Trivia: The actor who plays Spider Rico is indeed the same actor who played him in the 1976 original film (Pedro Lovell).
Trivia: During filming of the final fight scene Sylvester Stallone was actually knocked unconscious by the punches.
Trivia: The big picture on the back wall of the restaurant is the one at the end of Rocky 3 when Rocky and Apollo face off in the gym.
Trivia: This is the first Rocky sequel that does not open with a recap of the ending fight from the previous movie.
Answer: Stallone himself answered this question in an interview. "When Rocky was diagnosed with brain damage he never went for a second opinion and yielded to his wife's wishes to stop. So with the advent of new research techniques into brain damage, Rocky was found to be normal among fighters and he was suffering the results of a severe concussion. By today's standards Rocky Balboa would be given a clean bill of health for fighters.