Is there a link between the movies and boxing popularity???

You know from the forties to the early nineties there have been a plethora of big Boxing movies glamorising or showcasing our great sport....In the 40's we had Gentleman Jim..Champion..Body and soul..The set up....followed by The harder they fall...Kid Galahad...moving to the seventies and early eighties with the hugely succesful Rocky franchise.....

These were huge films maybe making it sexy to...

1. Watch...
2. To take part...........

The more that take part the bigger the talent pool one could suggest......which could be a reason why Boxing was so full of talent that trascended from 1940-1990...and the stadiums were packed out..

Obviously socio economic reasons were a huge factor too.....the pre-dominant factor no doubt with most blacks....

But Boxing interest has waned since the 90's onwards with box off relative flops like cinderella Man and Ali...also with less cinema-goer's and DVd rental sales.....

Is there a link between the movies and boxing popularity???

Or am I a jerk...

It would seem their is but I think PPV also has something to do with it as well. People who don't follow the sport but would watch big fight if it's on are pretty unwilling to pay £15 for the pleasure or the inflated price they charge in your homeland.

People have had to pay for Boxing in America for years.....not a new thing..

Although I'm sure the lack of fights on terrestrial here has helped the dwain in popularity..

It's not good I was getting all hyped up about DeGale-Groves and most of my mates who don't follow the sport never had a clue who they were. Same with Cleverly.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:People have had to pay for Boxing in America for years.....not a new thing..

Although I'm sure the lack of fights on terrestrial here has helped the dwain in popularity..

Just a shame we live in a time where they would rather show beach volleyball, a meaningless uefa cup game than live championship boxing, which if on terrestrial tv free would generate much more support for the sport.

It's all a ratings game..and Audley killed terrestrial boxing in this Country...

Even a bbc guy admitted to it on the old 606..

not cost effective...

Ever decreasing circles. When you have a passionate minority that will pay more on ppv, than the ratings would be worth on terrestrial to a tv company its a downward spiral, as fewer people get to see it to become passionate about it.

Benn MacLellan ended the boom of the 90's for terrestrial tv and as mentioned, Audley's borefests didn't provide a great case study for the resurrection.

To the original question, culture can both define and reflect, so i guess the more popular boxing is the more boxing films you get, and conversely a really popular boxing film can help reignite interest.

Boxing's decline is more rooted in a changing society, exposure and competing alternative sports.

And no, you're not a jerk truss... all the time

i think the cinderella man was a good movie, not that acurate but still a good watch

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:It's all a ratings game..and Audley killed terrestrial boxing in this Country...

Even a bbc guy admitted to it on the old 606..

not cost effective...

Is such a pity because what is often forgotten is when the Beeb dipped a toe with Audley they also had Haye and Froch early in their pro career, with what they have gone on to achieve how much of a shot in the arm for the sport would either of those appearing on terrestrial Tv have given the sport

All I know is that Rocky 4 ended the cold war so it got bigger than boxing and took over on a political scale

the pre-dominant factor no doubt with most blacks....
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Just say Afro-American sounds better.

Movies have no baring on boxing.

Truss you omitted recent films like The Hurricane, Rocky 6, Million Dollar Baby and The Fighter.

Granted. Million Dollar Baby will hardly encourage anyone to take up boxing, but these films are still out there.

Truth be told, while there's no doubt that a great film has the ability to raise awareness and increase the public interest in its subject matter, I'm far from sold on the idea that films are as influential as is sometimes made out.

I've watched some great war flicks, but none made me want to sign up*. Likewise Lethal Weapon didn't make me wanna be a cop, Top Gun didn't make me wanna fly 'planes, and Interview With The Vampire didn't make me a frilly-shirted bloodsucker. True, the Lord of the Rings films stirred certain feelings for...little people, but that's another story entirely.

*with the possible exception of Fatherland.

ONETWOFOREVER wrote:the pre-dominant factor no doubt with most blacks....
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Just say Afro-American sounds better.

Not to someone from the Caribbean I expect.

Steffan wrote:All I know is that Rocky 4 ended the cold war so it got bigger than boxing and took over on a political scale

Rocky IV was released in 1985, the Cold War ended in 1991, your theory is flawed.

It's not that powerful a film to have immediate effect...

Scottrf wrote:It's not that powerful a film to have immediate effect...

But on repeated watching...WHOA.

Using that logic then, Rocky 5 won the World Cup for France in 1998.

