Why did Rocky get soft?

[stevepre]

I guess the better question should be how? Was it because Apollo was the top of the mountain and once he knocked him off, that was it? Of all the Rocky's, I always felt that Clubber Lang was the greatest of all his enemies because he is the one who showed Rocky in his full character. You can make an arguement for the others, but I strongly believe that Clubber is the one who brought out the best and worst in Rocky. He "unleashed" and "caged" the beast inside of Rocky, so to speak. Rocky later tells in the movie that he never wanted Mickey to fix the fights for him. "So what if we wouldn't have the title as long, so what!! At least it would have been real!" It almost seems as if Rocky didn't want what he later had. Is this why Clubber was the perfect man to bring him down?

Another controversial topic that may be settled in another thread, I always felt that had Rocky not come along, I believe the Apollo/Clubber fight would have been inevitable. I believe Clubber would come out victorious because, well, he was just downright hungrier than Apollo.

[masterofdisaster19]

I think it was Mick's cherry picking of his opponents. He picked guys who weren't necessarily soft themselved but didn't have what it took to beat Rocky. Gradually fighting and winning with minimal challenge to Rocky, he had to have lost his edge. Unless you really have that fear as a fighter, you don't push yourself harder.