I know it is a movie. But I was a fighter just years after Rocky IV was made. My kids were watching tonight and ask me about the fight and have me pause the movie.
Four different times during the fight would there be an instant DQ on Drago's part:
- Extra punches after the bell - the most egregious.
- Shoving Creed across the ring. This could lead to instant DQ but by following that up by throwing punches after the punch... for sure.
- Shoving the referee and then hitting during the round.
- Shoving the referee completely after bell.
Any of these things would probably lead to Drago losing instantly but more importantly - he would never be allowed a sanctioned fight anytime soon. So how does this get glossed over in the movie? To me this is akin to watching a golf movie and a character just scoots the ball 5 feet closer with his foot.
There are movie goofs, especially with sports. And there is certainly comedies (Happy Gilemore, Caddyshack) that get a great amount of leeway with the cheating at the sport. I cannot think of a non-comedy sports movie that had this big of a "cheat" that no one talked about for a main character.
So to summarize what allowed Rocky IV to bend the rules without the audience being outraged or losing realism? And as an addendum to that are there any examples of any other serious sports movies, blatantly breaking the rules of the main sport in question (given non-comedy or "futuristic")?