Michael B. Jordan is Getting Ripped for 'Creed 2'

Photo credit: Marvel/MGM
Photo credit: Marvel/MGM

From Esquire

Michael B. Jordan looks deadly in Black Panther. He's a lethal mass of muscle and self-confidence, with a body powerful enough to take on the King of Wakanda in hand-to-hand combat.

You'd think Jordan peaked with the role of Killmonger. He did train three times a day, after all. But according to his personal trainer Corey Calliet, we ain't seen nothing yet - well, besides those muscles and that fight scene. Just wait until you get a load of Michael B. Jordan in Creed II, Calliet says.

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Creed II, which has Jordan and Sylvester Stallone reprising their roles as Adonis Creed and Rocky to square off against Viktor Drago, the son of Ivan Drago, is slated to open in November 2018. It starts filming soon, on the heels of some intense training, which to Calliet translates as "a lot of pain and punishment going on in our lives for the next five months."

Jordan's transition back to fighting shape won't be as easy as dropping weight. As it turns out, Jordan only added 10 to 15 pounds to play Killmonger, Calliet says. He just shaped it differently, putting more time into weightlifting to become absolutely massive-looking. But boxing requires a different kind of fitness: cardiovascular strength.

"Boxing is pretty hard, the hardest I've ever done, and I've done a lot of stuff," says Calliet, who's been doing it for eight years now. It takes physical and mental fortitude to dance around the ring, take hits, deliver punches, and just stay upright for 12 rounds with your body on the line. Jordan's done it before, obviously - and his portrayal of a boxing legend in the making was damn convincing in Creed - but Creed II will be another story.

Jordan will have to look "aesthetically more ripped" than he does right now, says Calliet, which, granted, seems near impossible. But he's portraying a boxer with three more years of experience (and priceless training from Rocky) than the first Creed go-round, and a fighter with more grace than Killmonger. "Imagine that size he was in Black Panther, just more cut, like really really cut," Calliet says.

So it's onto cardiovascular training - jumping rope, HIIT cardio, loads of boxing - and some weight training to keep him sharp.

"When we go to Philly, it's going to be like boot camp. We're just going to be eating and training all day: eat, train, take a break; eat, train, take a break; eat, train, all day long," Calliet says.

And after all that? Come November 21, if Michael B. Jordan isn't playing the best boxer to ever hit the big screen, it's a safe bet he'll be the most ripped.

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