In The Ring

[Mickey, spoken]
You should've seen me when I was in my prime!
I've been in this pugilism racket fifty years

[Rocky, spoken]
Fifty years, huh?

[Mickey, spoken]
Fifty years!
Ain't many of us left who got the kinda knowledge I got

[Mickey]
The twenties was roarin' when I joined the game
This kid comin' straight off the street
I slammed Guinea Russo and murdered John Frame
Aw man, was I fast on my feet

Saw Tunney beat Dempsey, saw Walker go down
Them times was a beautiful thing
The glory and stink, and this kid on the brink of a life in the ring

Then the country went bust
We was hungry, alright!
But I had two fists I could use

They'd pit us like dogs in the boxcars at night
And pay us in apples, or booze!
Where else could I go? Hell, what else would I do?
Took any old fight they might bring
And rival by rival, I earned my survival
These scars I got given for livin' my life in the ring

In the ring
We was the bestest
Who broke every rule in the book

In the ring
Crowd was so loud that the walls of them halls really shook every night

In the ring
Here's mighty Mick!
With his famous and fierce'n right hook

Never had a wife
Never had a son
Lived a fightin' life
That was all that I done
All I done

See, time is a fighter who doesn't relent
He uses up all that you got
I once was a comer
I came, and I went
Without ever gettin' my shot

Now look at me stand with my head in my hand
But what other song can I sing?
Got so much inside me I'll never forget
I'm seventy-six, but I ain't used up yet!

[Mickey, spoken]
Lemme help ya
Lemme train ya

[Rocky, spoken]
I taught my own self, Mick
Why would I need you now?

(Door slams)

It's all been about your prime
What about my prime, Mick!
At least you had a prime! I ain't had no prime
My legs is already goin'
I ain't had nothin'!

Now too late, I get to fight the champ
To get my face busted, my nose broke
A bum, laughed at, K.O.'d in round one, for what?!
So you could have your shot?

Hey Mick, come back here!

[Mickey, spoken]
Whaddaya want!

[Rocky, spoken]
You always say I got lousy footwork, I wanna know why

[Mickey, spoken]
You wanna know why?

[Rocky, spoken]
Yeah, I wanna know why

[Mickey, spoken]
You wanna know?!

[Rocky, spoken]
Yeah, I wanna know!

[Mickey, spoken]
Well, first of all
You gotta start by analyzing the greats

[Mickey]
Now, Jersey Joe Walker was light on his feet

[Mickey, spoken]
In nineteen-thirty, I saw him drop Cowboy Wallace in round one!
The way he moved, the man was like... the Fred Astaire of the ring...