On Friday Southpaw, the latest movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal, will hit theaters. The film is the story of light heavyweight champion Billy Hope, an undefeated lefty whose life changes dramatically when his wife (Rachel McAdams) is accidentally shot. He begins a descent into a personal hell, and then attempts a comeback. At least that’s what we can tell from the trailer, which reveals a lot of the plot.
Southpaw is highly anticipated, but will it be able to crack Sports World News’ Top 5 boxing movies ever list? SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!
Rocky IV
For the record, the actual boxing scenes in this movie are borderline unforgiveable. For Rocky, who in the movie’s universe is one of the great heavyweights, to consistently fight with the type of defense he employed is damn near criminal. But getting that out of the way, this film is a masterpiece of patriotism.
The character of Ivan Drago was exaggerated yes, but his disposition isn’t that far off from other Russian champions like the current light heavyweight baddie Sergey Kovalev. In many cases Eastern European fighters are hard punchers, and men of few words. Think Kovalev, Gennady Golovkin, or Ruslan Provodnikov. Now those guys aren’t Soviet laboratory creations, but you get the picture.
Rocky stories are always engrossing, always uplift, and this was no different. Seeing Rocky pretty much end the Cold War never gets old.
Raging Bull
Blasphemy to have Raging Bull this low? Perhaps. It’s a masterpiece of a performance by Robert DeNiro, portraying the real-life story of Jake Lamotta. We are also treated to classic work from Joe Pesci in a supporting role.
The story treats us to the former glory of LaMotta, one of the greatest fighters of all-time, but also takes us deep into boxing’s seedy underbelly, and the disaster life can become as a fighter ages and eventually retires following an adult life of punishment and head trauma.
Part of the reason for this low ranking is that some of the things in this film—primarily an abundance of domestic violence—doesn’t really fly nowadays. It was more acceptable in the time period sure, but it isn’t quite as villainized as it should be and can make certain scenes tough to watch. The rawness of this movie is incredible, but it isn’t always pleasurable.
Rocky
The first Rocky is the best Rocky. Remember those spoilers you were warned about? One is coming right now. Rocky doesn’t win vs. Apollo Creed in this film’s climactic fight, and that’s the way it should be. Like Rocky IV, the fight scenes in this are brutal, exhilarating, and 1 billion percent unrealistic. But the outcome of Creed surviving Rocky’s onslaught and outboxing him to a victory on the cards is as real as it gets. Just check out Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s entire career.
This movie about a street-guy from Philadelphia making the most of an opportunity vs. a superstar like Apollo Creed is everybody’s dream. Even better was that Rocky’s world rewarded him for the effort even in a loss. And again, the fight scenes may be incredibly unrealistic, but they are pure drama.
Million Dollar Baby
Million Dollar Baby is not only one of the greatest boxing movie’s of all-time, and an Academy Awards Best Picture winner, it’s one of the most affecting movie’s you’ll ever watch. Hilary Swank is a hard-nosed female fighter who has to scratch and claw not only to rise up to becoming a million-dollar fighter, but to even convince a grizzled trainer played by Clint Eastwood to even bother training her.
She rises to the top of women’s boxing, only to be cheap-shotted in a title fight and paralyzed. The story is equal parts elating and heartbreaking, and her family life pushes the emotions over the edge. To be honest, this is probably a better movie than the top film on this list, but the potential for rest-of-day depression bumps it down a notch.
The Fighter
This real-life story of Micky Ward’s rise to boxing’s forefront is a near-perfect blend of comedy, sadness, and honest-to-goodness realistic movie boxing. The training scenes, the peril Mark Wahlberg (as Micky Ward) faces in the ring due to questionable matchmaking, and the glimpses into real-life boxing politics where connections and organized promotions make all the difference are fascinating.
We’re also treated to Christian Bale’s portrayal of Ward’s older brother Dicky Eklund, a drug-addicted former standout boxer himself who trains Micky, but also soaks up a lot of the credit and adoration that Ward deserves. He’s a tragic caricature of a boxer with tons of talent—who once knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard!—whose life choices sank him.
Wahlberg’s boxing scenes are absolutely fantastic, and hardcore fans who already know about Ward will be satisfied with how well they re-create his infamous body work that broke down so many fighters more talented than he was.
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