Duke warns Creed that it appears Rocky "means business", showing he is serious about the forthcoming fight, but the warning is brushed aside by Apollo, who remarks "yeah, so do I", then returns to shop talk of set decoration for the fight.įor the fight, Apollo dresses up like both George Washington and Uncle Sam in the pre-fight festivities (with his matching trademark "stars and stripes" boxing shorts) is in a jovial mood until Rocky knocks him down in the first round with a single uppercut the first knock down Creed had ever suffered. Duke raises concern again when he sees Balboa in a television interview, training by punching sides of beef in a meat packing plant - breaking the ribs - however, Apollo puts more effort into giving everyone a good show rather than training for the bout.
Duke warns Apollo against facing Balboa since he fights left-handed, but Apollo brushes off the idea that he could be anything resembling a legitimate threat, pledging to knock him out in three rounds. Apollo also explains his choice by saying: " Who discovered America? An Italian, right? What better way to celebrate its 200th birthday than to get it on with one of his descendants?". Upon reviewing the local boxers in Philadelphia, Creed is drawn to a club fighter named Rocky Balboa because Balboa is Italian and has a catchy nickname, "The Italian Stallion". Unwilling to waste the time, effort and money he's already invested in the fight, Creed comes up with a promotion that will generate huge publicity he will offer an unknown local fighter an opportunity to battle Creed for the title, in a match in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Duke suggested he should fight Big Chuck Smith or Billy Snow, but Creed thought Smith was too dull, and Snow fouled too much. However, Green hurts his left hand in training and the other top ranked contenders, such as Ernie Roman, Buddy Shaw (ranked fifth), are either busy or don't believe that they can get into shape in time.
#Never back down final fight mac#
A planned Bicentennial fight against number one contender Mac Lee Green was scheduled for January 1, 1976, which Apollo gladly hypes whenever someone places a microphone in front of him. Apollo died before discovering the existence of his third child, and a baby boy was born, named Adonis Johnson Creed.Īpollo Creed first appears as a charismatic, intelligent, and undefeated 33-year-old World Heavyweight Champion. The time of the fling was not exactly revealed, but it was assumed to be late 1984 or early 1985. It is revealed in Creed that Apollo had a relationship with another woman before getting married. In the coming years, Creed met and married Mary Anne, they had two children together, an unnamed daughter and unnamed son. At the end of the fight, Creed approached Duke and mentioned how it would be good to have an experienced fighter managing his career and training him, Happy to be able to continue in boxing, Duke accepted the offer as manager and began training him at the Delphi Boxing Academy. Creed began boxing in 1968 at the age of 26, it is revealed in the video game Rocky Legends that one of Creed's earlier fights was against Tony "Duke" Evers, who at this time was an aging boxer.