Sylvester Stallone explains why he started fighting with his right hand in ‘Rocky II’

Sylvester Stallone revealed that Rocky II – The Revenge (1979) almost never got off the ground. In an interview with TMZin particular Arnold & Sly: Rivals, Friends, Icons (via Variety), the actor stated that he trained with the bodybuilder Franco Columbu about a month before filming for the sequence began, when his pectoralis major muscle detached from the bone.

During a training break, Columbus challenged Stallone in a weightlifting competition. “So I come down and I’m maybe only 200 pounds. I’m just warming up and I hear ‘pow,'” the actor said. “I fall to the floor. Franco says, ‘Let me see.’ He squeezes his fingers — I detached my pecs from the bone. Like, really bad. I could hear him tearing, and he’s clenching his fingers. And I think I’m going to faint.”

“I’m going home. I feel like my career is over. I should start Rocky IIdrive it, all in a month and a half,” he continued. “Here’s the difference — and Schwarzenegger I would have done the same: I can’t use that arm, but I’m going to change that in Rocky. He will fight with his right arm.”

Therefore, fans of the franchise may have noticed changes in the narrative. The character of Sylvester He suddenly has vision problems and is forced to learn to fight using his right hand. “Completely illogical,” he acknowledged Stallone.

“But I said, ‘I’m not going to stop this movie just because of this.’ And it was a serious injury… I changed arms. That was one of the main things. But it’s interesting how these incredible trips happen. But we don’t stop, we don’t give up.”