He proved just how powerful he was when he killed Apollo Creed, who didn’t take Ivan seriously enough, with multiple blows to the head.
The later Rocky movies never addressed what happened to Ivan afterwards, but the damage Rocky sustained during that fight led to brain damage, which played into his struggles during Rocky V.
Unlike the boastful Clubber Lang from Rocky III, Ivan was a man of few words and only had one goal: to be the best fighter in the world.
Not taking the death of his friend sitting down, Rocky challenged Ivan to their own fight, and after going through an intense ’80s training montage, our esteemed protagonist came out victorious after 15 rounds.