Rocky IV (Episode 8) - Apollo Creed vs. Drago Press Conference Breakdown

Welcome to The Rocky Series Podcast: Going the Distance — Episode 8 of our Rocky IV coverage!

Ryan and Ruban dive into the tense press conference scene between Apollo Creed and Ivan Drago, plus the emotional locker room moment with Rocky and Apollo. We break down Apollo’s over-the-top bravado, Drago’s intimidating silence, the building tension, and Rocky’s growing concern for his friend’s safety.

We also discuss the timeline correction from listener Henry, give a shoutout to the late Burt Reynolds, and thank our growing community of listeners and reviewers (including the Wizard of Words).

If you love deep Rocky analysis, brotherly banter, and classic 80s movie moments, this one’s for you.

0:00 – Intro, housekeeping & iTunes review shoutout (Wizard of Words)
2:00 – Facebook & Twitter growth thanks
5:15 – Press conference scene begins (magazine covers)
7:40 – Apollo’s “American style” bravado
11:30 – Drago’s silence & Apollo’s quick wit
14:10 – Drago’s wife speaks & tension rises
17:50 – Rocky’s concern in the locker room
21:45 – “You sound like an old man” & timeline discussion
24:50 – Burt Reynolds tribute
27:30 – Final thoughts & “Ding ding” sign-off

Creators and Guests

Host

Ruban Rebalkin

Host

Ryan Rebalkin

What is Going The Distance: The Rocky Series Podcast?

Step into the ring with *Going The Distance: The Rocky Series Podcast*, the ultimate celebration of Sylvester Stallone's iconic underdog saga. Hosted by passionate Rocky superfan Ryan Rebalkin, this dedicated feed dives deep into every punch, montage, and heartfelt moment of the *Rocky* franchise—one film at a time, in glorious chronological order.

Whether you're reliving the gritty streets of Philadelphia in the original *Rocky* or breaking down the epic family legacy in *Rocky Balboa*, Ryan brings the energy of a champion. Joined by his brother Ruban, fellow superfans, amateur boxers and even musicians behind the films' anthems (shoutout to Robert Tepper's "No Easy Way Out"), each episode unpacks scenes with infectious enthusiasm, behind-the-scenes trivia, and personal stories that capture why *Rocky* still inspires millions to "go the distance."

From dissecting the legendary training montages and rematches, this podcast isn't just analysis—it's a knockout conversation that honors the heart, humor, and hustle of the Italian Stallion. It's perfect for die-hard fans, casual viewers, and anyone chasing their own eye-of-the-tiger moment.

Tune in for laughs, insights, and motivation that hits harder than Apollo Creed's left hook. Lace up your boots—it's time to go the distance!

