Donald Trump announced he was posthumously pardoning the first black heavyweight champion Jack Johnson on Thursday ... and it seems a lot of credit goes to Sylvester Stallone!!
Johnson was convicted more than 100 years ago of violating the Mann Act by transporting a white woman across state lines.
The conviction, largely seen as racist and an abuse of the legal system, has been urged by many in the boxing community to be pardoned for years.
But per POTUS, it was Rocky himself who swayed him to make the full pardon, tweeting back in April:
"Sylvester Stallone called me with the story of heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson.