Apollo Creed is a fictional character from the Rocky films, played by Carl Weathers. He played in the series' first four films, serves as the main antagonist in Rocky and Rocky II, and became one of the protagonists in Rocky III and Rocky IV. The character was inspired by the real-life boxer champion Muhammad Ali, having what one author remarked as the same "brash, vocal, [and] theatrical" personality. The film's writer and star Sylvester Stallone stated, "[Jack] Johnson served as the inspiration for the character of Apollo Creed in the Rocky movies"; the character is loosely based on a combination of Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Joe Louis, and Johnson.
Protagonist Rocky Balboa, Creed's rival in Rocky and Rocky II, faces underdog odds (five-to-one in Rocky II) and views Creed with respect, pointedly refusing the prodding of a reporter to trash-talk Creed (although it is implied that, being poorly educated at that point, he didn't understand the meaning of the word "derogatory"), even after the flamboyant Creed publicly taunted him by laconically remarking, "He's great."
In Rocky, Creed essentially cleans out his division of serious challengers (the few remaining being either injured or unavailable) and magnanimously decides to fight local journeyman Balboa for the fan spectacle, as well as the implied symbolism of fighting a man with an Italian background on "this country's biggest birthday." In the film and its sequel, Balboa and Creed find themselves basically evenly matched in the ring, ending up friends by the third movie. Creed had multiple nicknames, including most prominently "The Master of Disaster". Others include "The King of Sting", "The Dancing Destroyer", "The Prince of Punch", and "The Count of Monte Fisto". A 2013 poll of former heavyweight champions and boxing writers, including former WBA heavyweight star James "Bonecrusher" Smith, ranked Creed as the second-best boxer in the Rocky series, second only to Rocky himself, having only 2 losses: one to Rocky and the other, Ivan Drago, who killed him in their fight.
Role in the series
In the Rocky and Creed films, Apollo Creed is a heavyweight boxing champion who is a rival and later friend of Rocky Balboa. Michael Wilbon of Pardon the Interruption describes Creed as "maybe the best of all time; in the discussion".
Rocky (1976)
Apollo Creed first appears in the 1976 Oscar-winning film Rocky as the charismatic, intelligent, and undefeated 33-year-old World Heavyweight Champion. A planned Bicentennial fight against number-one contender Mac Lee Green was scheduled for January 1, 1976, which Creed gladly hypes whenever someone places a microphone in front of him. However, Green hurts his left hand in training and the other top ranked contenders, such as Ernie Roman and Buddy Shaw (ranked fifth), are either busy or claim that they don't have enough time to get in shape. Frustrated by the thought of all his potential challengers being too scared to fight him and unwilling to waste the time, effort and money he's already invested in the fight, Creed comes up with a "novelty" that will generate huge publicity: he will offer an unknown local fighter an opportunity to battle for the title in a match in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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". Creed 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?" Creed brushes off his manager Duke Evers' warning that he shouldn't fight the left-handed Rocky, pledging to knock him out in three rounds. In spite of Evers showing concern when he sees Balboa in a television interview punching sides of beef in a meat-packing plant, Creed puts more effort into giving everyone a good show rather than training for the bout. When the match takes place, Creed dresses up as both George Washington and Uncle Sam in the pre-fight festivities (with his matching trademark "stars and stripes" boxing shorts) and is in a jovial mood until Balboa knocks him down in the first round with a single uppercut, the first time Creed has been knocked down in his career. He then endures a gruelling 15-round fight with Balboa, who gets to his feet after Creed takes him down with an uppercut in the 14th round in what appeared to be the end of the match. This was the first time anyone had ever taken the champion the full 15 rounds.