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Sylvester Stallone’s two movie franchises have been synonymous with the actor’s identity, Rocky and Rambo, and among them, Rocky was the first film that catapulted him into success and doing the film franchise, he came face to face with death more than once. He felt his heart swelling when his co-star Dolph Lundgren hit him so hard that he had to be taken to the hospital, and in the third franchise, he was punched really hard by professional wrestler Earbie Shavers.
For the unversed, Shavers was a professional boxer and a two-time world heavyweight championship challenger and is known to be one of the hardest punchers in heavyweight boxing history, who passed away last year in September. But he sure gave Stallone a test of his talent while auditioning for the role of Clubber Lang, which went to Mr T.
As per Fredrick V. Romano’s The Boxing Filmography, Ernie Shavers initially refused to punch Sylvester Stallone upon entering the ring with him. But Stallone, too full of himself, asked though he could take his punch and said to Earnie, “C’mon Earnie, show me something real.” Shavers took on the challenge and showed him what he was made of as he landed a punch in his gut with full force.
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