The boxing world lost its greatest boxer of all time following the death of Muhammad Ali on June 4. Ali, who was formerly known as Cassius Clay before he converted into Moslem, was a revered person both in the ring and off it. He was 74 years old.
Actor Sylvester Stallone is a long-time friend of Muhammad Ali and it was because of the great ring tactician that Sly has become very passionate about the sport of boxing.
In fact, it is also the reason why he has the “Rocky” boxing movie franchise to speak of for his love of the sport, playing the iconic role of Rocky Balboa.
As a tribute to Muhammad Ali, whose favorite ring motto is ‘fly like a butterfly and sting like a bee,’ Sylvester Stallone posted a sweet throwback video on his Instagram account featuring him and the late great boxer during the 1977 Academy Awards event, reports the Hollywood Life.
Treasuring the moment for the rest of his life
Stallone got the surprise of his lifetime when he was joined by Muhammad Ali as presentor during the 1977 Oscars. Ali crept up behind him, straight-faced, and startled the action star.
Sly started cracking up as Muhammad Ali yells at the actor that he is the real Apollo Creed and that Stallone stole his script.
Apollo Creed is the character in “Rocky” movies whom Rocky Balboa battled and eventually became his mentor and very good friend. The character was also the basis for the Rocky spin-off movie “Creed” shown last year.
Ali and Stallone then began to fake spar while on stage but it is obvious that Muhammad was just toying with him because Sly was an easy picking. Their moment on stage ended with the two of them laughing and genuinely hugging.
Upon taking the podium to present the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, Stallone said to the legendary boxer that he knows he cannot win any Oscar that night but he really felt that it was an amazing privilege to be standing next to a 100 percent certified legend. He said that he will treasure the moment for the rest of his life, reports Yahoo! Movies.
Stallone kept his promise because he kept the video of that moment with Ali at the Oscars.
The real Apollo Creed
The “Creed” actor took to social media on June 4 to pay tribute to the great boxer and captioned his post by saying that Ali was a fantastic man whom he came to know well. He said that Ali was the real Apollo Creed.
Ali was hospitalized for a respiratory complication on June 2 in Phoenix and died some two days later.
Meanwhile, Sylvester Stallone will be coming soon to Netflix but not as an actor but a producer. Apparently, the “Creed” actor will be producing a reality TV show that has the DNA of “Survivor” on Netflix officially titled as “Ultimate Beastmaster.”
The TV series is an obstacle course competition with contestants from six countries. The international nature of the show is the reason why “Ultimate Beastmaster” shall be available in six versions, featuring local hosts and languages for the US, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Brazil, and Germany.
The streaming service will promote “Ultimate Beastmaster” as a global competition with local flair.
More than looking like the new brand of “Survivor” on TV, “Ultimate Beastmaster” is actually similar in some ways with “Wipeout” and “American Ninja Warrior” and it will primarily feature contestants trying to overcome a difficult obstacle course which is to be called as ‘The Beast.’
Stallone will be producing the show along with the executive producer of “The Biggest Loser,” another reality TV show.
The 69-year-old Hollywood veteran action star would not be appearing in the TV series and would just be staying behind the scenes but Netflix is reportedly planning something that would surprise the viewers of “Ultimate Beastmaster” in the future.