I remember, before seeing Stallone's film, being at some neighborhood kid's house and the TV spot for Rocky came on. The kid wondered out loud, "What's that?" And his mother glanced at the TV screen and said dismissively, "Oh, just another movie about some guy and his problems." Today it's very easy to romanticize that cynical seventies era—especially since it's long gone, seemingly never to return. But form 1970 to at least 1977, every other movie that came out did seem like it was about "some guy and his problems."
— Quentin Tarantino (Cinema Speculation)
An uneducated collector for a Philadelphia loan shark is given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fight against the world heavyweight boxing champion.