Carl Weathers, the actor best known for playing the role of heavyweight champion Apollo Creed in the first four “Rocky” movies, has died at age 76. Weathers was a former professional football player whose Apollo Creed character was loosely based on Muhammad Ali. Weather was so charismatic that his character was beloved by millions even though he was the "bad guy" of the first two movies. The WBC commented, "Weathers was a perfect fit for the role of flashy and cocky world champion Creed opposite Sylvester Stallone’s scrappy underdog Rocky Balboa. Carl would appear in several other installments of the Rocky franchise before his character was killed off in Rocky IV by Ivan Drago." Boxingtalk joins the WBC in saluting Carl Weathers and sending its deepest sympathies to his friends and family.