I wonder why this was never settled out of court?
29/09/04
Former heavyweight Chuck Wepner's lawsuit will go forward against Sylvester Stallone, contending his name was inappropriately used by the actor to promote the Rocky movies.
However, two other claims by the ex-boxer were dismissed by U.S. district judge Katharine S. Hayden: that Stallone was unjustly enriched by trading on Wepner's life story and that Wepner suffered by relying on Stallone's promises.
A trial date was not scheduled. The judge told lawyers to take depositions and exchange information, and it's possible the case will be resolved without a trial.
"For us, it's 100 per cent victory, since those two claims were tenuous at best," Wepner lawyer Anthony G. Mango said Tuesday.
Stallone's lawyer, Jon Paul Robbins, declined to comment.
Wepner, 65, lives in Bayonne, N.J., and works as a liquor salesman. He has charged that Stallone used the boxer's name to promote Rocky, its four sequels and products associated with the films.
Wepner, a New Jersey club fighter nicknamed The Bayonne Bleeder, was plucked from obscurity by promoter Don King. He drew notice in 1975 in a punishing 15-round loss to Muhammad Ali.
Rocky, which won the 1976 Academy Award for best picture, was the story of a down-and-out club fighter from Philadelphia who got a shot at the heavyweight title when reigning champ Apollo Creed was looking for a patsy for his Bicentennial fight. Stallone played Rocky Balboa, who trained at a meat-cutting plant and nearly dethroned the champ.
"Wepner contends, and Stallone does not contest, that the main character, Rocky Balboa, was based on Wepner and the plot of the first movie was inspired on the 1975 fight," the judge wrote.
The lawsuit contended that Stallone made several promises to Wepner that he would be financially compensated over the years, but no payments were made.
The judge, however, found Wepner could identify no specific agreements relating to the use of his name to promote the films and the facts in the lawsuit "fail to support the allegation that Wepner expected payment for the use of his name in marketing."