Sabretooth starts out in Iron Fist #14, and Danny beats him even though Danny is temporarily snow-blind.

Sabretooth starts out in Iron Fist #14, and Danny beats him even though Danny is temporarily snow-blind. Creed is strong and fast, but Danny can tell his fighting technique isn't on the same level. He's able to use that against him even with his own eyesight compromised. So right from the first appearance, Sabretooth can be beaten by somebody who knows how to fight him. Then he keeps running into trouble in Power Man and Iron Fist. In #66, he's working with Constrictor on the Jade Tiger business. In #78, he's using the Slasher identity and Misty Knight catches him with her bionic arm. He and Constrictor do get away that time, so that isn't a capture. In #84, he's after Misty again, but Luke Cage puts him down. Luke gets so carried away that Danny has to stop him from going further. That's already several appearances where Creed is dangerous enough to hurt people but very capable of getting beaten himself. And Luke Cage and Misty's bionic arm aren't exactly harmless opposition. The interesting thing is how often the stories let Creed come out of these encounters looking bad.