8 boxing films that pack a punch

Based on the life of legendary world middleweight champion Jake LaMotta, Raging Bull offers an alluring blend of mental suffering, fighting spirit and disastrous setbacks.

The film, starring Robert De Niro, is split into two parts, the first of which providing a depiction of LaMotta’s rollercoaster career in the ring.

A chiselled De Niro is then replaced by a starkly overweight version of the sensational actor, reflecting his tremendous versatility in the world of cinema.

With Joe Pesci, too, adding an extra layer of comedic value to the otherwise serious drama, there is very little not to like about the Martin Scorsese-directed film.

In another true story, The Fighter takes its audience through the thrilling career of Micky Ward, an Irish-American bruiser known for his frenetic wars with Arturo Gatti.

But the film, starring Mark Wahlberg, offers more of an insight into the personal struggles of Ward, rather than detailing each step of his life through the ropes.

His half-brother, Dicky Eklund, is portrayed by Christian Bale, whose magnetic performance draws the viewers’ attention towards the drug culture that Ward’s family had largely succumbed to.

So with those around him battling addiction, ‘Irish’ was compelled to contend with each distraction while, at the same time, aiming to improve the lives of his family members.

With Stallone introducing us to the fictional world of Rocky, the rawness attached to the first film will always inspire a comforting surge of nostalgia.

What makes it a particularly captivating two hours, though, are the combined efforts of ‘Sly’ and Carl Weathers, who expertly plays heavyweight champion Apollo Creed.

Quite remarkably, Balboa finds himself in a position to challenge the top dog, only for the unproven novice to discover that he remains a level or two below his rival.

Yet still, with the tenacious contender nonetheless giving a titanic account of himself, his underdog story ignited what would eventually become a multi-film franchise.

Despite rarely being spoken about in the same breath as the Rocky films, The Harder They Fall is, at its core, a true boxing story.

In other words, it aptly encompasses the sport’s darker side, with promoters and matchmakers expressing little regard for the safety of a fighter.

The individual they attempt to steer towards stardom is Toro Moreno, a towering heavyweight who can hardly punch his way out of a wet paper bag.

Nevertheless, Eddie Willis – a sports writer, portrayed by Humphrey Bogart – is hired to drum up plenty of hype around Moreno, before taking the hopeless novice’s future into his own hands.

In Jawbone, a down-and-out boxer named Jimmy McCabe – played by Johnny Harris – desperately attempts to claw himself away from a life of alcohol abuse and financial struggles.

More than anything, McCabe hopes to rediscover a shred of his former self, even if it means surrendering to a torturous regime ahead of his next fight.

Along with Harris, actors Ray Winstone and Ian McShane only add to the film’s gritty tone, made somewhat harsher by a steady but pulsating tempo.

And of course, as is the case with nearly every film involving Winstone, there is a quintessential East End theme that runs seamlessly throughout the 90 minutes.

With Clubber Lang – played by Mr. T – making for the perfect antagonist, Rocky III had potential to be the most complete film in the series.

But regardless, the story begins with Balboa as the champion, his fame and wealth contributing to a classic case of ‘silk pyjamas’ syndrome.

Highly-ranked contender Lang, meanwhile, soon emerges as a likely challenger, with the audacious, trash-talking American hoping to shoehorn himself into a heavyweight title fight.

Sure enough, Balboa is then forced to give Lang his opportunity, all the while questioning whether he still possesses the same dogged desire to win.

Directed by Clint Eastwood, who also plays Irish-American coach Frankie Dunn, Million Dollar Baby follows the developing relationship between a trainer and fighter.

Maggie Fitzgerald – portrayed by Hilary Swank – offers a fictional character who, though eager to learn the art of pugilism, encounters several problems while attempting to convince Dunn to train her.

At first, Dunn refuses to help the female fighter – an inexperienced one, at that – but then eventually gives in and, before long, finds himself opening up on a more personal level.

From there, the pair’s relationship only continues to flourish, with the film itself providing plenty of twists and turns along the way.

While this list has been structured in no particular order, Rocky IV would certainly appear near the top of any boxing film rankings.

The soundtrack, alone, is enough to get anyone’s pulse pounding, with each thumping track complimenting perhaps the most iconic training montage of all time.

When considering the prickly political relations between the US and Russia at the time, too, it only made sense for Ivan Drago – played by Dolph Lundgren – to represent Balboa’s formidable opponent.

Uttering little more than, ‘if he dies, he dies,’ the mountainous frame of Drago was enough to do most of the talking for him.