Sylvester Stallone nostalgic on 40th anniversary of ‘Rocky II’

On the 40th anniversary of “Rocky II”, Hollywood heavyweight Sylvester Stallone said he is “incredibly grateful” to the audience for accepting and loving the characters from his boxing sports-drama franchise. The actor, who starred as Rocky Balboa, the eponymous southpaw boxer from Philadelphia, also wrote and directed the blockbuster sequel which hit theatres on June 15, 1979.

In his Instagram post, Stallone recalled the characters -- Rocky’s beloved wife Adrian, his trainer-manager Mickey Goldmill and opponent Apollo Creed. “A heartfelt thank you for accepting these characters and their stories into your lives! It seems like only yesterday when Adrian was telling me to ‘WIN! And Mickey pushing me to be an ‘Italian Tank! and go through him!’