Many young adults grow up in rough neighborhoods where they have to be physically capable of defending themselves. Examples of these people are illustrated in the movie Creed and the book The Contender. Both share many similarities, such as the common theme of perseverance and the main characters with complex backgrounds. Nevertheless, the film and the book have different settings, and the lead heroes face various problems. On the one hand, there are many similarities between the novel the Contender and the movie Creed. One of the major themes in the book is finding yourself. The reader sees how the main character grows from a defenseless boy to a successful boxer. Another theme is the importance of being dedicated to the aim. Alfred never gives up; for example, he keeps standing up, even when he cannot beat a stronger and more experienced boxer, Hubbard. Similarly, the central theme in the movie Creed is perseverance. Adonis gives up his career in a financial firm to become a boxer. Although an elite Delphi Boxing Academy manager rejects him, he persuades a former boxing champion, Rocky Balboa, to train him. Just like Alfred, Adonis is not afraid to fight a more experienced boxer and lose.
On the other hand, the movie and the book show different settings. The Creed events unfold in a Los Angeles detention camp where Adonis beats another boy, but he is rescued by his father’s widow, who takes him to live in a rich house. The Contender’s events occur in one of the disadvantaged areas in New York, Harlem, where gangs surround Alfred, who is brutally beaten and has to find his way out of a complex reality. Therefore, starting conditions for the main characters are different. Adonis lives under the shadow of his famous father and wants to prove his worth as a boxer. Meanwhile, Alfred resists the pressure of gangsters who try to engage him in crimes. Overall, the movie and the book show talented and hard-working boxers. Both characters lose their final fights but fight until the end, proving that the journey is more important than the result. They are motivated by different things as Adonis wants to prove that he is worthy of his father, and Alfred wants to mature. Both the movie and the book show stories of perseverance that are worth reading and watching.