Hollywood veteran Sylvester Stallone on Tuesday gave a shoutout to American boxer Mike Tyson, saying that the latter gave “one of the greatest Oscar-winning performances of all time” during his comeback match with Jake Paul on November 16.
In the highly-anticipated boxing match that took place at the AT&T Stadium in Texas, Paul won through a unanimous decision after they fought for eight rounds.
“Just to set my personal record straight. Business is business. SOMETIMES you have to do hard things and sacrifice for the sake of helping your FAMILY,” Stallone wrote in his note on Instagram alongside pictures of his iconic character Rocky Balboa and Tyson facing each other in the ring in one of the Rocky films. Tyson played Rocky’s opponent in the movie.
Saying that he has known Tyson since the latter was 19 years old, Stallone said, “Please, Jake, be grateful, HE SPARED YOUR LIFE! Trust me ….. Keep punching Mike, there will never be a MAN like you, a GLADIATOR like you, and a SOUL like you! Keep punching champion of champions.”
Highlighting Tyson’s immense strength as a boxer, the Rambo star signed off by saying, “I remember once I bumped into him and thought I was hit by runaway BULLDOZER.”
After his return to the ring ended in his defeat, Tyson received criticism from fans. The match marked the 58-year-old boxer’s comeback after he fought Roy Jones Jr. in 2020.
The first film of the Rocky franchise was released in 1976 and was followed by the sequels Rocky II (1979), Rocky III (1982), Rocky IV (1985), Rocky V (1990), and Rocky Balboa (2006). Stallone wrote and directed four of the five sequels, which revolve around the boxing career of Rocky Balboa.
