Matthew Saad Muhammad: 1954-2014

IN THE EARLY-MORNING hours on Sunday, the real Rocky Balboa passed away in the intensive-care unit of Chestnut Hill Hospital.

His name was Matthew Saad Muhammad and his life story is more compelling, and more unlikely, than anything that fellow Philly guy Sylvester Stallone ever put up on the silver screen. No, Saad wasn't an Italian Stallion, but he was, in the words of fellow light-heavyweight champion and close friend Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, "the king of the comeback, the master of chills and thrills.

"With Saad, fans were guaranteed to see a great fight. You always got the best he had to give on that particular day or night. He'd get nailed and stagger around the ring, then come back with a furious flurry and pull out the win. It happened over and over."

Saad was 59 when he died, his sleek, chiseled physique ravaged by the effects of a silent killer that even the master of chills and thrills couldn't out-gut.

A true action hero like Saad, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1998, in his first year of eligibility, should have been more celebrated in his hometown. But the former WBC light-heavyweight titlist, who made eight successful defenses in the 1970 and '80s, during what was arguably the best and deepest era of a tradition-rich division, died in virtual anonymity, his $4 million in ring earnings gone and the fame he once enjoyed severely eroded. Even some of those who had been closest to him were unaware that Saad - who succumbed to complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease - was as ill as he was.

"I didn't find out about his condition until a few days ago," said Mustafa Muhammad, who outpointed Saad over 10 rounds on March 11, 1977, at the old Arena in Philly, which served as the genesis of a tight bond of mutual respect that would endure until Saad's death. "I had no idea he had taken such a turn for the worse. But then, that was Saad. He never complained about anything, no matter what. He was always the same friendly guy with the big smile on his face whether he was flush or broke. He just lived in the moment. He didn't let money rule or control him. If he had it, he had it. If he didn't, he didn't."

In legend and lore, Stallone was inspired to write the script for his star-making vehicle, 1976's Academy Award-winning "Rocky," after seeing longshot challenger Chuck Wepner knock down heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in their March 24, 1975 title bout. But Wepner's window of opportunity closed, and Ali went on to win on a tougher-than-expected 15th-round technical knockout.

It might be argued, however, that Saad's career, so filled with flirtations with the edge of disaster, was even more of a real-life prototype for Sly Stallone's Rocky Balboa character than Wepner.

"You know all those 'Rocky' movies, about the fighter from Philadelphia who never quits?" Saad said in 1998, a few days before his induction into the IBHOF. "Well, I was the real Rocky. I lived that story."

Interestingly, Saad - who was ditched on the Ben Franklin Parkway when he was only 5 years old by an older brother, at the behest of an aunt who either couldn't afford or simply didn't want to feed another hungry mouth - already had a connection to Stallone, through Sly's brother, Frank, whom he had known since they both were teenagers.

It was Frank Stallone who suggested to his more famous sibling that Saad might be an excellent choice to play the part of Clubber Lang in 1982's "Rocky III." He even flew to California to audition for the role, which eventually went to a Chicago bouncer and occasional bodyguard named Laurence Tero. You know him now as Mr. T.

The way Saad told it, he eliminated himself at the outset because his vanity was such that he refused to shave his head, as was called for in the script. "I guess I was young and crazy," Saad said in '98. "I couldn't see the forest for the trees, didn't realize what a part like that could have done for me."

But a longtime associate of Saad's, Mustafa Ameen, said the real stumbling block to the WBC 175-pound champ landing the plum part had nothing to do with hair.

"Saad was preparing to do the reading for the casting director when he called me in," Ameen recalled. "He said, 'Did you read this script? They got me losing my title!' I reminded him it was just a movie and that he was playing a fictional character, not himself. Saad paused for a moment and said, 'Do you think we can ask them to make it a draw?'

"And the rest is history."

Saad's final record - 49-16-3, with 35 knockouts - doesn't appear exceptional at first glance, but, as is the case with more than a few fighters, he hung around too long. He was just 5-7-1 in his final 13 bouts, when he was a shell of his former greatness. But at his best, there are few if any fighters who delivered more excitement as routinely as did Matthew Saad Muhammad.

"From the summer of '77 until the fall of '81, he was probably the greatest action fighter in the history of his division," said longtime Philadelphia boxing promoter J Russell Peltz. "Saad was in so many classic fights. He was the Arturo Gatti of his day, or Gatti was the Saad Muhammad of his day. Maybe that's a better way of saying it."

Funeral arrangements are pending.