Watch: When Sylvester Stallone Shared the Truth About How Kids in America Have Become Weak and Hard Work Is the Solution
Sylvester Stallone, in a video that has garnered over 1 million views, used boxing gloves — like those he fought with in “Rocky” — to illustrate why people should not shy away from doing hard things.
“Rocky” won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1977, and Stallone himself was nominated for Best Actor and for Best Original Screenplay.
Holding a pair of boxing gloves in a TikTok video first published in 2024, he said, “They don’t even allow these today because they’re so dangerous, but that’s what they used when I did the film. They’re barely 6 ounces; they’re Reyes; and they’re literally lethal.”
Nowadays, 10-ounce gloves are typical for heavyweight fights. The weight has to do with the amount of padding in the glove.
“So I still have them because it’s a time when people were tougher. Sorry, they were. Life is just getting a little easier and easier and easier, and ‘Oh, that’s great, and it’s wonderful,’ but it’s not,” Stallone said.
“I think when we force ourselves into tough situations, that’s what the human creature is supposed to do. They’re not supposed to have wheels on their suitcases. They’re not supposed to have lawnmowers with engines that pull them along. It’s a convenience, no question, but it just makes things easier,” he continued.
@sylvesterstalloneThese gloves are a constant reminder of how tough life can get and how important it is to put in the work. I cherish hard work. Hard work is like strong medicine, tastes horrible going down, but it makes you feel better. Keep punching! 🥊♬ original sound – sylvesterstallone
“Now, with AI, you can literally put your brain in a pickle jar and have that machine do it. So I cherish these moments. I cherish hard work even though I hate it. I know it’s like strong medicine tastes horrible going down, but it makes you feel better,” Stallone concluded.
His pep talk was reminiscent of the one his character in the 2006 film “Rocky Balboa,” which he also wrote, delivered to his on-screen son, Robert.
Robert confronts his father about the former boxer’s decision to get back in the ring in his late 50s for an exhibition fight with the reigning heavyweight champion. It has been decades since Rocky’s championship fights of the 1970s and 80s. Robert does not want the public to be reminded of his father’s past exploits and be in his shadow again.
“Now I start to get ahead. I start to get a little something for myself, and this happens… This is only going to end up bad for you, and it’s going to end up bad for me,” Robert said.
Rocky assured his son that hurting him is the last thing he wants to do, but he has made up his mind; he will fight.
The father then recalled the pride he felt watching Robert grow up from a baby to a fine young man.
“But somewhere along the line, you changed. You stopped being you. You let people stick a finger in your face and tell you you’re no good. And when things got hard, you started looking for someone to blame, like a big shadow,” Rocky said.
“Let me tell you something you already know: the world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows,” the former heavyweight champion continued. “It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it.”
“You, me, and nobody is going to hit as hard as life, but it ain’t about how hard you’re hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done,” Rocky said.
The father then encouraged the son to fight his own fight.
“Go out and get what you’re worth, but you got to be willing to take the hits, and not point fingers and saying you ain’t where you want to be because of him or her or anybody. Cowards do that, and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!” Rocky exclaimed.
He assured Robert that he would always love him, but “until you start believing in yourself, you ain’t gonna have a life.”
Now that’s some wise and inspirational stuff.
In the original “Rocky,” Stallone’s art actually imitated life back in the mid-1970s. He told the BBC‘s Barry Norman in 1977 that before “Rocky,” he was really struggling to make it in acting, being cast in some supporting roles.
“At that time, I must admit, my life was definitely on the wane, at least professionally,” he said. “I was emotionally, spiritually, physically bankrupt.”
Stallone recalled that he had $106 in the bank; his rent was $300, and he had a pregnant wife.
“You might say, I had quite a bit of fuel to sit down and write the script,” he said. “I wrote the script in about three and a half days only because I could hear the wolf at the door.”
Stallone said the boxer’s story in “Rocky” was certainly a metaphor for life.
“I took my particular plight, which isn’t unique. It’s every artist’s or every man who has ever wanted to do something, man or woman… that has not been able to do it because of the inability to get a break. The opportunity has never knocked on their door.”
He set the movie in Philadelphia, a muscular, industrial town. “Plus, if there’s ever a miracle that’s going to happen in America, it would happen in Philadelphia,” Stallone said, referring, of course, to the nation’s founding.
Rocky actually runs by Independence Hall in the movie’s famous training montage in the 1979 sequel.
As the writer of the 2026 book, “We Hold These Truths,” about the Declaration of Independence and Americans taking on challenging, tough things from the founding to the present day in the cause of liberty, I appreciate Stallone’s sentiment.
He’s right; don’t shy away from doing the hard thing. Put in the effort. Win or lose, at least you’ve been true to yourself and what you felt called and gifted to do. No regrets.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