Going The Distance - Rocky IV - Episode 8.mp3
music
All right, Ruben, welcome to another episode of the Rocky Series Podcast, Going the Distance.
And I want to welcome everybody that's listening.
Thank you for welcoming me, but I'm trying to think more than just who's beside me, but who's listening.
It's been a very exciting, by the time people are listening to this episode, it's been a very exciting month or two, three weeks of Rocky.
Twitter is blowing up, literally.
Oh, literally.
It's literally blowing up with Rocky stuff, with Rocky hashtags.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
They changed the Rocky icon, so when you hashtag Rocky, it now has a boxing glove next to it.
All right.
So you know how Twitter does that? They'll allow, I guess it's them that does it?
I'm not really a big Twitterer.
Okay.
I often go on Twitter and I'll do a hashtag Rocky search to talk to other like-minded Rocky fans.
And you know, to be honest, to see if others would like to listen to the show, because when they see the Rocky Series Podcast is talking to them, they'll be like, oh, there's a Rocky Podcast. Cool.
People are talking about that trailer, Creed 2, the second trailer of Creed 2. And Ruben, have you seen it yet?
I have not.
Okay, so that's fine. So the episode previous to this one, Kyle stepped in for Ruben to break down the Creed 2 trailer.
And that trailer is getting millions and millions of hits. Last I saw, it was number 23 trending on YouTube.
Crazy.
Yeah. It is a lot of hype for the second one.
I'm, yeah, I'm looking forward to it.
We want to thank all of our new likes that we've had on Facebook. Our Facebook page has now grown to over 30, almost 3,200 likes on Facebook.
So thank you to all those who have liked us on Facebook and shared it with your friends and family.
We also have co-workers.
Our Twitter accounts up to almost 730 people.
So again, thank you to everyone.
Most importantly, we got a new iTunes review, Ruben.
Oh, really?
Yep.
We got a new iTunes review from a man who goes by the Wizard of Words.
Okay, first of all, how do you know it's a man?
I think wizard is a male calling. I don't think females can hold the title.
Okay, hold on a second. Let me ask Google.
Okay.
Can wizards be females?
Oh, which, yeah. Wizard and warlock usually refer to male, while witch usually refers to female.
Yeah, it's okay. This isn't a gender thing.
Okay, I'm just...
Though you can say in Harry Potter, yeah, they refer to them as witches too, I think.
I think they did kind of refer to them as...
Her... Oh.
Yeah, my daughter just...
Hermione.
Yeah.
Your daughter loves her.
Okay, so Wizard of Words.
Ironically, he spelled words with an E.
Ryan and Ruben have put together a great podcast that is full of love for all things Rocky.
Breaking down all the Rocky movies scene by scene.
Complimented by having had great series-related interviews along the way, I always have them at the ready for my commute to and from work.
Bless his heart.
Thank you.
Five-star review from Wizard.
Thank you, Wizard.
Word means expression of agreement.
Oh.
So he's a wizard of agreements.
And you know what, Ruben?
I agree with his rating.
Five stars.
Thank you.
He has impeccable taste.
We also want to thank those who comment on our episodes on Facebook, because that's really cool when people comment on the episodes.
It is.
Word is also a Middle English form of weird.
Oh.
I did not know that.
Thank you, Wizard of Words.
He's a wizard of weird.
Weird stuff.
Or of agreement.
Or agreeing weirdly.
Or maybe Wizard of Word with an O was already taken.
Either way.
Maybe it's an acronym of WOW, like he's into World of Warcraft.
Yeah, maybe.
Am I going too deep in this?
You're editing this all out.
I am.
Don't worry.
This will be edited.
Why?
Why are you editing this out?
Not necessarily that.
I'll be editing out any lols.
Laughters?
So on our Facebook page, we'd like to thank those who like our episode posts.
Because again, it's like an iTunes review.
It's almost even better, because everyone that's on their Facebook page, or Facebook friends, sees them comment on our episodes.
So we appreciate that.
It's a little bit of love that helps us along the way.
Henry Krasini, I might be saying that wrong.
I know he's from Germany.
He said, well done guys, on our episode regarding Apollo Creed and Rocky talking about Apollo selling himself to Rocky to do this fight.
He just said, people tend to disregard this movie because of its tone and pace, which departs from all the preceding films.
However, you guys go into a deep analysis showing how many out of tones the film actually has.
Just because people remember the...
I don't know.
Where's my words?
I agree with...
We need the wizard.
We need the wizard here.
Wizard of words could have helped me.
There's more to a story.
Rush is the backdrop of the story.
The real story is, well, their friendship, moving forward in life, the fight within.
Yeah, he also said that we got our timeline a little bit wrong, which is totally true.