Rocky 4 (on repeat) was the main instigator. It took 6 years for the Russians to finally realise that if I can change, and you can change...EVERYBODY CAN CHANGE

not seen many of the new boxing films, the fighter, million dollar baby etc- theres something about staged boxing that rubs against me. are they any good?

Million Dollar Baby is good, the Fighter I wasn't that impressed with but it got good reviews.

The fighter is quite good fightfan I would recomend it. Million dollor baby is rubbish.

MDB is 148 on IMDb, evidently a lot of people disagree.

haha thanks scott and one two, very helpful advice and counter advice.

The Fighter is an above average film about a distinctly average boxer. Not a great film, but worth a watch. million Dollar Baby is a fantastic film but hard to watch a second time. Winner of four Oscars, and deservedly so.

might watch them both is i come across them but not going to go outta my way, infact i have lovefilm.com so might just get em anyway.

Million Dollar Baby isn't about any real fighters though, but is still the far better of the two.

whos the fighter based on? is it accurate?

eddyfightfan wrote:whos the fighter based on? is it accurate?

It's a fictional tale of fictional characters. It's no less moving for that, although from the perspective of a boxing fan the boxing part of the story is very much secondary to the events which overtake the main characters. As such I'd imagine it may not appeal to the boxing fan so much as it might to the film fan. If you prefer a true story there are documentaries aplenty out there, and in honesty I'd rather watch a documentary than a dramatised film version of events. If you're after a cracking film that happens to be about a fictitious character who happens to box, then MDB is well worthy of your time.

As a fan of Clint Eastwood films, it's among his best.

BALTIMORA wrote:

eddyfightfan wrote:whos the fighter based on? is it accurate?

It's a fictional tale of fictional characters. It's no less moving for that, although from the perspective of a boxing fan the boxing part of the story is very much secondary to the events which overtake the main characters. As such I'd imagine it may not appeal to the boxing fan so much as it might to the film fan. If you prefer a true story there are documentaries aplenty out there, and in honesty I'd rather watch a documentary than a dramatised film version of events. If you're after a cracking film that happens to be about a fictitious character who happens to box, then MDB is well worthy of your time.

As a fan of Clint Eastwood films, it's among his best.

think balti's answering the wrong question... the fighter is about mickey ward. Like most hollywood films, it takes liberties with reality; and like most hollywood films, the fight scenes are rubbish. But its watchable stuff.

milkyboy wrote:

BALTIMORA wrote:

eddyfightfan wrote:whos the fighter based on? is it accurate?

It's a fictional tale of fictional characters. It's no less moving for that, although from the perspective of a boxing fan the boxing part of the story is very much secondary to the events which overtake the main characters. As such I'd imagine it may not appeal to the boxing fan so much as it might to the film fan. If you prefer a true story there are documentaries aplenty out there, and in honesty I'd rather watch a documentary than a dramatised film version of events. If you're after a cracking film that happens to be about a fictitious character who happens to box, then MDB is well worthy of your time.

As a fan of Clint Eastwood films, it's among his best.

think balti's answering the wrong question... the fighter is about mickey ward. Like most hollywood films, it takes liberties with reality; and like most hollywood films, the fight scenes are rubbish. But its watchable stuff.

I did absolutely do that. I misread 'fighter' as 'film'. My bad. Yes, The Fighter is about Mickey Ward. The fight scenes are filmed in such a way that the visual quality looks like real fight footage, but the physical aspect is lacking.

They do have real commentary in The Fighter, which adds to it.

Interesting thought Trussy - but I don't buy this one.

Fighter, million dollar baby, cinderella man didn't do that badly. True, they weren't as iconic as Rocky - but nothing is. [cue eye of the tiger]

Your other articles are closer to the mark - about the decline of the US as a boxing force.

However - for me, the decline of good hype-men has contributed as significantly. Once, a writer would watch your work and after you'd done enough and looked good enough - you might get a moniker to hang your name upon. ie "sweet as sugar" Ray Robinson. As such, if a fighter didn't cut it with the journos or writers - they didn't get a nickname - ie Burley.

But the likes of Hemingway writing about the boxing spectacle rather than some faceless PR machine - that does create excitement.

As such - its the decline in quality writers along with the decline of the written word that has hurt boxing.

What's the 21st century boxing answer to Hemingway? Dan Rafael. Enough said.

Of course there is media has a massive influence on of values and beliefs in society, both good and bad. It wouldn't surprise me if many boxers started as a result of movies such as rocky and raging bull.