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Clubber Lang

Clubber Lang is a fictional character that appeared as Rocky Balboa's rival in the 1982 movie Rocky III. He was played by the popular "bodyguard to the stars" Mr. T. He was 29 years old when the film was launched.

During Rocky III's intro, we see Rocky defeating numerous contenders in a montage. In this montage, Clubber is displayed as being annoyed at the relative ease with which Rocky wins the bouts. Later he is seen training himself and brutally thrashing other boxers until he becomes the number one contender. At the end of the montage, Clubber is shown yelling at Rocky's trainer Mickey, goading him to set up a fight between Rocky and himself, shouting "I want Balboa." Clubber crashes a ceremony in Philadelphia dedicating a statue to Rocky and challenges the champ. He is disrespectful to Rocky's wife, Adrian, prompting Rocky to lose his temper and accept the challenge, despite Mickey's protests. Clubber, the hard-hitting brawler, has a character which is much like his boxing style: direct, aggressive and brutal. His fighting style and record show a similarity to a young George Foreman. Before the second match between Rocky and Clubber (the first is won by Clubber by a knock-out in the second round), a reporter asks Clubber what his prediction for the fight is. His answer is simply: "Pain". Rocky defeated Clubber in the second bout with a knockout in the third round.

Little more is known about this character. Before both of the fights he is introduced as being from Chicago, (his nickname is "The Southside Slugger"). The Internet Movie Database does not provide a name for his manager, though one novelization of the film called him "Donut." Clubber fights in a Southpaw stance (left-handed) much like Rocky; however, he is much more aggressive and prefers to attack the head with hooks, as opposed to Rocky, who uses body shots. Clubber is heavier than Rocky as well, listing at 235 pounds in their first fight and 237 pounds in their second (compared to Rocky's 202 and 191 pounds respectively), and stands a few inches taller. He has tremendous punching power, apparently being a "one-puncher" type fighter, however he tends to tire through later rounds and has little defense aside from just throwing more punches. Mickey Goldmill and Apollo Creed both decide that the trick to beating Clubber is to take time and wear him down, rather than trying to outpunch him. In their rematch, Rocky fights in a new, quicker, out-fighting style learned from Apollo, and, by tricking Clubber into punching himself out in a strategy reminiscient of Muhammad Ali's rope-a-dope strategy against Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle, Rocky was able to out-psyche Clubber and knock him out in the third round.

Although Clubber Lang only played a role in one film, he (and Mr.T with it) gained great popularity.