Zeus starts the fight by knocking Atom down with its first punch , but Atom gets up , and Zeus continues its assault , knocking Atom down multiple times , but each time Atom gets back up , and eventually is able to land its first punch , a right uppercut . Atom survives the first round , stunning the audience . Ricky , who had made a bet with a friend of Charlie 's of $100,000 that Atom would not last the round , tries to slip away , but is cornered by the fight 's bookmakers . The two opponents go back and forth throughout the fight , Atom landing multiple punches but also getting knocked down many times , getting back up for each of them . Late in the fourth round , Atom 's vocal - respond controls are damaged , forcing Charlie to use its `` shadow function '' to make it mimic his boxing skills . This , and the fact that Zeus starts running out of power from its constant offense , tip the odds in Atom 's favor , forcing Zeus ' programmer to manually control it , and Max and Bailey both watch Charlie doing what he was meant to do , and are touched by seeing him literally fighting for his son . Zeus gets a sound beating , once even hitting the ground and barely avoiding losing by knockout , but survives the final round and wins the match by the judges ' decision . The technologically superior machine remains undefeated , but with the humiliation of being fought to a near - loss , to which Atom is hailed the `` People 's Champion '' .

Question: who wins the final fight in real steel
Answer: Zeus