Adonis Creed may have walked away from Creed II’s final fight as world heavyweight champion, but Ivan Drago was the biggest winner.



We first met Ivan more than 30 years ago in Rocky IV. There, as in Creed II, he was the villain. The Soviets touted him as a boxing machine that could destroy anything in its path. He rarely spoke, and when he did, it was to say things like “I must break you.” He killed Apollo Creed–Adonis’ father–in an exhibition fight and showed no remorse for doing so. When Rocky beat him in Moscow, we celebrated more than a great fighter winning a match. We enjoyed seeing a vicious man get his comeuppance.



But we wouldn’t have enjoyed seeing what came after. When he lost to Rocky, Ivan’s own wife left him and their son. His country turned its back on him. This left deep wounds that Ivan’s still dealing with in Creed II. He was made to feel like he was worthless to everyone in his life merely for losing one match. Part of why Ivan pushes his son Viktor so hard is to prove his worth. If he can train Viktor to be a heavyweight champion, then he won’t be a failure anymore. He would be worthy of his ex-wife and country’s affections. He would be loved.



It’s sad that his worldview is so transactional–he wins a boxing championship and then he wins love. And yet, that isn’t so different from the way we treat our sports heroes. We laud them when they make the big catch or the tough shot to win the game; we scream for them to be traded when they mess up.



And it unfortunately is not always far from how we view love. Sure, most of us wouldn’t abandon a spouse or a child for losing a boxing match. But how many children get good grades or pursue certain professions out of a desire for love on some level? They think they’ll become high achievers, and then they’ll be worthy of love and hence loved by their families. We fear that love is conditional, and let’s face it, sometimes it is.



That’s what makes the final fight so moving. After crushing Creed in the first fight, Viktor was a huge favorite to win their rematch. But by the end of the second match–despite being an overwhelming favorite–Viktor is getting beaten so badly that he looks likely to suffer grievous injuries or worse. Ivan throws his towel to end the fight. He tells Viktor “it’s ok.” Later, we see them running together.



Tellingly, Viktor’s own mother had left when he started getting pummelled. And the fans turned their backs on him. This is exactly what happened to Ivan. But in throwing the towel and embracing him, Ivan rises above the conditional view of love his mistreatment has conditioned him to expect. Viktor is his son, and he’ll stand by him and love him, champion or not.



For the last 30 years, Ivan has been in a far tougher fight than the one he lost to Rocky: the one for his humanity. At the end of Creed II, he won it. And in so doing, he taught us something valuable about love.

