 Sylvester Stallone nearly set up a fight for the ages after jokingly challenging Pope Francis to a boxing match on a recent visit to the Vatican City. The American actor and action hero, 77, is famous for playing on-screen tough men such as Rocky Balboa and John Rambo in a career spanning seven decades. And it appears that Pope Francis, 86, whose full title is the Bishop of Rome, almost got a taste of the firepower Sly has been known to bring the big screen. While on a tour of the Vatican on Friday, Sly bumped into the religious leader, introducing him to his wife and three daughters, who had joined him on the trip. It was at this point that the Rocky movie star put both of his fists up and challenged the Pope to a boxing match that would have lived in infamy. 'Ready? We box?' Sly asked before the Pope put his own fists up and pretended he was ready to duel the boxing movie legend. Thankfully, it was only a joke. The Pope saw the funny side (Picture: Vatican Media) Rocky Balboa had an audience with the Pope (Picture: Reuters) Beforehand, the two had been engaging in light small talk, with the Rambo actor introducing the Pope, who was anointed in 2013, to his family. 'It's good to meet you – this is my wife, my daughters,' he said, before the Pope responded, 'Three? [That's] many!', as he shook each of their hands. Sly married his current wife, Jennifer Flavin, 55, in 1997 and they have three daughters together, Sophia, Sistine, and Scarlet. It was a pleasant day in the Vatican for Sly's family (Picture: Reuters) You first, Pope Francis… (Picture: MGM) Pope Francis took on the title in 2013 (Picture: Reuters) The New York native, who was born in the Hell's Kitchen region of Manhattan, thanked the Pope for taking time out of his schedule to meet with them. 'Thank you very much for taking time in your busy days, we appreciate this very much,' to which the Pope replied that he was 'honoured' to have done){kind=link}
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Sylvester Stallone nearly set up a fight for the ages after jokingly challenging Pope Francis to a boxing match on a recent visit to the Vatican City.
The American actor and action hero, 77, is famous for playing on-screen tough men such as Rocky Balboa and John Rambo in a career spanning seven decades.
And it appears that Pope Francis, 86, whose full title is the Bishop of Rome, almost got a taste of the firepower Sly has been known to bring the big screen.