For more than 40 years, guest columnist Don Myers worked in every facet of the fight world. He has been a boxer, trainer, manager, writer, publicist, promoter and manufacturer of boxing products. He was also builder/director of The Parma Boxing Club.

While I was at the movie theater recently watching "Creed II" -- the latest installment in the rather lengthy "Rocky" franchise -- it brought back a pleasant memory of how Sylvester Stallone's iconic boxing film came to be.

I say pleasant, because I feel like I had a hand in the whole thing, however indirectly.

Back in the fall of 1974, I was working in the newly opened Richfield Coliseum, built in the middle of a cornfield in, well, the middle of nowhere. I had been hired as a coordinator and publicist for the venue's first boxing promotion, the Hungarian-American Boxing Tournament scheduled for that Nov. 30.

During a meeting, I told President Bob Brown and his staff that I also worked with Don King Productions and that King could pack the cavernous Coliseum with fight fans and maybe -- just maybe -- could bring in the great Muhammad Ali. I quickly got their blessings and the go-ahead to speak for them.

That night, from my apartment in Parma, I called King, who was quickly becoming the biggest boxing promoter on Earth. I explained the situation and described the huge venue capable of holding over 20,000 people for a fight. I also invited the King crew to the upcoming tournament to get a look-see at the setup.

After a little promotional stalling, he agreed that the venue would be ideal for a title fight and added: "I'd be more than happy to, Don. I could even put Ali in there. Go ahead and take care of it."

The Coliseum brass loved it. King and his people attended the international tournament, sniffed around the arena, had casual conversation with the staff -- and we set up the meeting that birthed the Muhammad Ali/Chuck Wepner Championship Title Fight, which took place on March 24, 1975.

Now, this is where "Rocky" comes into the story.

I understand that Stallone – then a broke actor and aspiring screenwriter -- had watched the fight, found inspiration in the drama and, within three days, had written the script (of 90 pages) for possibly the best fictional fight movie ever to capture the heart of the nation.

While writing the script, Stallone strategically aligned the fictional characters of Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed with Chuck Wepner and Muhammad Ali to a T -- Rocky as a half-punchy, nobody boxer, and Apollo Creed as the braggadocious and charming champion who gave a much lesser foe a chance at the title and stardom.

That original little movie, "Rocky," made Stallone a household name and a player in Hollywood, where he went on to make a $1.5 billion series of fight flicks based on the original battle between Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed.

But regardless of how it all came about, where it happened, and who or what triggered the imagination of the struggling writer, homage must be paid to the irreplaceable figure that it all depended on, the one who garnered the interest and created the hype, the driving force and the impetus that it all depended on -- the great Muhammad Ali.

Who knew that a phone call from a pajama-clad, hustling steelworker in a cluttered bedroom in Parma's Midtown Towers apartments could result in the Ali/Wepner Title Fight and everything "Rocky"?

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