Image Source: Getty / Alberto Rodriguez / Variety
All those years of playing Adonis Creed have earned Michael B. Jordan some serious boxing skills. In a new behind-the-scenes video from the “Creed III” set, the actor is seen warming up in the ring with professional boxing coach Ann Najjar before filming a fight scene. He throws whatever punch combinations Najjar demands, hitting her mitts with jabs, crosses, and uppercuts galore as the crew cheers from outside the ring. The precision! The concentration! Oh, and did we mention he’s shirtless in the clip? It’s a lot to handle.
Known to her followers as the Mitt Queen, Najjar is a boxing coach at Bomber Squad Academy in San Diego and also portrays Jordan’s trainer in “Creed III.” In a promotional video for the film, she introduces herself as “a Middle Eastern girl in a male-dominated sport,” adding, “I’m here to change the game and show that women can do this.” Jordan spoke highly of working with Najjar, saying, “In ‘Creed III,’ we raise the bar and take some big swings, so to be able to lean on professional boxing trainers who are at the top of their game was priceless.”
The latest installment of the Rocky Balboa movie franchise centers on Adonis Creed reconnecting with childhood friend Damian Anderson (played by Jonathan Majors) after the latter serves an 18-year prison sentence. The two agree to train together and wind up sparking a heated rivalry that brings them head to head in the ring. If you haven’t seen the film yet since it hit theaters on March 3, the below video will convince you to buy a ticket as soon as humanly possible.