Rocky

Rocky Movies

Rocky Characters

Rocky Movie Stars

Mickey Goldmill

Michael "Mickey" Goldmill (1905 - 1981) is a fictional boxing trainer created by Sylvester Stallone and portrayed by Burgess Meredith.

Mickey Goldmill was born on April 7, 1905 to a Jewish family. He boxed professionally in the 1920s 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: September 14, 1923. Goldmill claimed that the reason his feat didn't garner any media attention was that he didn't have a manager while Dempsey did. Some time after his retirement, he opened a boxing gym in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mighty Mick's Boxing, and began to train fighters.

One of the regulars in his gym was Rocky Balboa, a local club fighter who had never realized his potential. When heavyweight champion Apollo Creed gives Balboa an unlikely shot at the title, Goldmill approachs him about being his manager. Based on their uneasy prior relationship, Balboa was initially resistant but ultimately agreed to let Goldmill train him. While Balboa lost the fight to Creed, he managed to last the full fifteen rounds, a first for any Creed opponent. When Creed challenged Balboa to a rematch, both fighter and manager were reluctant to step back into the ring with the champion. After much consideration, though, they change their minds and accepted the offer.

For the second fight with Creed, Goldmill utilized unique training methods 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. Balboa managed to barely defeat Creed in the rematch and Goldmill had finally trained his first champion. Goldmill trained Balboa to a series of successful title defenses before both men decided it was time for them to retire.

Controversial challenger Clubber Lang, accused the two of avoiding him. Finally, Goldmill and Balboa agreed to face Lang in a fight both figured would be their last outing. The matchup was set for August 15, 1981. Shortly before the fight Balboa's and Lang's entourages got into a scuffle and Goldmill was knocked to the ground. He returned to the locker room and when it became apparent that something was wrong Balboa attempted to call off the fight. Goldmill, however, would have none of it and ordered Balboa to go ahead with the bout. Balboa lost the fight in a second-round knockout. He returned to the locker room shortly before Goldmill finally succumbed to a heart attack. He was 76. According to the terms of his will, Goldmill left Mighty Mick's Boxing to Balboa's son, Robert