 He was hell-bent on killing the man. The towel wouldn't have done anything. But anyway, Rocky feels guilty about this. It's kind of like the whole premise of the movie, where then he feels that he has to avenge Apollo. So then the Soviets, the Soviets at the time, they say, okay, we'll give you a fight. We're not going to pay you, of course. It won't be for any sort of belt. You're going to fight in Moscow before a hostile crowd, and it's going to be on Christmas Day.