# The death of Apollo Creed **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 13, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-apollo-creed/557026 "2010-10-13T18:18:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-apollo-creed/557026/1 "2010-10-13T18:18:46Z")
Did Apollo die in Rocky III because the punch snapped his neck, or did it turn his brain to cottage cheese? ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-apollo-creed/557026/2 "2010-10-13T18:39:40Z")
neither he died in Rocky IV ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-apollo-creed/557026/3 "2010-10-13T18:40:58Z")
He died because he didn’t train in Siberia, running logs up mountains. Typical soft American… ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-apollo-creed/557026/4 "2010-10-13T18:54:48Z")
Probably a brain injury. I’m unaware of any boxer being killed by a broken neck. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-apollo-creed/557026/5 "2010-10-13T18:55:37Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > Probably a brain injury. I’m unaware of any boxer being killed by a broken neck. That’s because none had fought Drago before! ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-apollo-creed/557026/6 "2010-10-13T19:03:19Z")
Usually boxers who have been hit in the head repeatedly die from intracranial bleeding, and the complications (pressure on the brain). The “cottage cheese brain” (pugilistic dementia), is a much longer term situation that manifests itself later in life. ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-apollo-creed/557026/7 "2010-10-13T22:38:08Z")
It’s been years since I saw it, but I seem to remember total body spasms as Apollo lay on the mat. (For some reason I have that burned into my memory all these years.) Would one have spasms if one had a broken neck? ETA: [I just found it on YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SEhIkMhNQU). I don’t want to know what it means that I saw that scene once when the movie was released but remembered those few seconds perfectly in my mind’s eye! ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-apollo-creed/557026/8 "2010-10-14T05:19:38Z")
Good “Eye of the Tiger” PSXer! I am thinking of Rocky IV. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-apollo-creed/557026/9 "2010-10-14T06:58:19Z")
Heh, I searched for “russian creed” on Youtube once looking for a well-known piece by Gretchaninov and I found that film clip instead. Quite a curb stomp fight, with Creed who’s meant to be a boxing god reduced to a child’s plaything by the frightening power of Drago. ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-apollo-creed/557026/10 "2010-10-14T21:49:26Z")
I always figured it was just pure blunt force trauma. It didn’t look like they made his neck look overly torqued. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-apollo-creed/557026/11 "2010-10-14T21:51:18Z")
Dude, like, spoilers, yo. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-apollo-creed/557026/12 "2010-10-15T06:21:21Z")
If he dies… he dies. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-apollo-creed/557026/13 "2010-10-15T13:48:32Z")
I always thought it was because Drago lived up to his promise “I must break you”. Also, I’m sure that being hit in the head with a punch that registered, what was it, 2,000 pps, would pretty much kill anyone. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-apollo-creed/557026/14 "2010-10-15T13:55:15Z")
There was a sequel? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-apollo-creed/557026/15 "2010-10-15T13:55:18Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > Probably a brain injury. I’m unaware of any boxer being killed by a broken neck. Actually, a fighter named (I think) Bull Young died after a fight with Jess Willard, who won the title from Jack Johnson. Willard knocked Young out of the ring, and he landed on his head and broke his neck. Nobody I am aware of got a broken neck from a punch. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-apollo-creed/557026/16 "2010-10-15T15:03:37Z")
[QUOTE= Meatros] I always thought it was because Drago lived up to his promise “I must break you”. [/QUOTE] Drago didn’t say that to Creed, he said that to Rocky. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-apollo-creed/557026/17 "2010-10-15T15:10:08Z")
> [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](#): > > [QUOTE= Meatros] > I always thought it was because Drago lived up to his promise “I must break you”. Drago didn’t say that to Creed, he said that to Rocky. [/QUOTE] He sait to Apollo “You vill lose” at the beginning of the fight. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-death-of-apollo-creed/557026/18 "2010-10-15T16:17:35Z")
Ehh, nevermind, that was overly snarky. 🙂