Continuity mistake: When the man is trying to make Rocky sign some papers you see him holding the papers in his left hand. When it cuts he holds them in his right hand. (00:13:10)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Rocky is proposing to Adrian at the zoo, there are clumps of snow on his right shoulder. When he leans in towards Adrian to pull back her earmuff, the snow is gone. When he goes to kiss her, the snow reappears. When they walk out arm in arm, the snow disappears again. (00:14:15)
Continuity mistake: When Paulie has bought the car from Rocky he opens the door. When it cuts he opens the door again. (00:40:15)
Continuity mistake: Rocky's eye was injured at the fight in the beginning of the movie. They show the right eye covered up with the bandage at the hospital, but no one says specifically which eye it was. When Rocky decides to fight Apollo again he goes to see Mick. Mick the trainer tests both eyes. He tests the left and it tests OK, then he says, "Now we try the other lamp." The right eye is the one that has no peripheral vision. Mick slaps him on the right cheek to prove how he would get hurt by Apollo. When he does train him, Mick tells Rocky to switch to fighting right handed. Mick says,"Now, this will confuse Apollo, and it will protect that bad eye." However, in the fight at the end the announcers says that, "Apollo hit that bad left eye, remember from the first fight. It's the same eye that was cut the last time." (00:47:40 - 01:43:15)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Burgess Meredith comes to Stallone's home to convince Stallone to fight again, Stallone and Meredith are standing in the entry way behind the front door. When Meredith comes through the door, the door remains open. The shot cuts away to Talia Shire on the stairs and then back to Meredith and Stallone in the entry way. The door is now closed. (00:58:20)
Continuity mistake: When Rocky walks up the stairs after watching Apollo taunt him on television, there is a chair and a plant on the floor against the wall in the back of the scene. A few minutes later, Rocky comes back down the stairs to answer the door. Mickey enters, and then there is a shot of Adrian standing on the steps. In this shot, we can plainly see that the chair and plant are gone. (00:58:55 - 01:01:30)
Continuity mistake: When Rocky and Adrian see their baby for the first time the baby is wide awake. When it cuts to the baby he is asleep. (01:19:50)
Continuity mistake: When Apollo Creed is approaching the ring for the rematch at the end of the film, his robe starts off done-up, next shot shows it undone and the towel around his neck loose, and then in the last shot it's back to being neat again with the robe done up. Even when he enters the ring it's all neat and tidy. (01:32:40)
Continuity mistake: In the first round of the fight, Apollo Creed decks Rocky. When Rocky falls, he lands in the neutral (yellow) corner, but when he gets up he is standing in his own (black) corner. (01:36:55)
Continuity mistake: When Rocky gets ready for the second round there are blood on his chest. In the next shot the blood is gone. (01:38:15)
Continuity mistake: In the pre-fight scene, Rocky's trainer is seen pulling two cotton swabs from his mouth and then leads Rocky to the center of the ring for the referee's instructions. As the referee is talking, the camera goes back and forth between Apollo and Rocky, with Rocky's trainer standing behind him. Except now, Rocky's trainer has about four cotton swabs sticking out of his mouth. At the end of the instructions when Apollo says "You're going down.", the camera pans to Rocky and his trainer and the swabs have disappeared. (01:40:25)
Continuity mistake: When Rocky knocks Apollo down in the last round, Apollo lands on his back. The very next shot, Apollo is on his front reaching for the ropes. (01:46:55)
Continuity mistake: When Rocky and Pauly are talking by the bridge, Pauly's sno-cone continually changes size with each shot.
Continuity mistake: Prior to the start of the fight when Apollo and Rocky are being announced, look real close right after Apollo is announced. The camera pans to his corner and behind Apollo, you see one of his cornermen hold up his title belt behind him. Not even a split second later when we get the camera view of the same happenings from the upper-deck area, nobody is holding up the belt.
Continuity mistake: When Rocky is carrying Adrian home after their wedding, Adrian is still wearing her bridal veil cap and we see the lace design closeup, but when they're inside the apartment Adrian is wearing an entirely different veil cap.
Continuity mistake: When Mickey is watching Apollo Creed on TV, he has one sock on. When he stands up in rage, he has both socks on.
Continuity mistake: During the final part of the "gonna fly now" scene, the number of kids around Rocky is inconsistent between shots as of when he jumps over a bench and when he is walking up the steps.
Continuity mistake: When Rocky sees his baby boy, he keeps swapping from head covered / uncovered and messy / brushed hair between shots.
Answer: With all the damage Apollo did to Rocky, Rocky still wasn't knocked out. In the film series, Rocky is depicted as having an almost superhuman ability to absorb punches. Rocky also caused internal bleeding in Apollo. Tony knew that Rocky was far more dangerous than anyone realized.
Greg Dwyer