Reminisce The Legendary Boxing Match Between The Ivan Drago and Apollo Creed
Rocky is an American sports drama series directed by Sylvester Stallone, based on the biography of Chuck Wepner. It started with the 1976 movie of the same name and has since become a cultural phenomenon that is mostly focused on the boxing career.
Some movies in this series won and were nominated for Academy Awards and are seen as one of the greatest sports films of all time. There are six movies and one of them saw Apollo Creed face off against the Russian boxer Ivan Drago.
Who are Ivan Drago and Apollo Creed?
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Ivan Drago, played by Swedish actor Dolph Lundgren, is the main antagonist of Creed II and Rocky IV. The character is an Olympic gold medalist and a boxing champion from the Soviet Union, armed with a punch over 2,000 psi.
Source: Rocky
Apollo Creed, portrayed by Carl Weathers, was inspired by the real-life champion Muhammad Ali and was remarked as the same “brash, vocal, theatrical” personality. The character was ranked as the second-best boxer in the Rocky series, second only to Rocky, having only 2 losses: one to Rocky and the other, Ivan Drago, who killed him in their fight.
What happens in the match between Ivan Drago and Apollo Creed?
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In Rocky IV, audiences saw a furious fight between Ivan Drago and Apollo Creed. Drago was considered the greatest fighter ever produced from behind the Iron Curtain, who is an enormous mauler with unimaginable punching power, while Creed was called the flashy former heavyweight champion of the world.
That’s why Apollo Creed needed to fight Ivan Drago to prove to himself and others that he could still put on a good show and give it his all. In an exhibition fight that Creed takes too lightly, Drago beat Creed so badly that the elder boxer dies in the ring as a result of the relentless barrage of punches from the Russian upstart.
Source: Rocky
Before the fight, Apollo begged Rocky not to throw in the towel. It was because if Rocky did that, he’d be leaving his pride in the ring. After all, the tragic death of Apollo Creed was supposed to be a fun match for the audience. Witnessing the death of his best friend, Rocky vows revenge, setting up an even bigger tilt between Drago and Rocky later.
The match becomes iconic in the sports drama movie world, pitting two amazing boxers at the top of their game against each other.
Did Dolph Lundgren and Carl Weathers also hate each other on set?
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During filming, Dolph Lundgren and Carl Weathers got into a fight because they truly didn't get along. Weathers was thrown into the boxing ring's corner by Lundgren. After that, Weathers yelled at Lundgren while leaving the ring and declared he was calling his agent and quitting the film.
However, it’s the past. In 2019, they staged a Rocky IV reunion at Gold’s Gym in Venice Beach, CA, where the two actors apparently shared a workout. Lundgren shared a photo of the duo to his Instagram account with each of the action stars posing with his fist up, ready to rumble. “Rematch at Gold’s Gym Venice,” Lundgren captioned the photo. “Apollo’s looking dangerous.”