The Billion Dollar Man

This Is Michael B. Jordan’s Moment, And He Knows It. Here’s How He Marshals His Strengths – Muscle, Talent, Drive – To Break Out Of His Comfort Zone And Excel.

- Mike Zimmerman

Boxing gloves make a man all thumbs. Can’t pick a damn thing up. That’s why it’s up to me to pour water into the mouth of the guy who’s trying to kill Michael B. Jordan.

That man is professional boxer Florian Munteanu, a brick wall that hits back; and, for our purposes here, heir to Ivan Drago. Rocky and Creed fans know what I’m talking about. I spoil nothing by saying that Vitor Drago comes for Jordan’s Adonis Johnson in Creed II later this year. Dragos, after all, enjoy killing Creeds.

Jordan’s camp invited me to observe his “workout” in anticipation of the sequel shoot, but I’m pleased to find myself ringside watching not a de rigueur training montage, but two and a half hours of choreography rehearsals for rounds 1 and 2 of Creed II’s big fight. It’s sweaty work in gloves – thus my unofficial role as water boy for Drago Jr. But what makes it interesting is that as quick and disciplined as Jordan is at dancing and faux-jabbing that brick wall, Munteanu has been trained to destroy what’s in front of him. He’s taken to the not-hitting part of the hitting well enough, but from my vantage point, you can feel the power in the air behind each swing.

Stunt coordinator Daniel Hernandez (John Wick) directs them through sequences: action, slow down here, maintain eye contact, here we go, here’s the oh-shit moment, and punctuating every finish with “Boom. Cut!”

Boxing gloves deliver violent blows. But here they deliver a respectful fist bump for a job well done.

MBJ is killing this. MBJ is enjoying this. Most of all, MBJ is ready for this.