Rocky actor Sylvester Stallone could not land a romantic knockout punch.

In an excerpt from Me, an upcoming memoir from Elton John, the singer recounted a dinner that he hosted. It saw Stallone and actor Richard Gere trying to impress another famous guest, Princess Diana.

"Straight away, Gere and Diana seemed very taken with each other," wrote John, now 72.

Then, Princess Diana was separated from Prince Charles.

That rapport did not go down well with a brooding Stallone, now 73.

"I think he may have turned up to the party with the express intention of picking Diana up, only to find his plans for the evening ruined," John added.

At one point, someone had to step in when the two actors were seen "squaring up to each other, apparently about to settle their differences over Diana by having a fist-fight".

After dinner, John wrote that Stallone threw in the towel and left the party, but without first saying loudly that he would never have come if he knew "prince charming" (Gere, now 70) had also been invited.