We here at Notinhalloffame.com and specifically our Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame are mourning the loss of actor, Tony Burton, who played Duke Evers in the Rocky series. Evers appeared in all six Rocky films, and was introduced as the trainer of World Heavyweight Champion, Apollo Creed.
While Duke was never a main character, he was shown as far more than just a trainer as in the first two Rocky films, it was clear by the emotion he exhibited for his client that they were far more than just business associates.
Following the retirement of Apollo, Duke would help his former client train Rocky Balboa for his rematch against Clubber Lang, and in Rocky IV both Evers and Balboa were cormermen for Creed when he came out of retirement to face the undefeated amateur from the Soviet Union, Ivan Drago. We are sure all of you Rocky fans know exactly what happened to Apollo in that match.
Duke would become the main trainer for Rocky Balboa and helped him avenge the death of his friend. The character would have limited exposure in both Rocky V and Rocky Balboa, but along with Rocky Balboa and Paulie Penino, would be the only character to appear in all of the films.
We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends and family of Tony Burton and we are going to go out with one more motivational speech from Duke.
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