On April 13, 2010, Moviefone posted a piece by Sharon Knolle titled Iron Man 2 Inspired by Rocky III? Ms. Knolle’s contention:
When you’re making a sequel to a killer action movie, you can’t help but borrow from some of the great franchises that came before — and we think we know where ‘Iron Man’ got some of its inspiration: One Rocky Balboa.
She then goes on to present a trailer for Rocky III and a trailer for Iron Man 2 and then follows with a summary of the similarities. You can check out the full piece here.