The city of Los Angeles announced Wednesday a $50,000 reward for any information that would be instrumental in solving the 32-year-old murder of famed boxing icon Howard Steindler.

The character named Mickey Goldmill, a passionate, grizzled old boxing manager in the “Rocky” films starring Sylvester Stallone was inspired by the real life of Steindler, is one of the most memorable characters in the movie, and earned Burgess Meredith and Oscar nomination for his performance.

Steindler owned the Main Street Gym, frequented by the likes of Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali trained, and he managed fighters including world champion Danny “Little Red” Lopez.

Meredith once told the Los Angeles Times that in preparing for the role of Mickey he studied Steindler for two weeks saying he [Steindler], “gave me the mind of the man.”

Steindler was found dead in his gold Cadillac near his home in Encino, California in 1977 having been beaten, robbed, and suffocated.