We get a little bit lost in the timeline because the Rocky timeline doesn't really make...
I often equate the real time that has happened between each movie as time in the series, but that's not necessarily the case.
Oh, okay.
So he just clarified that for us.
He said that in regards to how many years have passed since the second fight between Rocky and Apollo,
he says the fight in Rocky 2 should have taken place in Thanksgiving, 76, although the film was released in 79.
And I keep forgetting about that.
So the Super Fight 2 took place in 76, I guess shortly after the first fight, even though the film Rocky 2 came out three years later.
Thus our timeline for everything else that we talk about afterwards is thrown off by a few years because of that.
That's all.
But anyway, so thank you, Henry, for the feedback.
Good continuity.
And Dave Massey said, great episode of Ryan Rubin.
Oh, really?
From the Dave Massey band?
The Dave Massey band.
Uh-huh.
Yeah, he said, great episode of Ryan Rubin and my long lost brothers.
Well, hopefully he's not going to dislike it because of my pun there.
No.
So again, we just want to thank our listeners for doing that because you know what?
Rubin, like we said before, this takes time and money out of our life to do this podcast.
It's bizarre when I bring up Rocky to people and they're like, who?
What?
That movie?
Oh, I think I've seen it before.
I think you've seen it before.
You know what I mean?
So this is nice that you can have a conversation with people and they can have a conversation
with us and keep it going.
All right.
So let's get into it, Rubin.
The next part of the movie that we're discussing, the press conference between Drago, Apollo.
The scene starts off with a magazine cover called The Ring.
I love that.
I love that.
Unfortunately, this magazine neither has numbered issue or date released.
It's just...
Interesting.
Very generic.
Yeah.
It used to be a Hobbit magazine.
And then it...
Yeah.
It used to be the Lord of the Rings, but they just changed it to The Ring.
Well, first it was Lord of the Ring.
And then he got more.
And I love how this magazine is like...
Unless you pause it, you can't really analyze it.
But just how generic it is.
There's one color, red.
I guess the idea, you know, this is Drago.
Yeah, sure.
It's Russia.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It says Red Star versus Old Glory.
Mm-hmm.
Drago, of course, being the Red Star.
And I guess they're actually acknowledging that he is the star of Russia.
Sure, yeah.
You know?
Yeah.
On the same cover, we have on the bottom corner, we have a picture of the wife.
So we have Drago's wife on the left corner, Apollo's wife on the right corner.
Both looking very stoic.
Stern almost.
Like very...
Sure.
You know, Apollo's wife looks a little concerned.
I'm trying to figure out what this picture here of Apollo, if that's from the fight that's about to happen.
Speaking of continuity.
Yeah, so anyways.
The Ring.
It says, Las Vegas is the place for Apollo Creed's gamble.
So even the ring knows...
They got puns in there.
It's kind of cut off here.
It says, East versus West.
Watch and wonder.
And then we don't know what it says after that.
Okay.
I knew somebody that went to...
Speaking of Las Vegas.
I knew somebody who went to the Mike Tyson fight.
Where he bit off...
Who's the ear to bite off?
You mentioned this in one of our episodes, Rube.
Oh, did I?
Sorry to bore you of the regaling.
Regaling.
The retelling.
That's fine.
Yeah.
Wow.
So the next magazine cover that we see in this little quick magazine montage.
It says, Boxing.
Vegas fight.
Experience in style.
Referring to Apollo Creed.
Versus youth in power.
Superman versus super hype.
So they're referring to Creed as super hype.
I guess he always was good at it.
Yeah.
He was hyping it up.
Oh.
Can we read the words of the article?
So the title is Apollo Creed, Ivan Drago, meet press today.
It's showtime.
Yeah.
It shows Apollo flexing his muscles and Drago punching the machine from earlier.
Rage against the machine.
Yeah.
Rage against the machine.
There you go.
Apollo Creed, Ivan Drago, meet the press today.
But the article, Ruben.
You ready?
I'm ready.
This is hilarious.
They never counted on people with pause.
I guarantee.
Yeah.
I guarantee.
Nobody listening to this right now has read this article.
The newspaper is talking about the fight.
But however, the article that's written underneath says London.
A nonstop bargaining session that began Monday morning stretched well into Tuesday night with
the United Auto Workers Union and Chrysler Corps pushing hard to reach an agreement.
So it's talking about Chrysler.
They literally took a magazine article.
It's probably a real article.
It's a real article.
Yes.
District Judge Earl H. Corral of Phoenix, the defendants, members of the sanctuary movements,
said it was their religious duty to operate an underground railroad to help refugees flee
Central America.
Wow.
The first paragraph is talking about Chrysler.
The second one is talking about a sanctuary movement, a religious duty.
