Mickey Goldmill

Mickey Goldmill
Rocky character
Burgess Meredith as Mickey Goldmill
First appearance	Rocky
Last appearance	Rocky V
Portrayed by	Burgess Meredith
Information
Nickname(s)	Mighty Mick
Gender	Male
Occupation	Professional boxing trainer (Formally professional boxer)
Religion	Jewish
Nationality	American

Mickey Goldmill
Statistics
Rated at	Bantamweight
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Nationality	American
Born	April 7, 1905
Died	August 15, 1981
Boxing record
Total fights	73
Wins	72
Wins by KO	70
Losses	1
Draws	0

Michael "Mickey" Goldmill was a fictional boxing trainer created by Sylvester Stallone and portrayed by Burgess Meredith in the Rocky film series. The character's gravelly voice, intense demeanor and popular catch phrases helped make him highly recognizable, as well as, a common source of parody and references in pop culture.

Mickey may be based on Charley Goldman. Both were bantamweights, had Jewish ancestry, and have similar sounding names. In addition, Charley was the boxing trainer of Rocky Marciano, whom Rocky Balboa is based on. Goldman trained Marciano in many ways similar to how Goldmill trained Balboa, such as tieing their ankles together with string to teach them to spread their feet at the appropriate width. Goldman was (again like Goldmill) well known for making wise remarks (ex. "A lot of people say Rocky [Marciano] don't look too good in there, but the guy on the ground don't look too good either.").

Fictional biography

Mickey Goldmill was born on 7 April 1905 to a Jewish family, as evidenced by his funeral in Rocky III, which took place in a synagogue. He boxed professionally from 1922 until 1947, but never gained any measure of fame. Goldmill recalled that he once knocked an opponent out of the ring the same day that Luis Firpo did the same to Jack Dempsey 14 September 1923. Goldmill claimed that the reason his victory didn't garner any media attention was that he didn't have a manager, while Dempsey did. He retired in 1947, with a record of 72 Wins, (70 K.O.'s), 1 Loss. Some time after his retirement (in 1948), he opened a boxing gym in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mighty Mick's Boxing, and began to train fighters.

Rocky

In Rocky, Mickey continues to manage his gym. One of the regulars in his gym was Rocky Balboa, a local club fighter who had never realized his potential and had instead become a collector for a local loan shark who subsisted on fighting local boxers. Due largely to this Mickey does not treat Balboa with much respect, telling him most of the fights he has are with bums and evicting Rocky from his locker at the gym by having his belongings removed, placed in a bag, and hung on a set of hooks known as "skid row" in the locker room. Although Rocky doesn't understand why Mickey treats him the way he does (because he wants Rocky to fulfill his great potential), Mickey dresses him down in front of the rest of his fighters over the way his career turned out.

When heavyweight champion Apollo Creed gives Balboa an unlikely shot at the title, Goldmill approaches him about being his manager. Based on their uneasy prior relationship, Balboa was initially resistant, but ultimately agreed to let Goldmill train him. The fight took place 1 January 1976 at the Philadelphia Spectrum. While Balboa lost the fight to Creed based on scoring by the judges, he managed to last the full fifteen rounds, a first for any of Creed's opponents.

Rocky II

Rocky II picked up directly after the first film. Creed challenged Balboa for a rematch in the hospital, although Rocky did not agree or disagree initially, Mickey angrily stated that there would be no rematch and that Rocky won the fight. Eventually, after Creed's efforts at publicly embarrassing Balboa into a fight, Mickey again became Balboa's trainer for the rematch. For the second fight with Creed, Goldmill utilized unique training methods (such as chasing and attempting to catch a chicken) to help Balboa gain speed. He also converted Balboa from a left-handed fighting style to a right-handed style in an effort to both confuse Creed and to protect an eye Balboa had badly injured in the first fight. The rematch took place, after an almost double-KO, Rocky remained standing to become the winner.

Rocky III

In Rocky III, Goldmill trained Balboa to a series of successful title defenses before both men decided it was time for them to retire (Mickey was suffering heart problems by this time, though he kept this hidden from Rocky). Determined and controversial challenger Clubber Lang accused the two of avoiding him. Finally, Balboa agreed to face Lang in a fight which he figured would be his last title defense, partially on the basis of Clubber's open taunts and goading of Rocky in front of press at a public event. Goldmill told Rocky that he would have to go it alone if he decided to fight Lang, later admitting that all of his challengers were hand-picked "good fighters", but not killers". Balboa was eventually able to convince Goldmill to train him anyway, with the promise that this would be their last fight.

The matchup was set for 15 August 1981. Shortly before the fight, Balboa and Lang's entourages got into a scuffle and Goldmill, trying to break it up, was knocked to the ground, suffering a heart attack. Rocky tries to get the fight called off due to Mickey's condition, but Mickey refuses to allow his fighter to stop now and tells him to fight. His condition worsens throughout the fight, which only lasts two rounds before Rocky gets knocked out by Lang, but Mickey refuses to go to the hospital.

Eventually the former champion returns to the dressing room to speak to Mickey. Rocky tells his trainer that the fight ended in a second round knockout but does not tell Mickey that he lost the fight, preferring to have him believe they won. Balboa then tries to convince Mickey that they need to go to the hospital, but Mickey doesn't make it. Instead he tells Rocky, who saw him as a mentor and father figure, "I love you, Rocky" and shortly after takes his last breath, dying of his heart attack in Balboa's arms at the age of 76.

Rocky IV, Rocky V, and Rocky Balboa

After his death, Rocky recalled his former trainer in flashbacks during the events of the last three films. (Burgess Meredith reprised the role in Rocky V and archival footage was used for Rocky IV and Rocky Balboa, the latter of which was filmed after Meredith's death in 1997.) It is also revealed in Rocky V that Mickey left his gym to Rocky's son, Robert. By doing this, it kept the IRS from seizing control of the gym after he goes bankrupt due to his accountant's bad deals and tax evasion history.

Video games

Mickey appears in the video games Rocky and Rocky Legends, offering advice to the player in between rounds. In Rocky Legends, the player earns money for winning fights, which can be then be used to buy venues or unlock boxers. One such boxer is a younger Mickey Goldmill when he was in active boxing, before he turned to managing.

References