Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone attends the 2016 LACMA Art Film Gala honoring Robert Irwin and Kathryn Bigelow Getty

Rocky Balboa aka Sylvester Stallone is very much alive, happy, healthy and in his own words "still punching." After some sick online troll falsely spread rumours that the Hollywood star has died of cancer, 71-year-old Stallone himself took to social media to dismiss the latest hoax.

"Please ignore this stupidity... Alive and well and happy and healthy... Still punching!" the iconic actor wrote alongside a screenshot of the RIP messages that have been flooding the internet. As if the clarification straight from the horse's mouth was not enough, the actor followed it up with another post.

Sharing a video of him with his daughters Sophia, 21, and Sistine, 19, Stallone cheekily added that it was "great to be back from the dead".

While this is not the first time such bizarre and whirlwind rumours have taken over the internet – a similar fake news story had surfaced in September 2016 – the latest round of rumours has definitely left some die-hard Rocky fans outraged.

"People who make up Bullshit like that obviously have something missing in their own lives. Long live Rocky Balboa," an Instagram user commented on a post shared by the actor's brother, Frank Stallone.

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"This is like the second time these rumours came out. People are sick f***s," another enraged fan wrote, as someone else added, "Some sick bastards posting hoax... far from funny... for me just sick bastards who need a good punch to the head... these hoaxes are SICK..."

"@frank.stallone was this picture released publicly, or did the guy steal/ or even take it?" enquired another fan pointing out the controversial picture, which shows a sick and frail Stallone and is believed to be the root cause of all the rumours.

Meanwhile, a fan debunked the rumours on Twitter, writing: "Rocky is alive and well! Stop the nonsense!"

However, for those still concerned about Stallone's health, here's some update from his brother.

"This picture was posted of my brother by the low life who said he was dead. This photo is from the makeup trailer on the set of Creed. Who raised these cretans anyway that they would find humour in someone's passing? This person @rockybalboa should be thrown off social media and locked up!" wrote Frank.