And the third paragraph says the government hoped to use the case to curb the movement which
has spread to churches and other religious organizations across the country.
It says here, black slaves before the civil war was the sentence before this.
Weird.
This is just all over.
Random.
Random.
Random words to make a prop piece on the movie that they never thought when this movie was
made in 1985.
Yeah, yeah, of course.
This would be psycho-idolized.
Okay.
So Apollo is now talking to the press and he's hamming it up.
They love it.
They're super hype.
Super hype.
And he's already throwing out the kind of American bravado that the American way of doing
things, even when it comes to boxing, is the best way.
Apollo, what made you decide to put on an exhibition fight with Drago?
Oh, let's call it a sense of responsibility.
Responsibility?
How?
Well, I had to teach this young fellow to box.
American style.
There's no way another country could train.
I don't know.
Stuff like that just drives me bananas.
It drives me absolutely bananas.
So Apollo says that I'm going to teach Drago how to fight the American way.
Isn't Drago a little inexperienced to be in the same ring?
Well, you know, some folks got to learn the hard way.
So the reporter asks, isn't Drago a little bit inexperienced to be in the ring with you?
And Apollo goes, well, some people have to learn the hard way.
And Drago here looks very nonplussed by all this.
Yeah, I don't really have anything to add.
Yeah, sure.
Yeah, we'll keep going.
No quick knockout prediction.
No, no, no.
I'm not angry with him.
See, I just want to show the whole world that Russia doesn't have all the best athletes.
So Apollo's assuring the reporters that he's not angry at Drago or Russia, but he just wants
to prove to the world that Russia doesn't have all the best athletes.
Yeah, they might have the best doping program.
Sure.
Dolph looks great here.
Yeah, he does.
He's a handsome, strappy young man.
I've never been that handsome.
No.
Apollo touched his shoulder while he was saying that.
Any type of press conference.
You always want to have that touching between the two opponents waiting for somebody to snap.
And he's doing that on purpose.
Oh yeah, of course.
It's my head game.
He's touching Drago's shoulder to get kind of a reaction to rise out of him, which isn't
coming just yet.
So his comment regarding boxing the American way made me think, I don't really know the
history of boxing.
Do you?
Not really.
Well, really, people just fought each other.
But at some point, people decided, this is fight for fun.
Apparently, it started, we know about, in 1681.
Wow.
Is that the first time somebody threw a punch?
Well, no.
I think, apparently, in ancient history, it looks like Minoan youth boxed.
1650 B.C.
Wow.
But I think it's been going on consistently since the 1600s.
It's probably one of the oldest professions.
There are sports, sport roles out there.
Or sporting events.
Yeah.
Rocky, how do you think Apollo should fight Drago?
Well, personally, I think the first thing you'd better get Apollo is a ladder.
Get Apollo?
What?
The reporter asked Rocky, how should Apollo fight Drago?
How should he approach this fight?
And Rocky, being the clever Rocky that he is, says, I think the first thing Apollo needs to
do is to grab a ladder.
Ah, yes.
Drago, how does it feel to spar with the great former champion?
Drago has been asked a question directly from a reporter.
What does it feel like to fight the former champion, Apollo?
And Drago sits there in silence and doesn't say a word.
It's great.
The man's tongue didn't come through customs.
And then Apollo has a great line.
The man's tongue didn't come through customs.
That's pretty quick.
Sure.
We know this is written, but I mean, Apollo was so quick.
So quick-witted and clever.
Apollo's wife laughs, but Adrian's feeling, now she's starting to feel a little bit uncomfortable.
You get her face here, she's like, okay, this is getting a little bit mean.
Yeah, I would say for me, and for me, I just feel uncomfortable knowing what's going to happen.
Famous last words type of thing.
My husband is very happy to have this opportunity.
It's his dream.
Dream?
How do you mean?
In our country, Apollo Creed is well-known and very respected.
It could be a good victory.
That's a great part.
Ludmilla Drago, Yvonne's wife, said...
Stallone's ex-wife.
Stallone's ex-wife in real life.
Boy, oh boy.
By the way, she's going to be giving birth soon.
She's already done it.
She's already done it?
Yeah, she's had the baby.
Oh, congrats.
Yeah, congrats.
So she says here, it's a great honor to fight Apollo.
And then she said, he'll be even that same honor to beat him.
Of course, Apollo doesn't like that response, and his response is...
Wait, wait a minute now, wait a minute.
Oh, when?
You don't really think you're going to whip me, now, do you?
So Apollo's incredulous to this, that when, and then he turns right to Drago, and says,
you really don't think you're going to whip me, do you?
