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Muhammad Ali was a big fan of the first two Rocky films. He told Roger Ebert as much in 1979 after they screened Rocky II. "It has all the ingredients. Love, violence, emotion. The excitement never dulled." Ebert, knowing the obvious and unavoidable parallel between Apollo Creed and his guest, pressed Ali for a reaction to his on-screen avatar's defeat. Never weary of a chance to land a clean blow on the racial politics of his day, Ali replied: "For the black man to come out superior would be against America's teachings.