But somewhere along the line, you changed. Then the time come for you to be your own man and take on the world, and you did. It was great just watching you, every day was like a privilige. This kid's gonna be somebody better than anybody I ever knew.' And you grew up good and wonderful. Rocky Balboa: I'd hold you up to say to your mother, 'this kid's gonna be the best kid in the world. Rocky Balboa: You ain't gonna believe this, but you used to fit right here.

The crowd was never told to stand up or to chant - they had done it completely on their own, and according to the filmmakers, by far the biggest cheer of the night was for Rocky, not for any of the real fighters.

Stallone was hoping that the crowd wouldn't boo or cause any problems, but as he made his way to the ring (as Rocky), the whole building gave him a standing ovation and began to chant 'ROCKY, ROCKY'. As such, the press conference scene was shot only moments after the real press conference with Hopkins and Taylor, whilst the scene when Rocky walks through the curtain and down to the ring was shot using the real Hopkins/Taylor crowd. Stallone suggested that the film could piggyback the real event, using the real HBO format, the real crowd, even the real press conference setup.

Sylvester Stallone knew that HBO had an upcoming PPV event with Bernard Hopkins taking on Jermaine Taylor in the main event, at the Mandalay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. During preproduction, as the filmmakers tried to find a good location to shoot the fight, they met with constant obstacles - every suitable arena was booked out.

Rocky balboa speech scene