A good woman is hard to find, and worth far more than diamonds. Her husband trusts her without reserve, and never has reason to regret it.
- Proverbs 31:10-11That was until he lost her to ovarian cancer. At the beginning of the sixth film we see him sitting at Adrian's grave and looking totally lost. Rocky is devastated because Adrian was his everything.
Later that night he takes a tour with his brother in law Paulie as he visits the sights throughout the city where he and Adrian spent their first date Each location represent a special moment that helped Rocky and Adrian begin their life together. The most poignant of all was when he remembered inviting her into his apartment and how all he wanted was for her to trust him, which she did. In other words, he wanted Adrian to know that she was good to him, which is why he had no intention of hurting her.
The loss of Adrian leaves a permanent void in his life. While the film doesn't take the time to suggest that Rocky would find true fulfillment in the divine it does remind him that he is still alive and that his life still has a purpose because of the fact that he is still good. One of the purposes we all have is to love our neighbor (Matthew 22:39) and this does not change even when we lose our spouse. We are still people and we as well as others were made to be loved
The first person to oppose the idea of Rocky fighting again was Paulie. Now that Adrian was gone Rocky struggled to find a purpose in life. He was obviously retired and spent many of those years with Adrian as they opened a restaurant that he continued to operate after her death. That did not mean that he did not miss the thing that burned inside of him. Rocky makes it clear to Paulie that he's not interested in doing anything really big or in trying to become a champion. He simply wants to compete because he recalls the purpose that it gave him. Perhaps that's what he meant when he said that there was still stuff in the basement or perhaps boxing will be the activity that will help him release the anger he was still feeling over the loss of Adrian. In some ways Rocky isn't clear but we certainly can see that he is looking for something to live for again.
Rocky is the first to have to dig down as he is clearly over matched by Dixon's youth and boxing skills. After a couple of knock downs and awkward misses Rocky eventually figures out how to get to Dixon. Once this happens Dixon feels a type of pressure that he had never felt before. Aside from that, he also has to deal with a broken hand and then a knockdown, which certainly gave Rocky a huge psychological advantage.
As the fight goes on the two warriors battle each other without pause. Then in the final round Rocky is dropped by Dixon one last time and we can see that he is about to quit. That is when he looks at his son Robert and reminds himself that he needs to teach his son by example as he is now beyond words. He will teach his son through the thing that he knows best.
The nice thing about this scene being done in the context of a film are the visuals what show us all that Rocky was actually thinking. In this case he wasn't just knocked down in a boxing match because in his mind he was reviewing some of the toughest moments from his life. That means that he got to see how life also knocked him down with the worst thing being the death of Adrian. So, as he gets up to finish the match we also see him getting up to live his life to the fullest knowing that he has so much more to accomplish. Now we see more than ever why it was important for him to have this match because perhaps this was the only thing that could really remind him that he was good.
The bell rings while the two boxers were in the middle of the ring duking it out. Once the fight is over they embrace and it is there that Rocky tells Dixon that he is a great champion. The smile on Dixon's face says it all because he received such praise from a two time champion who defeated some of the greatest heavyweight boxers in history. This was the self-respect Dixon really wanted and the encouragement he received from Martin after the fight further revealed to him that he was in fact the champion that he hoped to be. He was indeed tested in the ring that night and he prove to himself and to the whole world that he had the heart to deal with the baptism of fire that Martin had referred to earlier in the film.
In the end we see that Rocky and Dixon in fact needed each other in order to show themselves as well as the world around them that they were in fact great warriors. This is where we can be indebted to our opponent as they give us the opportunity to test ourselves in order to see how great we can truly be. In doing so we acknowledge to our opponent that they are good and they in turn do the same to us because our efforts tested them in the same way.
Part One: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqxO2v2dlg0
Part Two: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h4oKzBTujE
Finally, we have the ending scene where Rocky goes to Adrian's grave to offer flowers and to let her know that once again, they did it. In other words, she is still in his heart but now we see a look on his face that we didn't see at the beginning of the film. Yes, he misses her but we can see as he walks away from her grave that he has more life to live. In the past it was Adrian that reminded him that he was good but now it was his other love, which was boxing, that reminded him that he was more than a man who lost his wife. He still has a son to love and we also see the impact he had on Marie Rocky and Marie well as her son by reaching out and being kind to them (this is a deleted scene but it makes the point): Rocky and Steps
We can't give what we don't have so the best way to show people they are good is to remind ourselves that we are also good. If there is one lesson we can learn from the love that was shown in all of the Rocky films it is this: you don't have to be the smartest person or the most famous person in the world to love someone. All you have to do is reach out to them and show them that they are good.
The impact will last a lifetime and this is best seen by the fact that Rocky never forgot the woman that showed him that he was in fact, good.