LOS ANGELES — The violent grudge match is over. Adonis Creed, son of former heavyweight champion Apollo Creed, has defeated Viktor Drago, the son of the Russian boxer Ivan Drago — who killed Apollo in the ring almost 40 years ago. Rocky Balboa, who trained Creed for the bout, regards his fighter with pride and admiration, reaching for a fist-glove bump. As the retired "Italian Stallion" assures the offspring of his former rival in this climactic moment from "Creed II," the eighth installment in the venerable "Rocky" franchise, "It's your time."
Michael B. Jordan understands the sentiment.
Since breaking through in the fact-based "Fruitvale Station" a decade ago, playing a young Bay Area man who has a deadly encounter with transit police, his meteoric rise has paved the way for a gallery of acclaimed performances in projects such as "Black Panther," "Without Remorse," "Just Mercy" and the "Creed" films.
