Would Mason The Line Dixon have been able to beat Apollo Creed?
Assuming that Mason The Line Dixon had been around in the 1970s with his same level of skill, speed and talent and been a local small time fighter coming up and given Rocky Balboa's place instead.
I think that Mason Dixon was good enough as shown in Rocky Balboa that he would have defeated Apollo Creed based on points alone, not sure if he would have knocked Apollo out but he could possibly do so too, but Mason Dixon defeated Rocky based on points and probably would have defeated a younger Rocky too.
So Mason Dixon might have either knocked Apollo out or defeated him based on points, he had better defense than Rocky and better speed, Apollo was lucky he never faced a tough young Dixon, Dixon might even have been able to knock out Clubber Lang too, but i dont think he could have beaten Ivan Drago because he was too tough, Rocky went through hell to defeat him, Dixon would have crumbled.