Creed III

In 2002, Adonis "Donnie" Creed sneaks out with his best friend, Golden Gloves champion "Diamond" Dame Anderson, to watch him compete in an underground boxing match in Los Angeles. After Dame's victory, he tells Donnie about his aspirations to turn professional and become a world champion. During a detour at a liquor store, Donnie impulsively attacks a man named Leon, and Dame is arrested while Donnie escapes, running away from the scene. After Dame was arrested, Donnie never contacted Dame again. In 2024, six years after beating Viktor Drago and three years after beating Ricky Conlan to avenge his only career defeat, Donnie has retired from boxing to focus on his wife Bianca and their 6-year-old daughter Amara, whose hearing impairment has since led the family to become fluent in American Sign Language. Donnie runs the Delphi Boxing Academy with Tony "Little Duke" Evers Jr. and is promoting his protégé, world champion Felix "El Guerrero" Chavez, in a match against Drago. While the two watch the declining health of Donnie's adoptive mother Mary-Anne, Amara aspires to become a boxer like Donnie, which gets her into trouble at school when she punches a bully. Released from prison, Dame reconnects with Donnie and shares his desire to resume his boxing career. Donnie reluctantly invites Dame to the gym, and hires him as Chavez's sparring partner, but his presence draws scorn from Chavez and Duke as Dame is overly aggressive and hostile. Dame later visits Donnie's home, where he meets his family and recounts their time together at a group home, a story that Bianca had never heard. Privately, Dame asks for a title shot against Chavez, but Donnie declines. After Drago is attacked by an unknown assailant at a party for Bianca's record label, which casts doubt on his ability to participate in his upcoming fight, Donnie nominates Dame as Drago's replacement. Despite it being his first professional bout, Dame manages to win the unified heavyweight championship by implementing dirty tactics such as a knee and elbow, as well as targeting Chavez's shoulder, which Dame had intentionally damaged during one of their sparring sessions, leaving Chavez in serious condition and Duke furious. Following the match, an uneasy Donnie visits Mary-Anne, who shows him years' worth of letters Dame had written to Donnie while in prison, which she kept from him due to her believing that Dame was a bad influence. Donnie is furious for her making Dame think he'd been abandoned. One letter contains a picture showing Dame with a fellow inmate and Drago's assailant. Realizing that Dame planned the attack, Donnie confronts him, and Dame admits that he manipulated him into getting the title shot. Donnie is unable to open up to Bianca about his and Mary-Anne's complicity in hurting Dame. Dame revels in his newfound fame and publicly calls Donnie a fraud who turned his back on him. Mary-Anne suffers another stroke and dies. After her funeral, Donnie confesses to Bianca about the night of Dame's arrest, revealing Leon to be the abusive caregiver in their group home before he was adopted. When Donnie attacked Leon at the liquor store, Leon's friends started beating Donnie, which caused Dame to brandish a gun to save Donnie. Publicly taunted by Dame and encouraged by Bianca, Donnie decides to come out of retirement and challenges Dame for the championship, which he accepts. After training with Duke and a recovered Drago, Donnie faces Dame in the "Battle of Los Angeles" at Dodger Stadium. The fight is a grueling, evenly matched affair. In the final round, Donnie has visions of his abusive foster home and Dame's life in jail, which leads to Donnie being knocked down. He manages to just beat the count, then goes on to knock Dame out and regain the championship. Afterward, Donnie reconciles with Dame, with both men admitting it was not the other's fault. Donnie then joins Bianca and Amara in the ring in the empty stadium, where he pretends to box with Amara. == Cast ==