My Rocky Story.
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The Malaysian writer whose Rocky book was launched by Sylvester Stallone's mother returns with a memoir in Rocky's 50th year

In January 2007, Jacqueline Stallone, mother of Sylvester Stallone, flew to Kuala Lumpur at the age of 85 to launch a book by a Malaysian journalist she had never met in person. Almost twenty years later, that journalist, Gerald Chuah, is telling the full story for the first time.

My Rocky Story: One More Round is Gerald's memoir of a dream that took nearly two decades to come true. It arrives as Rocky marks its 50th anniversary, with Stallone's memoir The Steps in bookshops and the film I Play Rocky due in cinemas in November 2026.

A dream that would not let go

In 1988, a shy young student pinned Stallone's quotes to his dormitory wall and began to write a book about the Rocky philosophy. His letters to Hollywood came back stamped “received”, with a short note. The manuscript sat on a shelf for years.

In January 1997 he took a midnight bus to Singapore for the opening of Planet Hollywood. The PR company gave him the green light on 21 January. During the opening the next evening, he climbed a fence to reach the front of the stage. Later, Syed Yusof Syed Nasir introduced him to Stallone and handed over the manuscript.

In December 2006, on the night he nearly gave up, he sent one email to Jacqueline Stallone. She replied within half an hour. On 22 January 2007, ten years to the day after the Singapore night, she rode the escalator beside him at Borders, Berjaya Times Square, to the Rocky theme, and launched his book. When Fox withdrew its support days before, she came anyway. On his poster she wrote, "Would You Believe This Day?"

Why now

"Rocky is back in the spotlight, and so is the message that carried me," said Gerald, who turned 60 in September 2026. "I spent my working life telling other people's stories. This is the point where life touched me the most, and I finally had to tell it."

The memoir is also a tribute to Jacqueline Stallone, who passed away in 2020 at the age of 98. Few people know that she travelled across the world to stand beside an unknown writer because she believed in him and in the Rocky message.

Why the Rocky spirit still matters

Fifty years after Rocky first ran up the museum steps in Philadelphia, people still run up those steps every day. Today we can get almost anything at the touch of a button, but no app can climb the steps for us. A dream still takes years of work, rejection, and getting up one more time after being knocked down.

Rocky became famous because of one idea. He did not need to win. He only wanted to go the distance, and he was not afraid to fail on his own terms. Stallone lived the same way. As the story is usually told, he wrote the script in about three and a half days, then refused to sell it unless he could play Rocky himself. The new film I Play Rocky retells that story, and Gerald first read about it decades ago. That attitude made Stallone unique, and it is still relevant today. "As the Rocky Balboa poster says, it ain't over till it's over," said Gerald. "Going the distance can sound like a catchphrase, but reaching for a dream beyond your grasp is what makes the difference in your life. Keep your dreams alive, and you inspire the people around you. That is why Rocky is an icon today. He gives people hope. Going the distance means not giving up, even when the odds are against you."

Two books, one journey

My Rocky Story: One More Round is the memoir. It follows Gerald from a sheltered boy in Penang to a journalist, a stubborn author, and finally a man of 60 who asks every reader one question: What is your Rocky story?

In the Eye of the Tiger is the companion book, the one Jacqueline Stallone launched in 2007, now updated. It keeps the quotes from Gerald's original research and adds Stallone's recent interviews and the film scenes that still move audiences today.

Synopsis: My Rocky Story: One More Round

Gerald Chuah retires on his 60th birthday in September 2026. Four days later, Rocky is all over the news again, and he goes back to the dream that shaped his life.

In 1988, a shy student pins Sylvester Stallone's quotes to his dormitory wall and writes a book in seven weeks. His letters to Hollywood come back stamped received. He becomes a journalist, and he spends years telling other people's stories while his own manuscript waits in a drawer.

In January 1997 he takes a midnight bus to Singapore for the Planet Hollywood opening. The PR company gives him the green light; Syed Yusof Syed Nasir makes the introduction and hands his book to Stallone. Publication remains a long way off.

On the night of 12 December 2006, close to giving up, he sends one email to Jacqueline Stallone. She replies within half an hour. Six weeks later she flies to Kuala Lumpur at 85, and on 22 January 2007 she launches his book to the sound of the Rocky theme.

The memoir follows the fear, the friends who laughed, a printer who let him down, and a mother who kept her word. It ends with one question for every reader: What is your Rocky story?

Synopsis: In the Eye of the Tiger (updated edition)

This is the book Jacqueline Stallone launched in 2007, now revised for Rocky's 50th year. It collects the quotes and lessons Gerald gathered from Stallone's interviews and films over nearly two decades, and it shows how each one can guide an ordinary life.

Its chapters follow seven principles drawn from Stallone's life and work, from The World Meets Nobody Halfway to The Thrill of Victory. Readers will find lessons on taking the blows and moving forward, refusing to throw in the towel, and going the distance.

The new edition keeps the quotes from the original research. It adds Stallone's recent interviews, in which he looks back on 50 years of Rocky, and it revisits the film scenes that still move audiences today.

What's new in 2026

The updated In the Eye of the Tiger draws on the interviews Stallone gave around his 80th birthday, the release of his memoir The Steps, and Rocky's 50th anniversary, including CBS News Sunday Morning, the Associated Press and The New York Times. Readers can look forward to:

• How he kept knocking on doors until one finally opened
• Why he turned down a fortune rather than let someone else play Rocky
• Refusing to break when he had come too far to quit
• Insecurity as fuel, and acting when you have no confidence it will work
• His daily discipline at 80, and why there are no free lunches
• Why he calls himself lucky, and why Rocky is fiction while his own story is real
• Living with regret, and turning it into something you can build on
• How his comeback began with the pen, writing his way back after the lean years

What struck Gerald most, from 1988 until today, is how consistent Stallone has been. "Whenever he speaks about life or his films, everything connects," he said. "What he said fifty years ago and what he says now fall on the same line. That is what made me want to understand him more deeply. Working out what he really means behind his words is still a joy for me."

About the author

Gerald Chuah was born in George Town, Penang, and raised in Butterworth. He joined the New Straits Times as a crime reporter in 1990, later worked in entertainment journalism at The Malay Mail and the New Straits Times, and interviewed many of the biggest names in film and music. In 1997 he shared the Malaysian Press Institute award for Best Entertainment Journalist.

Neither book is endorsed by Sylvester Stallone or his family.

Media contact

Gerald Chuah
gerald@intheeyeofthetiger.com
Phone: to be confirmed
Planned website: MyRockyStory.com

Interviews, review copies and photographs from the 2007 launch are available on request.

Short version for social media

In January 2007, Jacqueline Stallone, mother of Sylvester Stallone, flew to Kuala Lumpur at 85 to launch my book about Rocky. It took me nearly twenty years to get there. Now, in Rocky's 50th year, I'm telling the whole story for the first time in my memoir, My Rocky Story: One More Round, with an updated In the Eye of the Tiger alongside it. This book is my tribute to her. What is your Rocky story?