Virgil finally meets hero Rocky

7:00am Sunday 28th January 2007

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JUST like in the film Rocky Balboa, a former Marlow man had one last chance at achieving the dream - of meeting his hero Sylvester Stallone.

Virgil Richardson, 34, first fell in love with the Rocky movies as a child and says he has watched them "literally hundreds of times".

“It was my one and only chance to meet him and it was brilliant."

He spent years collecting flags, posters and memorabilia of the Italian Stallion in the five iconic films.

But his dreams of meeting the film star in person looked set to be unfulfilled until the action hero decided to dust off the boxing gloves for one more shot at the Rocky franchise.

Rocky fanatic Virgil, a delivery driver who now lives in Maidenhead, said: "The uplifting music and underdog story really made an impression on my childhood, growing up on the Colditz estate in Marlow."

When Talksport Radio ran a competition to win tickets to the Rocky Balboa Leicester Square premiere on January 16, Virgil enlisted his pregnant, long-suffering wife Sophie to help in his quest to meet Sly.

After calling the station for 12 hours, she finally got through and nabbed the last pair of tickets and the station were so impressed with how excited Virgil was about winning that they named him caller of the week.

Sophie said: "He's driven me absolutely insane over the last 12 years, and he shows all the Rocky films to the kids.

"It's such a big thing for him because it was such a big part of his childhood."

On the night, Virgil took his brother Carl along with him and the flag pictured - a childhood souvenir from the Rocky series.

Arriving on the red carpet just as Sly began to sign autographs, Virgil was introduced to the Hollywood heavyweight as "the biggest Rocky fan in England".

And while chatting to his idol for a few minutes, Virgil and Sylvester were amazed to find they both had a four-year-old daughter called Scarlett.

He was so excited, he threw his beloved flag into the crowd.

Virgil said: "It was my one and only chance to meet him and it was brilliant. I was absolutely made up."

And his verdict on the new film?

He loved it and said it is the best one since Rocky 2, which is his favourite.

One of his best bits, he said, was when Rocky weightlifts with beer kegs, similar to the ones Virgil hefts every day at work.

Virgil added: "Apart from my kids being born it was the greatest night of my life."