Rocky vs. The Side of Beef

Rocky faces his fair share of skepticism in this first chapter; none more indomitable than this dead-cow punching bag. Rocky uses it to get into the mindset of treating his opponents like meat. Unfortunately, in this case, the meat wins: Sylvester Stallone permanently cracked and flattened one of his knuckles from hitting it repeatedly, which might explain why Rocky lost to Apollo in the end.

Rocky, Sylvester Stallone, Carl Weathers, 1976. © United Artists. Photo courtesy of the Everett Collection.