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    Boxing Documentaries: Stories from Inside and Outside the Ring

    Boxing is arguably one of the best examples that exists of a sport that pits two people against each other in a pure battle of skill and ability. The pugilists are taxed with trying to deliver a blow that will knock their opponent out, leaving them on the canvas for long enough to see them win the fight.

    It is that simple, even if the dedication, skill and ability of the two fighters is something that most of us will never be able to achieve. Whether you’ve watched every major fight that’s ever taken place or you don’t know much about the sport, documentaries are a great way to learn more about it.

    Here is a look at some of the best ones that you can watch:

    When We Were Kings

    • Format: Documentary film
    • First Released: 1996
    • Length: 1 hour 27 minutes
    • UK Age Rating: 12
    • Watch in the UK: Subscription streaming through NOW Entertainment and Sky Documentaries. Also available on Region B Blu-ray.
    • Subtitles: Closed captions on NOW and English subtitles on Blu-ray.
    • Content Advice: References to racism.

    When a documentary about boxing wins an Oscar, you know that it is going to be worth your time. That is very much the case with When We Were Kings, which is about a fight from 1974 but remains one of the best films to watch on the subject more than 50 years later.

    It largely centres around the fight between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, leaning into the mythology of the latter and the place that he held in both the world of politics and popular culture at the time. It is from a time that now seems somewhat old hat, but that appeared exotic at the time thanks to the foreign travel.

    Released in 1996, the Leon Gast film centres around the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’, offering archival footage of people such as James Brown, Don King and others, as well as interviews with relevant people like Spike Lee, George Plimpton and Norman Mailer.

    It took Gast more than two decades to get the finance for it and edit the film together, but it was worth every moment he spent doing so, not only taking a closer look at the two boxers but also the hopes of Ali for African Americans in the future. If you want to know about how Ali won the fight, this is the work to watch to find out.

    Pariah: The Lives and Deaths of Sonny Liston

    • Format: Documentary film
    • First Released: 2019
    • Length: 1 hour 29 minutes
    • Watch in the UK: No subscription, free-streaming, rental or digital-purchase option. A Region 1 US-import DVD is available, but requires a Region 1 or multi-region player.
    • Content Advice: Language and suggestive dialogue.

    If you know even a scant amount about the world of boxing, then there is a good chance that you will know the name ‘Sonny Liston’. Although not as famous as the likes of Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson or Evander Holyfield, his name is still one of those that will forever be associated with the sport.

    He was also believed to be linked to organised crime, which terrified many in American society back in the 1960s. In the ring, he was formidable, becoming the heavyweight champion of the world when he kicked Floyd Patterson out in round one in 1962.

    As if that wasn’t enough, he then did the same thing again eight months later to secure his crown. When he eventually did lose the title, it came at the hands of a certain Cassius Clay, who would go on to become the aforementioned Ali.

    One of the key aspects of the film is to look at the manner of Liston’s death, which was declared to be from heart failure when he was found in his home in mysterious circumstances in 1970. In the book The Devil and Sonny Liston, the writer Nick Tosches makes the point that no one really knows exactly when he was born or died, which this film explores.

    After the Last Round

    • Format: Documentary film
    • First Released: 2009
    • Length: 1 hour 28 minutes
    • Watch in the UK: Free streaming on TrillerTV.
    • Note: The version available on TrillerTV runs for 1 hour 22 minutes and 54 seconds, slightly shorter than the original 88-minute version.

    It is not exactly outrageous to suggest that this might be one of the best documentaries ever made about boxing, thanks to the fact that it takes an honest look at what happens to boxers after their careers are over.

    It takes viewers on a journey about boxing from the very start through to the end, looking first at young boys just getting into the sport on through to the old men who are broken and suffering because of the sport. It is not a film that shies away from boxing’s less glamorous parts, yet attempts to do so by explaining why it is that so many people continue to be drawn to it.

    After the last round documentary

    When you consider the fact that boxing is a sport in which people punch each other in the face repeatedly, it is a marvel that anyone is willing to take part in it at all. They are, though, which is why long-term fans of the sport will love the fact that it speaks to the likes of Joe Mesi and DaVarryl Williamson in an attempt to understand their motivation.

