Apollo Creed is a fictional character from the Rocky films. He serves as the main antagonist in Rocky and Rocky II and also appears in Rocky III and Rocky IV. He was played by Carl Weathers. He is a tough but agile boxer who is, when the series begins, the undisputed heavyweight world champion. The character was inspired by the real-life 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 Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Joe Louis, and Jack 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 which caused his death to Ivan Drago
