Top 5 Realistic Movie Boxers

To celebrate Friday’s release of Ryan Coogler’s ‘Rocky’ boxing drama spin-off ‘Creed’ starring Michael B. Jordan, we break down our top 5 movie performances from actors who have clearly studied the sweet pugilistic science, in films that represent the sport accurately so classic ‘Rocky’ films are out of the running… and we’re not interested in actual boxing footage so no documentaries either.

There are 2 main types of Movie Boxing performance, the “biographical” method found in biopics where actors mimic a real fighter’s style and the “orthodox” style where an original character means an actor learns the basics of boxing and develops his own style for the role.

#5:

Will Smith in ‘Ali’ (2001)

Image Source: Sony Pictures

Acclaimed writer/producer/director Michael Mann turns his hand to telling the life story of one of the greatest sporting and cultural icons of all time, starring superstar Will Smith in the role of a lifetime inside and out of the ring.

The task of trying to capture the essence of such an icon is a daunting one and Smith spent an extensive amount of time on the physical training required to re-creating perhaps the most unique and recognizable style in boxing history, as well as gaining 30 pounds of pure muscle on the way to peak physical condition.

With the help of trainer-to-the-stars and former Sugar Ray Leonard trainer Darrell Foster as well a director Mann, Smith manages to faithfully re-create Ali’s fights and showcase his fluid footwork and graceful style, particularly evident in the 1st Sonny Liston fight where he impressively glides around the ring avoiding Liston’s desperate shots while delivering convincingly stiff straight punches and the odd hook.

Directed by Michael Mann and starring Will Smith, Jon Voight and Jamie Foxx among many others.

Genre: Fact-based, Drama

#4—>

Comments

comments

Comments are closed.