Goofs

When Rocky is in training for the re-match with Clubber and is having flashbacks to the first fight, they cut to a scene in black and white where Rocky is taking an uppercut to the body. It is clearly visible that Rocky is wearing the "Stars and Stripes" trunks that Apollo gives to him right before the re-match. Rocky could not have been wearing these trunks because they hadn't even been given to him yet. This is only evident in older home media 4:3 open matte frame versions, widescreen framed versions crop off that particular part of the frame (as would have original theatrical screenings). Rocky is also wearing the shorts on the beach.

Before the final fight, the crowd scenes contain the picture boards of Rocky and Apollo in the background, making it obvious that it is the same crowd footage from Rocky II (1979).

There are multiple errors with the time-line and chronology of this film and its relationship with the previous two movies. Most obviously, Rocky (1976) is set primarily in 1975, with the title fight taking place on January 1, 1976. Rocky II (1979) is also set in 1976, with the title fight taking place on Thanksgiving, November 25. The events in Rocky III are said to take place three years later, placing it in 1979/1980. However, the newspaper advertising the charity match between Rocky and Thunderlips gives a date of 1982. Another major discrepancy is in relation to Micky's age and date of death. In the first film, Micky says he is 76, placing his birth in either 1899 or 1900. In Rocky III however, his headstone lists his date of birth as 1905, making him 71 in the original film. Furthermore, the headstone lists his date of death as 1981, which implies that he was 76; the same age he was four years previously (in the original film).

In the second fight with Clubber Lang, between the first and second rounds, the shot is flopped - the word "Clubber" is backwards on his shorts and one of his crew's robes clearly has "World Champion" backwards as well.

When talking to Adrian on the beach, Rocky appears to have not shaved in a few days. About halfway through the scene, he suddenly appears shaved.

At Micky's funeral, there are only 4 people present (Rocky, Adrian, Paulie and Al the Cutman. In order for a Jewish service/prayer to take place, there must be a minimum of 10 men (Minyan). If there is not a Minyan then the prayers have no validity and therefore strangers are often invited to the prayers ensuring there are 10 or more men.

In reality, Mickey could not handpick all of Rocky's opponents. Rocky would be required to fight who the number one contender by the boxing commission, which in this case is Clubber Lang. If he didn't, he would be stripped of his title and there would be a match between the top two contenders to determine a new champion.

During the first fight with Clubber while Mickey is lying on the table in the locker room, the doctor is overheard to say "his blood pressure is 200 over 50 we'd better start CPR." In actuality, the heart must be beating for there to be a blood pressure and CPR is only initiated when the heart and or respirations cease.

In one of his matches, Clubber is pummeling an opponent who is down on one knee. The referee should have immediately disqualified Lang for this action.

Mickey is revealed as Jewish in the funeral scene, but religious tradition requires a plain wood coffin with no metal be used (the coffin is obviously painted and clearly has metal handles). In addition, Jews cannot be embalmed, nor are they buried above ground. Fair enough to assume Rocky probably wouldn't know those facts, but not quite as fair to assume a rabbi wouldn't inform him.

As the scene depicting the dedication of the Rocky statue opens, the camera is focused on the snare drum of one of the high school band members. If one looks closely, it is clear that Mr. T autographed the top of the drum for the band member at some point before filming the scene.

(at around 6 mins) The newspaper clip showing Clubber Lang Win has a picture of Clubber Lang with a caption about a Mr. Danbury being charged with manslaughter with trial to begin on Tuesday. No article on the newspaper but the heading talks about the win.

During the last fight scene, Rocky is punching away at Clubber, and the two seemingly glide across from one end of the ring to the other. If you listen carefully, you can hear the sound of the rolling platform that they are standing on.

Rocky seems to have no idea how good Clubber Lang is before their first fight. As champion he would be aware of other contenders, especially the number one contender, and would have already seen footage of Lang fighting.

When walking down the steps for the first fight with Clubber (just before the scuffle in the corridor), when he reaches the bottom, Rocky (Stallone) raises his fist in the air for the media cameras and accidentally catches Mickey (Burgess Meredith) on the nose with his elbow, he then puts his arm around him and smiles to apologise.

The first fight against Lang would have been stopped by the referee long before the knockout. Rocky's inability to defend himself against Lang's repeated punches would have put him in what is considered "imminent danger" well before he went down.

In the training montage, while Frank Stallone's "Pushin'" plays, the guitar player of the orchestra plays something different than what is heard on the track, and the string players make playing movements, but are not heard on the track at all.

At 1:22:46 before the second fight starts, Clubber says 'you ready for another beating?' Rocky then says 'don't look at him' then a voice is heard saying 'let's just be cool', but neither Rocky's or Apollo's lips move. After the pre-fight brawl Rocky says to Apollo 'I thought you said be cool', so it is clear Apollo was meant to have said 'let's just be cool'.

Just prior to the rematch, Clubber upsets Apollo who is in the corner of the ring. Behind Apollo next to the ring there are two director's chair labeled "Sly" and "Mr. T" are clearly visible.

After the final fight where Rocky and Apollo are alone in the gym. You can see a crew member walk by in the bottom left corner while Rocky and Apollo both get into the ring.

At about the 1 hour and 6 minute mark, when Duke and Apollo are watching footage from the first Clubber fight and discussing Rocky's stamina, right after Apollo says "we'll be outta steam, man.", the footage shows a camera view from behind Clubber's head - the camera operator is clearly standing inside the ring. They are watching a scene from the movie within the movie.

The final fight supposedly takes place in New York City's Madison Square Garden; yet in the very first interior shot, a crowd panorama briefly shows the word "Philadelphia" along the concourse. The arena is actually the Philadelphia Spectrum.

Not really a plot hole, but worth mentioning. By Rocky revealing to the audience that his strategy is to allow Clubber Lang to pummel him, the audience then feels that he is really not in any danger. Clubber delivers multiple heavy blows in which Rocky seems to be affected by, but is it all part of his act, or is his "plan" somewhat backfiring?

Earlier, while watching footage of the first bout with Clubber Lang, Apollo states that Rocky could last about seven or eight rounds before he ran out of steam. It would have been much better for Rocky to implement his strategy in one of the later rounds, rather that the in the second.

In the beginning of the film, there's an overhead shot (of Rocky and "Thunderlips" facing one another) where the shadow of the boom mic is visible on the back of Thunderlips's head.

At one point during their rematch, one of the commentators comments on Lang retaliating about a second before Clubber even did anything.

Despite getting hit a lot more in their rematch, Rocky has less blood and swells than their first bout.

Before the rematch, one of the commentators says that Lang likes to hurt a man to the body but Lang hardly ever throws body punches.

Rocky's manager, Mickey was suffering a heart attack prior and during Rocky's fight with Clubber, but the Doctor who was called to care for Mick didn't take him to the hospital. In reality the Doctor should have taken Mick to the hospital, instead of waiting for Rocky to finish the match which was very uncharacteristic of the Doctor to not have taken him.