement
from his team (most notably Adrian), Rocky enters the rematch with full confidence and begins to
trash talk Clubber before they even fight. Rocky uses Clubber's strategy to get inside his head,
causing him to be blinded by his fury and waste his punches, depleting his stamina.
This leads us to the third factor – Clubber's predictable style and stamina. Despite Clubber
claiming that Rocky's style was predictable, the ironic part is that Clubber's style was
more predictable. While Rocky had always been a brawler like Clubber, it's thanks to Mickey,
Apollo, and Tony that he refined his techniques and adapted for the major fights he fought in.
As mentioned before, like George Foreman, Clubber's style was based on pure power and
knockout punches with very little technique. Because of this, like Foreman and Mike Tyson,
Clubber needed to end these fights early because he would tire easily and lacked proper stamina
conditioning. Rocky quickly figures this out and begins to block and evade Clubber's punches,
goading him to throwing more, and then start attacking his body, which begin to
lift Clubber Lang off the ground. After Clubber tries to counter, Rocky attacks the body again,
and even launches a flurry that Clubber can't properly guard, as we see a couple of the shots
land on his face. The Rocky films are notable for drawing inspirations from real life matches,
and Rocky's rematch with Clubber is a clear reference to Muhammad Ali vs George Foreman,
AKA the Rumble in the Jungle where Ali for the first time used the 'Rope-A-Dope' technique
(which is also used by Rocky in his fight with Clubber), letting Foreman wear out his
punches and then taking advantage of his winded opponent by attacking him while he's exhausted.
It's also no secret that Apollo Creed was clearly based on Muhammad Ali, most notably his appearance
and characterization in the first Rocky film. Because Rocky trained to fight like Apollo, he was
able to defeat Clubber Lang by utilizing speed, stamina, and defensive maneuvers, in a parallel
to Ali defeating Foreman (which Ali was also won the championship in). And as Rocky breaks through
to him, you can tell that Clubber didn't know how to respond, as this is the first time somebody
took the fight to him, as it's shown on his face near the end of the fight, and after the fight.
Another question that plagues the franchise is – what happened to Clubber Lang after Rocky
III? Canonically, Clubber Lang does not appear in the rest of the franchise (Creed movies included)
unless it's via flashback or archive footage. According to Sylvester Stallone in an interview,
Clubber Lang was initially planned to come back in Rocky Balboa as a born-again Christian,
and who would've been a guest commentator in Rocky's fight with Mason Dixon. However, because
of disagreements in regards to salary, the script was rewritten for Clubber Lang to be instead be
replaced by HBO commentator Max Kellerman. The interview itself though seems to have
some answers in a tongue-in-cheek manner, so take this knowledge with a grain of salt. It's possible
that Clubber Lang would've returned in Creed II or III with Deontay Wilder playing his son,
but as far as we know, that didn't happen. What's worth interesting to note that in the workprint
cut of Rocky V, when Tommy is about to knock Rocky down with the left hook (and as he's laying there
after), there were more cuts to Rocky having flashbacks from his first fight with Clubber,
much more than his fight with Ivan Drago (which replaced all shots of Clubber in the final cut),
with Clubber knocking him out, knocking him down, taunting him to get up, and Rocky telling Mickey
that he can't go out and fight Clubber. This proves that alongside Drago, Clubber was regarded
as a much more fearsome opponent than the final cut lets on, and this is also rectified somewhat
in Rocky Balboa, where Clubber Lang is shown as one of Rocky's major opponents from fights past.
If I had to guess what happened to Lang after Rocky III, I think the loss he suffered to
Balboa deeply humbled Clubber. We know that in both the Rocky video game storyline and Rocky V,
Union Cane worked his way up the rankings while Rocky forfeit his title to fight Ivan Drago in
Russia. If Clubber kept fighting, I highly doubt despite his basic technique that he would've
lost to an inferior opponent like Union Cane (who Rocky also would've made short work of).
Considering that Stallone admitted to Clubber Lang bearing inspiration from George Foreman,
as Foreman himself also became a born-again Christian and a boxing analyst, I think it's
safe to say that it's definitely a possibility that Clubber could've gone down that route.
It's also interesting to note that a lot of people believe that if Rocky would've never
fought Clubber Lang, Apollo Creed would've never fought Ivan Drago,
and Rocky would've avoided major damage from his fight with Ivan in Rocky IV. So it's very possible
that Clubber Lang was the catalyst for a lot of the events occurring from Rocky III and onward,
and if Rocky would've avoided this fight with Clubber, his life might've turned out different.
Here are my final thoughts on Clubber Lang. I know as far as Rocky's dangerous opponents,
Ivan Drago seems to rank up there as the highest because of how he defeated Apollo and the whole
2000 PSI (which is inaccurate but that's for another day), but I like to think that Clubber
Lang is often overlooked. While part of Rocky III started to go off the rails (as Rocky IV,
as enjoyable as it was, was also a complete departure from the original tone of the films),
I think Clubber was realistically believable as a tough opponent for Rocky to try to beat. Since
Clubber is the only opponent that Rocky didn't go the distance with and was able to put him
away early, one can imagine how dangerous Clubber would've been if he didn't have a problem with
wearing himself out early and went a full match with Rocky. Although Rocky learned how to fight
right-handed and improved his speed for a match with Apollo Creed, it wasn't enough for Clubber
and because of how complacent he got, this is what caused Rocky to lose. Rocky really had to step
up and train in a completely different style than what he usually fought with to overcome Lang, and
I think that's a compliment to Clubber. Lang was so dangerous that this was the first time Rocky
couldn't go toe-to-toe, despite having a granite chin. I would love Clubber to at least appear in
the future, perhaps in another Creed movie, or if not – at least some kind of definite answer
of what happened to his character in Rocky III and how he would've fared against the likes of Ivan
Drago, Tommy Gunn, and Union Cane. Mr. T nailed Clubber Lang's personality perfectly, and in my
opinion, that's why he's one of the most memorable characters in the Rocky and Creed franchise.
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