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He was a day laborers son who was born and raised in New Orleans.
(Weathers had a supporting role in the Reynolds football pictureSemi-Tough.)
Weathers had a black belt in Shotokan karate and became an avid golfer.
It was not a happy time, WeatherstoldThe Washington Postin a 1979 profile.
In fact, when Im feeling sorry for myself, I remember it as a perfectly miserable time.
I think I was consciously trying to escape from a very early age.
In the streets theyll kill you, literally.
It was my curse to be a sensitive kid.
And I was too ignorant and intimated to take a stab at explain why they seemed valuable to me.
It was a bet on his own talent that paid off beyond anyones expectations.
No such boost for Weathers.
One of Roger Eberts most insightful bits of feature writing washisChicago Sun-Timespiece about watchingRocky IIwith Ali.
For the black man to come out superior would be against Americas teachings, Ali told Ebert.
America has to have its white images, no matter where it gets them.
The same impulses that drove him to scale the heights of his profession are what doomed him.
Part of what makesCreedso touching and unexpected is how it certifies Rockys matches with Apollo as fabulous flukes.
The outcome isnt shown, even though the freeze-frame of the boxers was turned intoa LeRoy Neiman painting.
But 35 years later, when Donnie asks Rocky who won, Rocky replies, simply, he did.
