When watching Rocky and Apollo go to the ring to fight, Rocky and Apollo both do NOT have gloves on. You never see them put them on, they just are all of a sudden there. Also, if you know anything about boxing, boxers always come to the ring with the gloves already on.
The whole point of the movie was to let the Heavy Weight Champ challenge a nobody for the title. And besides when was the last time you have heard of a non-title boxing fight?