Before we head off with this, Ruben, we meant to say, since our last recording, we want
to give our condolences and say rest in peace to Mr. Burt Reynolds.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Ruben, do you have anything you'd like to say to Burt?
Let's have a moment of silence.
Just pause it for as long as you need, guys.
Yeah, everyone pause your own podcast.
Listening in.
Okay.
Honestly, for starters, I obviously didn't know the guy, personally, so I'm not shooken up.
No.
His art never affected me.
There was one piece of art that affected you.
Oh, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Now, I'm not sure if you're familiar with this, if you've ever seen it.
I don't know if this has been brought up in the podcast or not.
We may have.
I'm not sure.
Ruben, what are you talking about?
Well, he had this really tastefully done nude photo of him.
Just him and a bear rug.
Oh.
And the rug on his head.
Do you think he's with the bear now that he was lying on top of?
That's probably who greeted him on the other side.
I wonder if they're cuddling right now together.
Oh, my gosh.
Nude as two jailbirds running through the heavens.
Oh, my goodness.
Did they bury his toupee?
Which one?
Because he would have to have new ones as he grade.
Do you bury the toupee with the person?
I would imagine so.
Does the toupee keep growing after death?
Yeah.
Rest in peace, Bert.
Rest in peace, Bert.
We love you.
We'll rest our bear rug in your name.
Yeah, this is, I guess, the last mention, I would imagine.
Maybe.
I didn't come here to lose.
Will you hold on, little thing?
Okay, hold on.
Back to Bert.
Back to Bert.
And I know we just said bye to him, but...
Yeah, that was quick.
Good thing he didn't.
Do you remember?
He was going to be Rocky.
That was one of the contenders to play Rocky.
That's right.
Which is why he's been brought up.
Which just shows you how much older he is, because he would have been 40 in Rocky 1.
Yeah, it's this movie, though, right?
Well, okay, so hold on a second.
He would have been 40 in Rocky 1.
Right.
The story still could have worked.
Because how old is Rocky here in Rocky 4?
42 or 3.
Yeah, so it still works.
He would have been 40, 50 almost in Rocky 4.
Well, I don't think he would have gone to Rocky 4.
But...
No.
But just for the character alone.
Yeah, sure.
Like, yes, I'm a Stallone fan of his work.
I love the Rocky character.
And for that to continue through my whole entire life, it just wouldn't have happened if he was dead.
It's insane, Ruben, to think that if Bert got the job and not Sylvester Stallone, we wouldn't be having this Creed 2 talk.
Yeah.
You know, the rug got pulled out under him.
Yeah.
He barely saw that coming.
He probably flipped his wig.
But he was able to plug himself into other shows.
His career was just a hair width less than Sly's for many years.
All right.
Well, let's hibernate this.
Apollo goes, now hold on, little lady.
Well, you didn't come here to lose.
Well, you hold on, little lady.
You hold on.
Because lose and lose royally, he's going to do.
How can you be so sure?
Well, I've been with the best.
And I beat the best.
I've retired more men than Social Security.
So, LeMille asks, well, how can you be so sure that you're going to beat my husband?
He goes, well, I've beaten the best and I've been with the best.
Which is true.
In his career, that's what he's done.
To be champion, he's beaten the best.
He's defended his title against the best.
Now, for boxing, isn't it just usually the same country?
So, that's what's happening here, Ruben.
Yeah.
And my own understanding of the organization of boxing, how it works, this is an exhibition fight.
There's no, well, both don't have their respective championships in their homeland.
I think Drago has his from Russia in the army or whatever circuit he had in Russia.
He's the champion from Russia.
Yeah.
Whatever circuit weight class he's in from there.
Apollo, of course, is a retired ex-champion of the world.
They're not in the same league, literally.
And they cannot fight for a belt right now.
Yeah, that makes sense.
This is just a show.
A show with the master of disaster.
Yeah.
The king of the sting.
King of sting.
The dancing destroyer.
Go on.
I forget.
The prince of punch.
The count of Monty Fisto.
That's my favorite one.
Excuse me.
You are not very realistic, are you, Mr. Creed?
Where did you come from?
What are you talking about?
That's a great part here, too.
This trainer says, you're not very realistic, are you, Mr. Creed?
And actually, this guy who plays this Russian guy does a very good job.
He actually does.
He does a great job delivering his lines.
And it's actually a very good moment here.
He's being serious.
He's actually speaking without any kind of, what do you call it?
He's not afraid to make it awkward for Apollo.
He's like, you're not being very realistic.
And he goes on to say, well, of course, I like Apollo's response.
Where did you come from?
You can box, yes.
But you are far too old to think that you can win over Drago.
