In case you have been living under a rock on the moon, you may have heard that there's a new Rocky film on the way and this one involves the son of one of his toughest opponents, Apollo Creed.
Creed is the seventh film in the brilliant series but there are quite a few great, albeit formulaic, boxing films out there. You know the type, underdog decides to train, boxing montage, loses his/her first fight and then finally named the champion.
With one of the stars of the movie, Tony Bellew on the show tonight, we spoke to the Off The Ball guys this week about some of their favourite boxing films and why they love them so much.
Raging Bull
The Champ
Mick McCarthy
I've gone for The Champ, the 1979 film starring Jon Voight and Faye Dunaway. It one of those films I've found myself dragged into so many times over the years and never found the will to turn it off before its incredible ending.
Voight plays a washed up former boxing champ, who is a single father to TJ, played brilliantly by Ricky Schroder. As a part time horse trainer with growing gambling debts, he struggles to bring TJ up properly and decides getting back in the ring is his only option.
Voight is brilliant as the vulnerable tough guy and the relationship between Champ and TJ is one of the best father-son dynamics in film, which is what makes the film so memorable.
Without giving away the ending - the clip below will do that fine - there will be tears."
Rocky
Joe Molloy
"I'm a massive Rocky fan. Even Rocky V doesn't horrify me the way it should. The films are cheesy, overly sentimental, unrealistic and cliched to the hilt. Of the first Rocky in November 1976, the New York Times Review said "Mr. Stallone's Rocky is less a performance than an impersonation. It's all superficial mannerisms and movements. The speech patterns sound right and what he says is occasionally lifelike, but it's a studied routine, not a character. The problem, I think, comes back to Mr. Stallone." All of that is kind of true, but also overlooks the power of the whole franchise; it’s hard not to love and root for Rocky Balboa. Push me to pick a favourite and its Rocky IV. It was the first Rocky film I saw and was love at first sight. Plus, increasingly, Stallone is getting the hang of the old acting routine and the character has more depth and layers than in 1976."
Fight Club
Nathan Murphy
"Fight Club - Quit your job. Start a fight. Prove you're alive."
Snatch
Colm 'Wooly' Parkinson
"What's not to love? Brad Pitt topless, buff and a brilliant boxer... in a trilby hat."
Rocky Balboa
The Fighter
Tommy Rooney
"The Fighter is one of my favourite boxing films. I've always thought Mark Walhberg and Christian Bale were a brilliant combination for it. Wahlberg was great as Micky Ward but Bale's portrayal of Dicky is really memorable. Really good story and enjoyable film too!"
When We Were Kings
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