10 Movie Mentors Who Were Actually Complete Morons
7. Mickey Goldmill - The Rocky Film Series
To give Mickey his due, he does help Rocky win a world title and make a success of himself. If we're going off this standard, we can concede that yes, he was a good mentor. However, job satisfaction does not a good mentor make; in boxing, a good mentor also makes sure you remain healthy, suffering as few after-effects from the sweet science as you possibly can.
Now, at this point you might raise that Mickey refused to let Rocky step in the ring with Clubber Lang, because B.A Baracus was a fighter who kills people and turns their skin into throw pillows. But let me ask you the question: when did that stop Mickey before? The previous two films were concerned with Apollo Creed, and though Carl Weathers isn't as scary-looking as Mr. T, the first film goes to great lengths to point out that nobody has ever gone the full 15 rounds with him. If you watch your boxing, you'll know how scary that is. Make no mistake, being knocked out isn't a natural thing, and if you're knocked out by a heavyweight champion, there's going to be serious neurological repercussions.
Yet Mickey ploughs on anyway, throwing a club fighter into what seems like a suicide mission. Hell, he even relents on the Lang fight, only to see Balboa get thrashed to within an inch of his life. Even in death, it's Mickey who instils in Rock the never-say-die attitude which eventually gives him brain damage. Utilising his advice, Rocky fights a Soviet death machine (unwise), bare-knuckles with the much-younger heavyweight champion (really unwise) and battles another heavyweight champion when he's over retirement age (stupendously unwise). When Rocky gets his bills back from the neurologist, he's got Mickey to thank.