What is the name of Rocky's trainer in the first two films?

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What is the name of Rocky's trainer in the first two films? The answer is Mickey Goldmill.

Mickey Goldmill is Rocky Balboa’s trainer and manager in Rocky and Rocky II. Played by Burgess Meredith, Mickey runs a Philadelphia boxing gym and initially sees Rocky as wasted talent before agreeing to train him for his unlikely world-title opportunity against Apollo Creed.

In the first film, Mickey’s strained relationship with Rocky adds personal conflict to the training story. Rocky is angry that Mickey did not take him seriously earlier, but eventually accepts his guidance. In Rocky II, Mickey prepares Rocky for the rematch with Apollo, using demanding old-school drills and changing Rocky from a southpaw style to a conventional right-handed stance.

Mickey is sometimes confused with Apollo Creed’s trainer, Tony “Duke” Evers. Duke works with Apollo and later helps Rocky, but Mickey is Rocky’s principal trainer in the first two films. Mickey also returns in Rocky III, where his health deteriorates before Rocky’s fight with Clubber Lang.

The character was portrayed by Meredith in the original series and became one of the franchise’s most recognizable mentors.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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