    It is certainly the case that the end is a little bit strange, comparing boxers to greyhounds, but the rest of the documentary is so good that you should be willing to forgive the filmmaker for having one poor round right at the end of the fight.

    Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story

    • Format: Documentary film
    • First Released: 2005
    • Length: 1 hour 27 minutes
    • Watch in the UK: No current subscription, free-streaming, rental or digital-purchase option. A Region 1 US-import DVD is available through Amazon, but requires a Region 1 or multi-region player.

    In 1962, Benny ‘Kid’ Paret and Emile Griffith met in the ring for the third time. Before the fight, Paret had been questioning Griffith’s sexuality, leading some to believe, even to this day, that he was a gay man at a time when it was not accepted in society for someone to be so.

    Griffith knocked Paret out in the 12th of 15 rounds, having dished out extreme punishment to his opponent during the course of the fight. Paret then died of the injuries that he sustained in the bout ten days later, leading many to believe that Griffith essentially killed him for his comments about his sexuality.

    Ring of Fire Emile Griffith

    As is so often the case with pretty much any story that boasts a touch of nuance, the truth was significantly more complex than that. As this documentary shows, it was also far more emotional, not least of all when Griffith comes face to face with Paret’s son and is forgiven for killing his father, which will likely cause most people to struggle to keep their eyes dry.

    It would be somewhat untrue to say that this is an easy watch, but it might be one of the most important in terms of learning why it is that boxing being broadcast on television began to decline in the wake of it.

    Thrilla in Manila

    • Format: Television documentary
    • First Released: 2008
    • Length: 1 hour 30 minutes
    • Watch in the UK: No current subscription, free-streaming, rental or digital-purchase option. Region-free PAL DVD copies can be found second-hand through eBay.

    There are some that believe that the ‘Thrilla in Manila’ was the greatest boxing match of all time, pitting two of the sport’s greatest ever fighters against one another in conditions that would best be described as ‘brutal’. It was the third and final fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, explored in detail by the documentary that shares the same name as the nickname given to the bout.

    Whilst the fight itself obviously takes centre stage, the documentary looks back at the rivalry of the pair that began in the 1960s, initially being a friendship before it soured with each passing year.

    This is another documentary on this list that is worth watching to see the effects that boxing has on those that compete in the sport, with Frazier looking like a broken and frail old man, seemingly living out of his Philadelphia-based gym. Years after the fight, whilst watching it back with a journalist, Ali said, “Frazier quit just before I did. I didn’t think I could fight anymore.”

    That goes some way to explaining why it is that this fight continues to be talked about more than half a century later, as well as why this documentary is one that you really should find time to watch.

    30 for 30: 42 to 1

    • Format: Television documentary; part of ESPN’s 30 for 30 series
    • First Released: 2018
    • Length: 50 minutes
    • UK Age Rating: 12+
    • Watch in the UK: Subscription streaming on Disney+.
    • Subtitles: Subtitles and closed captions are available.

    In some ways, there aren’t really many surprises left in sport in general, let alone boxing. Yes, Anthony Joshua’s defeat by Andy Ruiz Jr. in 2019 was something of a shock, but not really in the eyes of those who felt that AJ didn’t take it seriously enough.

    The documentary 42 to 1 is part of the 30 for 30 series that ESPN produced to celebrate the organisation’s 30th anniversary, looking at notable things that occurred in sport between 1979 and 2009. This particular one was on the 11th of February 1990, when Mike Tyson took on James ‘Buster’ Douglas in the ring.

    The odds of 42/1 given to Douglas to win the fight don’t even come close to telling the full story about just how improbable it was that he would become the heavyweight champion of the world. Starting in Columbus, Ohio, which is where Douglas grew up, the film explores the difference between Douglas’ boxing career and that of ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson, who went on a remarkable run to make himself the undisputed world champion.

    Douglas wasn’t going to win, which is why the fact that he did so became such a massive news story, whilst the circumstances behind the victory are explored here.