He was known as Killer Drago.  He was known as Killer Drago because he had fought Appallo Creed and beat him in the second round.  It was a knockout and Appallo Creed had fallen and the crowd let out a communal gasp.

Killer Drago's next match was on Christmas.  He had fought Rocky Balboa and lost in the final round.  It was a knockout.  Ivan Drago was hospitalized.  Most people thought that he would retire, that the world had seen the last Ivan Drago fight.  They were wrong.  For the next four years, Ivan Drago trained hard and fought hard and never lost a match.  In 1990, he had a record of 40-1 and he wanted another shot at the title.  Rocky was still the champion and for both fighters, the payday was too much to turn down.  They fought one more time and this time, Drago was beaten soundly.  Drago, having realized that he was never going to become the champion of the world, decided to retire.

He and his wife bought a new house and moved out to the Russian countryside.  They tried to live a quiet life, but Drago kept waiting.  Waiting.

A year later, having already heard of Rocky's retirement, Drago learned that a new kid, Tommy Gunn had just become champion of the world.  To Drago he looked weak.  He was undefeated but there was something about him, something about the way Tommy's arrogance that made Drago confident that he could beat him and beat him soundly.

He called his manager and two days later there was a press conference.  Ivan Drago was coming out of retirement and he wanted to fight the new champion, Tommy "The Machine" Gunn.  The manager took questions from the reporters who had gathered in the living room of Drago's mansion.

"After the retirement of Rocky Balboa," he said after he was ready to end the conference, "the world has lost interest in boxing.  With this title fight, if Tommy Gunn is man enough to accept our challenge, we hope to change that.  The world might not like Ivan Drago, but they'll pack an arena to see him fight.  That's all.  Thank you for coming out today."

The press gathered up their things and got ready for their flights to Oklahoma to attend a press conference that was going to be held by Tommy Gunn.