Tony “Duke” Evers was first introduced in to the ROCKY series as the trainer to the World Heavyweight Champion Apollo Creed. A planned Bicentennial fight against number one contender Mac Lee Green was scheduled for January 1, 1976, which Apollo gladly hypes whenever someone places a microphone in front of him. However, Green hurts his left hand in training, and when none of the other top ranked contenders, such as Ernie Roman and Buddy Shaw, step up to face the champion, Creed responds with a novelty promotion that will generate huge publicity. 
While Creed dismissed Rocky as a serious threat, Tony appeared to be the only member of Creed’s staff who considered Balboa to be a legitimate threat, as he cautioned Creed of his vulnerability against southpaw opponents. Tony also expressed concern while closely observing Rocky’s meat freezer sparring session at his friend Paulie’s meat factory, which was broadcast on an edition of the evening news, saying to Creed, “Hey champ, you ought to come here and take a look at this kid you’re gonna’ fight, he looks like he means business”. “Yeah, Yeah, I mean business, too. Shirley, go get me some more coffee.”
