2. All The Boxers Rocky
Although boxing is primarily concerned with the business of two men punching each other until they can't stand up straight, there's a hell of a lot of rules about it. After all, when unconsciousness is regularly part of proceedings, it pays to have people around who keeps either fighter from permanently damaging themselves or worse, shuffling off into the great beyond. To that end, boxers also have unions to look after their welfare and make sure the myriad organising bodies make good on their obligations to protect the two men in the squared circle. Yet in the boxing movie world, caution is the enemy of a good time Jake LaMotta took thrashings like you or I took vitamins, Hilary Swank beat the everloving filth out of various women and Rocky's entire career was seemingly built off his talent for taking the sort of punishment which would usually land the assailant in prison. The fact of the matter is that Rocky takes way, way too much punishment in all his fights. Yes, I know you can argue it was the 70s, when rules were lax and most of the world was on cocaine, but still if a man ever takes a slew of uninterrupted punches to the face, you can bet your arse the ref's going to wave the fight. That's kind of what he's there for. But in the Rocky-verse, referees are a laughable sideshow playing second fiddle to homoerotic training montages and Gonna Fly Now, and Rocky powers through his face-paddlings with pained gusto. After all, it's not as if he's going to suffer any sort of long-term repercussions, right? Oh wait, he did Rocky V forces him into retirement with brain damage. Yet still, come Rocky Balboa, he's allowed drag his arthritis-addled form into the ring to fight the much-younger heavyweight champ. Damn, someone really should've stepped in at some point.