MGM has provided us with eight photos from the Sylvester Stallone movie "Rocky Balboa" which opens in theaters December 22, 2006.

Some movie fans may not have been born back in 1976 when the original "Rocky" came out in theaters. At that time, Rocky Balboa was the underdog because he was a small-time boxer that gets a once-in-a-lifetime chance to compete for the heavyweight title.

Four sequels and 30 years later, Sylvester Stallone is back in the ring. This time he's the underdog because he's long-since retired, but a computer simulation that pitted him in his prime against the current champ (and showed him to be the winner) has Rocky thinking about taking another shot at competition.

As the photos show, he does get back in the ring, but can he take on the heavyweight champion and not get killed in the process? I guess we'll find out on 12/22!

Click the Read link below to see the photos for yourself, as well as a high-res version of the movie poster. Be sure to check out the movie trailer on the Trailers and Videos page, too!