Rocky Balboa's former rival Apollo Creed. Creed climaxes with the ultimate showdown between Conlan and Donnie, but how good was Conlan's boxing record overall?
Arrogant and powerful in the ring, Conlan is a formidable foe and one of the more memorable antagonists of the Rocky franchise, with his temper and anger issues ultimately being what get him into trouble. Though on his way out of the arena due to his criminal charges, Conlan sees in Donnie an opportunity to prove himself against the son of boxing legend Apollo Creed, cementing Conlan's record as one of the all-time greats. Certainly a bit of a hothead with anger issues, Conlan still seems to carry genuine respect for the sport of boxing as well as iration for other fighters, namely Donnie.
In Creed, it's established that Conlan is undefeated at a win-loss record of 36-0 prior to his bout with Adonis. Though Donnie is trained hard by Rocky Balboa, the first Creed movie still showcases a young and untested Donnie, and his bout with Conlan ultimately sees Conlan as the still-undefeated winner via split decision. Technically, then, Conlan never loses a fight in his professional boxing career, though he was knocked down for the first time in his career by Adonis Creed, nearly costing him the match in the twelfth and final round. All the same, before leaving the arena, Conlan recognizes Donnie as the future of their division and worthy of the "Creed" name. They may never be friends, but in Adonis, Conlan recognizes raw talent and power that may one day rival his own.
With his now 37-0 win-loss record, Conlan boasts an even more impressive record than Mason "The Line" Dixon's 33-0 record following the heavyweight boxer's win over Rocky in Rocky Balboa (2006). Similarly impressive, the real-life fighter playing Conlan (Tony Bellew), who competed from 2007 to 2018, has a win-loss-tie record of 30-3-1, with 20 of those being wins by knockout. From 2016 to 2017, Bellew held the WBC cruiserweight title, though he ultimately lost the undisputed cruiserweight world champion title in his final fight against Oleksandr Usyk in 2018.
As far as Conlan's boxing future goes in the Creed universe, it seems unlikely there will be much of one following Conlan's prison sentence. With Donnie already having moved onto his next opponent, the son of Ivan Drago, in Creed II, Conlan seems to be firmly in Donnie's past. No doubt, however, Donnie's loss to the undefeated boxer is sure to haunt him for the remainder of the Creed franchise.
