The question that keeps playing over and over in the minds of many (myself included) is what would happen if Adonis Creed fought Rocky Balboa. I’ve seen all of the Rocky movies and thoroughly enjoyed Creed. I think this qualifies me to make the call.

In one corner, Rocky Balboa.

The character development of Adonis Creed is in it’s early stages, so we need to go with Rocky Balboa from Rocky. The original Rocky Balboa was a brawler and spent time at the pet shop talking to Adrian Pennino. He could throw a mean left hook and was primarily a guy who fought with his heart. He also would pass time by working for a debt collector.

Rocky Balboa stood at roughly 5-foot-10 and weighed about 190 pounds when he fought Apollo Creed for the first time (an interview with Sylvester Stallone when asked about his weight for each film revealed he actually weighed 178 pounds). Rocky’s strengths include: durability, body attack, punching power, and determination. Rocky will almost definitely take the fight the distance. He has a great nickname, the Italian Stallion. He punches meat.

• A fighter at 190 pounds would no longer qualify for the Heavyweight Division and would need to be at least 201 pounds.

In the other corner, Adonis Creed.

Adonis Creed, played by Michael B. Jordan, is the illegitimate son of Apollo Creed. Adonis Creed stands at around 6-feet tall and weighs roughly 175 pounds. He would fall into the class of a light heavyweight. Creed is generally a self-taught fighter and didn’t receive any training until he was preparing to fight Leo “The Lion” Sporino. Adonis, unlike Rocky, was raised in privilege after his early start in juvenile hall detention center. He was adopted by Mary Anne Creed and is a college graduate. He abandoned a white collar job to pursue a fighting career.

Creed is trained by Rocky Balboa, which heightens the intensity of the hypothetical matchup. Creed’s fighting style is a little unorthodox. He is wild and doesn’t have a polished brand of boxing. Creed learns to take punches while being trained by Rocky. He is faster and more evasive than Rocky. He has good punching power, but is not a true brawler. Adonis Creed is at the opposite end of the spectrum from Apollo Creed, who fought like Muhammad Ali and is considered to be the greatest boxer of all-time.

The Fight

Rocky versus Adonis would be a tremendous battle. These guys are unheralded and both are looking to make the fight go as many rounds as possible.  Rocky is a little heavier and can absorb more blows than Adonis. I could see fight playing out in two different ways. The first, is a Rocky win by KO. Rocky is more powerful and might be able to land a few big punches late in the fight. I don’t think Adonis would be able to knockout Rocky and he’s definitely lighter than Rocky.

The second possibility, although not necessarily more likely, is that Adonis wins in a split decision. Adonis would likely land more punches and is more evasive than Rocky. The reason why Apollo beat Rocky in the first film was that he was able to land more punches. Adonis could likely evade the slower punches from Rocky. Rocky also trained Adonis which might give him a lot of insight into the way Rocky would fight.

The Victor: Rocky Balboa

Rocky Balboa would likely be victorious. He’s actually a heavyweight and the two fighters are about the same height. I think Rocky’s performance against Apollo (which many believed was actually won by Rocky) is enough to show that he’s the superior fighter. Adonis is still too raw and his speed advantage wouldn’t be enough to compensate for Rocky’s power.