Is that a fact?
Yes.
And it could be a painful one.
Well, it was very painful.
Now, Rocky and Tony are looking behind Apollo.
And they're looking concerned.
And they're looking angry.
This press conference is taking a turn from a jovial, friendly little banter to something a little bit more serious.
You put that heavy bag with eyeballs in the ring with me and you're going to see the meaning of pain.
Why do you insult us?
So Rocky is feeling the tension.
He's looking at Adrian.
And Adrian's shaking her head like, yes, this is not going well.
This is turning pretty serious.
These guys mean business.
Drago is looking scary.
You can kind of feel it in the atmosphere.
The tension.
Now, you just hold on here.
Don't make me out to be the bad guy.
I came here to talk about a friendly exhibition bout until Comrade Big Mouth started.
Right.
It's you who are the aggressor.
The Russian guy responds to that statement and says, it's you that's the aggressor.
And that's kind of true.
I think Apollo was just given, you know, some jabs in the rib.
Like, hey, you know.
Yeah, they don't get the humor.
I have to say, having a business where I come across a wide swath of the public.
Sure.
When people first come into my establishment, I do the same joke over and over and over again.
Okay.
I'll tell you the joke.
Please.
So I give like a little rundown of the place.
And then I say, hey, we have a self-serve snack bar.
We just use the honor system.
So if you don't have any honor, just don't go over there.
Okay.
Usually there's laughter.
Well, you've told me the story a few times.
And I think our listeners have heard the story.
It's, I don't know which episode.
Oh.
50 episodes.
Really?
Yeah, you've said it before on the show.
Okay, it's most valid to this part right here.
Their English might be really fantastic.
But the nuance of a joke is lost.
Right.
That could rub somebody the wrong way.
Yeah, and humor is lost in translation.
It really is.
Or if you have to tell the joke again and again.
Right.
I wish to say to the press, in all fairness, Drago should not even fight this man.
Come on.
Because he is a has-been.
Well, this time, Creed's 43.
So he's 43 in this movie at this time?
Yeah.
Okay.
Not really sure the age of Ivan.
I think he's early to mid-20s.
He's probably-
Oh, I'd imagine so, yeah.
I think in real life and in the movie, he's 24 to 25.
This movie came out in 85.
Dolph was how old at that time?
So he's 28 in this film.
But I think they were shooting for probably a 25-year-old soldier.
But yeah, he looks like a baby face.
Yeah.
You get that big chump in the ring right now.
Mr. Carl, I'm going to show you my hands on the gambit.
He's the big man, Ivan.
Yeah.
So now Apollo stood up and says, you get that chump in the ring right now.
We'll fight.
And he stands up.
Drago, not afraid of Apollo at all, stands up and says, okay, what do you want to do?
A brouhaha.
That's right.
So now, this is great publicity for the fight, to have this happen at a press conference.
So Drago's now pushed Apollo.
He pushed him back pretty good, pretty easily.
All right.
All right.
All right.
All right.
I said what I feel.
I'm going to finish this in the ring.
You understand?
We're going to finish this ring.
Look, you just shut up.
And all these puppets that you brought with, you're history, son.
You're history.
How did I do?
A little loud for my taste.
But good.
Oh, yeah.
Very good.
So Apollo asked Rocky after that kerfuffle and everything, he says, you know, how did I do?
And Rocky goes, a little loud for my taste.
But I did good.
He goes, yeah, you did good.
Sell some tickets.
Absolutely.
A little bit of Vince DiColo there.
Oh, very good.
Yeah.
Very good.
One and all to the city of lights, Las Vegas, and to one of the most unusual events in years,
East meets West.
H versus you in a Goodwill exhibition match, as the former champion, Apollo 3, takes on
a mountain of muscle from the Soviet Union, Ivan Drago.
So we'll just do this little locker room scene.
And next episode, we're going to break down the breaking down of James Brown.
So we're now in the locker room here.
And there's some gift basket there for Apollo from who knows what.
So he's got flowers here.
He's got a cablegram.
Wow.
A cablegram.
Can you...
How is that different than a telegram?
I don't know.
This is a cablegram.
But it's in a bunch of flowers.
What is a cablegram?
A telegraph message sent by cable.
What's a telegram?
I don't know.
Okay.
Telegram.
That's hilarious.
Versus...
It's just showing you the affluence of Apollo.
That he got a cablegram in 875.
Yeah, sure.
So a telegraph message was sent by an electrical telegraph operator or telegrapher using Morse
code.
A cablegram was a message sent by a submarine telegraph cable, often shorted to a cable or a
wire.
So somebody overseas would have sent this to him.
So it kind of denotes he's a worldwide celebrity.
Then they got a picture here of Drago.
As a dragon.
As a dragon.
He's got fire, smoke coming out of his nose, devil horns, devil's tail.
