Dolph Lundgren Puzzled By Sylvester Stallone's Claims That He Put Him In Hospital

Dolph Lundgren has revealed that he doesn't understand Sylvester Stallone's claims that he put him in hospital because he doesn't recall this happening while the pair were filming Rocky IV.

Stallone played the lead role of Rocky Balboa who endured arguably his toughest ever fight in the film, defeating the steroid-pumped Russian Ivan Drago (played by Lundgren) but at a cost of his boxing licence.

In a previous interview, 75-year-old Stallone said that he was in hospital for nine days following filming the fight, however, this is something Lundgren, 64, was confused about when he answered some readers' questions recently for The Guardian.

Alamy

One of the questions asked was: "Did you really hospitalise Sly while making Rocky IV?" To which Dolph responded: "I don't know. He keeps talking about it, so maybe he's right.

"He did go to the hospital, but I don't know whether it was my punches or the fact that he was so overworked as the director, actor and writer."

He went on to add: "We shot those 15 rounds over two or three weeks, eight or 12 hours a day, so you're throwing thousands of punches.

"If you don't connect, it looks a bit fake, but it doesn't mean you want to hurt the other guy. But there were no hard feelings."

Warner Bros. Production

He also spoke about some of the filming tricks that were used to make him look much bigger than Sly, explaining: "I am taller than him, so it's all about camera angles. A lot of times, they put me on a box. When I come into the press conference in my uniform, I have lifts in my shoes.

"Stallone was clever to exaggerate the difference. Less talented actors would try to make themselves look bigger against the other guy, but he knew that, by building up the opponent, it made him look better at the end."

Saying that Lundgren is six foot five while Stallone stands at five foot nine. So I mean, he is much taller.

However, arguable the most important question of them all was: "Coleslaw or mayonnaise on a ham sandwich?" To which Lundgren said: "I would say mayonnaise."

We're all going to sleep like babies tonight.