Rocky blockbuster turns 48

On November 21, 1976, the iconic film “Rocky,” starring Sylvester Stallone as boxer and Million To One Shot Rocky Balboa, premiered in New York City, and it forever changed movie history!

The iconic film was a massive box office HIT, and received 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay for the then-unknown Stallone. Rocky ultimately took home three Oscars, including Best Picture, and made Stallone a Hollywood Superstar.

Sylvester Stallone was born on July 6, 1946, in New York City. By the early 1970s, he had begun his professional acting career, appearing in off-Broadway shows and small roles in films.

Stallone took the initiative and began writing film scripts, including Lords of Flatbush (1974), in which he co-starred with another relatively unknown young actor named Henry Winkler. Stallone’s career was transformed after the success of his next script, Rocky, in which he insisted on playing the lead role.

Produced on a shoestring budget, the film told the story of Rocky Balboa, a small-time, down-on-his-luck Philadelphia club fighter, who works as a debt collector for a loan shark, before landing a shot at the world heavyweight championship. A once in a lifetime chance, in the Land of Opportunity.

Rocky made iconic the scene where he does a training run up and down the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art while the film’s theme song, “Gonna Fly Now,” plays. The location now has a statue to honor the legendary Rocky character.

Sylvester Stallone was a constant, loyal and great friend of our Lifetime President Jose Sulaiman and is very close to the World Boxing Council.

Stallone is the most important ambassador in boxing history. In May 2018, he was instrumental and absolutely fundamental, in the pardon granted to Jack Johnson 100 years after Jack’s conviction, by President Donald Trump, at a special ceremony at the White House. Working together, Sylvester and the WBC never gave up until this was achieved, Justice was served and Jack Johnson finally vindicated.

Serving as WBC Ambassador, Sylvester presented President-elect Donald Trump with the WBC champion Green and Gold Belt, following his victory in the 2024 US Presidential Election.