Entertainment is a broad and all-encompassing term that includes anything from the theatre, cinema, comedy and of course, one of its oldest forms, spectator sports.
Boxing only exists as a professional sport because of the demand for people wanting to see two people fighting. Fans used to travel for days to go and see two fighters in a field, drawing crowds of thousands from across the United Kingdom.
But boxing grew too large and was forced to evolve from underground, unlicensed brawls to become a legitimate business of ticket sales and revenue. This meant that fighters could no longer worry about just fighting. It meant they had to become a salesman to be able to put fans in seats and make a living.
It, therefore, should come as no surprise that we have seen a plethora of fighters who, at their core, are entertainers, try their hand at filling the seats of a movie theatre instead.
Undisputed heavyweight champion ,Oleksandr Usyk, is the latest boxer to foray into the film industry. He will feature alongside Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in a film about MMA legend Mark Kerr called ‘The Smashing Machine’ that was released in theatres today.
Here is a list of some of the other heavyweight boxers who have gone from the ring to the screen.
Mike Tyson – The Hangover (2009)
The former undisputed heavyweight champion, Mike Tyson, made an appearance in the 2009 film, ‘The Hangover’, directed by Todd Phillips, starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zack Galifianakis, and Justin Bartha, who play a group of friends who go on a stag do to Las Vegas – where it all goes wrong.
At the time, Tyson had been retired for four years since his loss to Kevin McBride in 2005 and had been in public financial and personal struggles – which makes this performance all the more impressive.
Tyson plays a fantasised, comedic version of himself – where, after the main characters discover they have stolen a tiger, Tyson later appears in their hotel room singing along to Phil Collins’ ‘In the Air Tonight’. Without another word, in true Tyson fashion, he knocks out Galifianakis’ character with a right hand.
He then demands that his tiger be returned to his mansion and departs. Once they return the tiger, Tyson shows them the footage of their antics at his house the night before, which includes them taking a picture with him while he was sleeping.
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It was a surprise appearance from Tyson, but he showed impressive comedic timing, whilst maintaining his aura of one of the most dangerous heavyweight champions of all time.
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Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko – Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
In 2001, two of the greatest heavyweights of their era appeared in the same film – fighting each other no less. It is a match-up that would be on many people’s fantasy list of all-time greats facing off.
Steven Soderbergh’s remake of the 1960 film Ocean’s Eleven starring Matt Damon, George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt features Lennox Lewis, who was the unified heavyweight champion, and Wladimir Klitschko, a young contender and the brother of Vitali, who Lewis would fight two years later.
The fight played a pivotal role in the film as the team of thieves planned to rob a casino for $150 million in cash that was only on site because of the increased traffic on fight night. They used the distraction and chaos of the event to stage the robbery.
The pair first appeared in the film at the demolition of a hotel and casino, where Klitschko and Lewis jointly pressed the lever to destroy the hotel. They later appear in the middle of the heist sequence as a brawl breaks out between the two teams, bringing the fight to a premature end, causing all hell to break loose in the casino.
Muhammad Ali – The Greatest (1977)
“The Greatest” – an apt name for a biographical film about the life of Muhammad Ali, released in 1977. Who better to play Ali than Ali himself?
The film directed by Tom Gries follows the life and times of Ali from his gold medal at the 1960 Olympic Games, all the way up to his iconic victory against George Foreman in ‘The Rumble in the Jungle’.
The film comprises large chunks of archived footage of Ali’s fights in that period, but there are dramatised scenes where Ali effortlessly replicates the drama and theatrics of his career.
Tommy Morrison – Rocky V (1990)
Tommy Morrison made his debut on the silver screen in the fifth instalment of the Rocky franchise – released in 1990.
Morrison plays young, hungry contender Tommy ‘The Machine’ Gunn, who is taken under the wing of the retired Rocky Balboa and trained to become the next heavyweight champion of the world.
But Morrison’s character is discovered by a promoter who brings Morrison in and cuts Balboa out of the picture, feeding him lies about Rocky trying to take advantage of him and intentionally keeping him from being better than him.
Gunn goes on to become world champion without Balboa, but he cannot escape the shadow of his former trainer, being called a fake for not beating Rocky, who was the lineal champion.
This leads to the promoter trying to coax Balboa out of retirement, but he refuses to fight his friend. There is a final confrontation where the hero turned heel Gunn and Rocky have a fight in the streets of Philadelphia that Morrison’s character loses.
This opportunity came two years before Morrison would go on to beat George Foreman and become heavyweight champion to fulfil the prophecy of Rocky V.
Tony Bellew – Creed (2016)
Tony Bellew claims the accolade for the biggest role played on this list, outside of Ali playing himself.
He made his Hollywood debut in the reboot of the Rocky story about the illegitimate son of Apollo Creed, Adonis, played by Michael B. Jordan, and Sylvester Stallone reprised his role as the famous heavyweight.
Bellew took on the role of the villain ‘Pretty’ Ricky Conlan, the current heavyweight champion of the world, who is about to be sent to prison and is looking for one final fight to financially secure his family before he goes behind bars.
Creed is a young fighter not going by his given name, making his own way on the underground professional scene in Mexico with no trainer, before deciding to make the move the Philadelphia to seek the help of his father’s former friend and foe.
Balboa, initially reluctant, forms a father-son bond with Creed and agrees to train him. They start successfully, winning their first fight against another Philly fighter played by Gabriel Rosado.
Creed’s success caught the attention of Conlan’s manager who reached out, sensing an opportunity to secure a big payday for his fighter and offered a fight with Conlan to Creed on the condition that he officially changed his name to match his late father.
The pair fight despite Balboa’s protestations, and Bellew’s character wins the fight on a decision, but he does get dropped for the first time by Creed in the final round.
Bellew was campaigning at cruiserweight at the time, but would shortly go on to fight David Haye twice at heavyweight.
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