A nine-year-old from Alabama might be the next Rocky Balboa that Sylvester Stallone meets.

Ro Knight met Stallone on Sunday during the inaugural “Rocky Day” in Philadelphia, recreating one of the most famous moments from the film series.

“It was fantastic,” Knight told NBC. “He was surprised, I guess. It was awesome.”

Knight approached Stallone as he was taking photo ops with fans in front of the city’s famed Rocky statue as part of the celebration.

“Let me tell you something that you already know,” Knight told Stallone. “The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows…”

But it certainly was all sunshine and rainbows on this day for Knight and Stallone. Knight continued with the famous speech from the movie “Rocky Balboa” and was even joined at times by Stallone as a large crowd looked on.

“That’s how winning is done!” the two shouted simultaneously midway through the performance.

After Knight’s approximately 45-second speech, the crowd applauded him as he was Rocky following his victory in the heavyweight championship. Like Balboa, Knight had spent his entire life preparing for this moment; however, his training did not involve chasing chickens and sprinting up stairs in museums.

It required him to watch a lot of “Rocky” movies, which he claimed he started viewing with his father when he was a toddler. Then, in order to get ready for the audiences, he had to commit Stallone’s lines to memory and practice his performance.    

“The more people the better,” said Knight, an aspiring actor and wrestler.

“If I’m coming down there, I have to do something,” Knight said. “So, I was like, ‘What’s the most iconic promo?’ I’ve done it in the past before. I started memorizing it again. Then I went up and did it.”

Though the 77-year-old actor had previously witnessed Knight’s recreation, this was the first time Stallone and Knight had stood toe to toe.

Rocky Balboa was, in actuality, less well-known when he entered the ring than Knight, the nine-year-old social media sensation. More than 50,000 people follow his @Ro_knows_wrestling Instagram account.

Wearing Rocky’s red, white, and blue trunks, Knight gave the same statement in a video that Stallone posted to Instagram in May 2021.