As someone who only watched Rock (1976) this year, I went into this movie fresh.
I watched all the Rocky films and Creed 1 this year and I can honestly say, I am sad it took me this long to get into this franchise.
You don't need to have watched any Rocky film (Except maybe Creed 1) to get into the movie but having watched Rocky 4 a week before watching this, I appreciated the small details in the movie and especially one moment that had me in my feelings (no spoilers here)
This is not just a boxing movie. Its about family/love/forgiveness and retribution. You can't go wrong watching it this holiday season and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.