And it says Creed was here.
And then we have this really cool gift basket here, Ruben.
You've got almond roca.
Almond roca.
Half a cantaloupe, some grapes.
You've got apples, cherries, grapes.
Wheel of cheese and some crackers.
Two champagne bottles at least.
An Edinburgh shortbread.
Is that some nuts at the side there?
Yeah.
Or some caramels?
Okay something.
And you've got mint butter.
Mint butter, like caramel.
It's got a little gift basket he's got there, right?
Yeah, just what a boxer has.
Damn, you've got to get your equipment here.
There you go.
Now you look like a mummy.
So Rocky's just taped up Apollo's hands.
He goes, oh, now you look like a mummy.
And in this room we've got three different pictures of Apollo in his locker room.
You can see that it's really fancy.
And this is in Las Vegas, so this isn't even his real room.
So all this stuff was brought in for his fight.
He's got chairs and a big mirror.
And he's got three or four posters of himself.
Well, all the furniture would just be there.
But it's the posters of himself.
Yeah.
People brought in the posters.
He's got an exercise bike in there, you know.
Would you want to see posters of yourself?
Would that?
No.
Zebra?
It's a zebra statue.
Like, the affluence.
Oh, yeah.
I feel like a mummy.
How does it feel?
Okay.
It feels great.
I feel like I could eat nails.
You know, I never tried that mistake, you know.
What are you talking about?
Snails.
I never had them, you know.
I just see them in the car, but I never want to eat.
I didn't say anything about snails.
I said nails.
Nails.
Nails.
Okay.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, of course, he says, you know, Paul's feeling confident.
He's feeling good about himself.
But you even get the sense that he might be overselling himself a little bit.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Like, he says that I feel like I could eat nails.
And then Rocky goes, you know, I've seen them in the garden, but I never want to eat them.
Yeah.
Yeah.
He's trying to break the ice.
Or what's the word?
What did I say, trying to break the ice?
I think he's trying to connect with them.
Yeah.
And now Rocky's a little bit concerned.
He's going to say here he doesn't think Apollo's ready.
It's his most sensitive way of saying it.
Just do me a favor when you go up there, Apollo.
Try not to wear yourself out, okay?
Yeah.
Wear myself out.
Well, I just want you to tell me.
You know, he ain't been in the ring for like five years.
So, I just want you to maintain a little bit.
What are you talking about?
You sound like an old man.
Now I'm in the best shape of my life.
I'm stronger.
I'm quicker.
Well, I'm not saying you're not ready or anything.
But personally, for me,
I wouldn't mind postponing for a couple weeks.
Postponing?
Yeah.
I mean, come on, Apollo.
What do you mean?
We don't know anything about this guy you're fighting, really.
Look, okay.
Okay.
Let's say I postpone.
I pull out, somebody else steps in and whips this joint.
Then where does that leave me?
Well, I mean, leave your policy.
It's just some kind of exhibition fight.
This ain't going to mean nothing.
No, no, no, no.
That's where you're wrong.
This is not just exhibition fight that doesn't mean anything.
Look, this is us against them.
What are you talking about?
Come on.
Now you don't know.
I'm talking about now.
But you will when it's over.
Believe me.
You will when it's over.
So Rocky doesn't think Apollo's ready.
And he's like, maybe we should postpone this.
Wait a couple weeks.
He's already kind of thinking of Apollo's safety, his health, and his readiness to fight this guy.
And Apollo's now using the angle of, like, it's not just an exhibition fight.
It's us against them.
It's East versus West.
And you'll understand when this is over.
Well, we'll leave it there.
What do you think of that?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, pretty much.
I just want to say, I like how you called him Stallion.
Like, he's having a serious thing.
Like, Stallion.
Stallion.
Has Apollo ever referred to him as Rocky?
Have we ever heard Apollo call him Rocky?
I'm pretty sure Rock.
I'm trying to remember now.
But Rocky.
Sure, we'll start with Rocky.
But has he ever said, hey, Rocky?
Or, hey, Rock?
Well, I think Rock.
I think he always calls him Stallion.
I have to rewatch.
I'm going to leave that question to our listeners.
To our thousands and thousands of non-listeners.
Let us know.
Does he ever call him Rocky?
To his face?
All right.
Well, there you go.
That is episode 86.
Thank you so much for listening, everybody.
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What could we have done better?
Well, don't say that because that's just embarrassing.
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I want to hear.
Okay, Ruben wants to hear how we can do it.
Just don't tell Ryan.
Yeah, don't tell me.
I just won't read it.
All right, guys, thanks for listening, and Ruben, you got something to say?
Ding, ding.
Ding, ding.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.