Revealed: Upslipped SIJ almost cost Balboa Heavyweight title

Recently discovered memoirs of heavyweight champion, Rocky Balboa’s former trainer Michael “Mickey” Goldmill, have added a new layer of intrigue to an almost 44 year old tale. Goldmill’s memoirs suggest that way back in 1976, Balboa’s hesitancy for a rematch with former champion, Apollo Creed was more complex than previously thought.

It has long been understood that Balboa’s wife, Adrian’s refusal to support Balboa’s decision to rematch Creed was central to him being unable to properly prepare for the fight. But Mickey’s memoirs reveal Balboa was dealing with a devastating and debilitating upslip and counter-nutation to his left sacroiliac joint. According to Mickey, it was the worst he’d seen, and had it not been for the therapeutic hands of Mickey’s little known sparring partner and secretly expert Nordic Masseuse, Stefan Frydberg, Balboa was no chance of being able to compete.

It would seem that the real hero of this tale, at least in part, was Stefan’s magic hands.