Apollo Creed is a fictional boxer from the Rocky franchise, portrayed by Carl Weathers. He appears in the first four Rocky films, serving as the main antagonist in Rocky and Rocky II, and later becoming one of the protagonists in Rocky III and Rocky IV. Sylvester Stallone, the writer and star of the Rocky series, stated that Jack Johnson and Muhammad Ali were the inspirations for the character of Creed. Protagonist Rocky Balboa – Creed's rival in Rocky and Rocky II – faces underdog odds, but he views Creed with respect, pointedly refusing the prodding of a reporter to trash-talk him, even after he publicly taunts Balboa by remarking "he's great."