Sylvester Stallone ‘almost beaten to death’ by heavyweight boxer

Sylvester Stallone revealed that heavyweight puncher Earnie Shavers gave him a beatdown when the pair sparred in the 1970s.

Shavers, who died in September, had one of the biggest punches in the entire sport. George Foreman famously rated Shavers as the hardest-hitting top-division operator of all time.

Hollywood legend Stallone joined Jonathan Ross and guests via Zoom from New York. He spoke of sparring with boxing legends for his Rocky movie franchise over the years.

Those sessions often led to an injury.

“I sparred with [Muhammad] Ali, and Joe Fraser gave me eleven stitches. That was in about two seconds,” Stallone told Ross.

“I was thinking about using him [Frazier] instead of Mr. T in Rocky III. I said, ‘Let me use a real fighter.’ That’s not a good idea.”

Heavyweight sparring

On sharing the ring with some of the most dangerous heavyweights that ever laced up gloves, Stallone added: “They don’t know how to stop pulling their punches.

“That’s the whole point. They think, “I’ll follow through.

“Earnie Shavers literally almost beat me to death without trying. [He was] wearing 20-ounce gloves. Imagine if he was angry!”

Sylvester Stallone as Rocky

It’s a well-known fact that Stallone won’t be a part of the latest installment of the Rocky spin-off franchise “Creed.”

Michael B. Jordan directed for the first time, and Stallone wanted the actor to be the sole focus of production.

Fans of the beloved series may never see Rocky Balboa on the silver screen again as Stallone puts the character to rest for good.

On this week’s episode of The Jonathan Ross Show, Jonathan is joined by Hollywood legend Sylvester Stallone, two-time world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, stars of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Martin Freeman and Danai Gurira, six-time premier league-winning footballer Rio Ferdinand, comedian and Strictly Star Ellie Taylor, and, fresh from her victory at the Mercury Prize Awards, Little Simz will be performing live in the studio.

The Jonathan Ross Show is on Saturday at 10.00 pm on ITV and is available on the ITV hub.

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