Piers Brosnan portraying Brendan Ingle

[big lennox]

Piers Brosnan is playing the great man himself (Brendan Ingle) in an upcoming biopic.


https://metro.co.uk/2024/04/25/james-bo ... -20718945/

[Flump]

Well, you've got to think Brendan would have been very happy to have a one time James Bond play him.

[SeanBrennan]

Boxing King Media did an interview today and covered it. made me chuckle as apparently Pierce went to watch the Naz v Robinson fight at a time when Pierce Brosnan was playing Bond. Someone told Brendan that Bond had watched them and he said that's not Bond, Sean O'Connery is Bond!

Brendan is also Pierce's middle name funnily enough.

Hope everyone is well and had a good Thursday.

[si7dog7]

Will be interesting
As long as Pierce isn’t asked to sing.

[SeanBrennan]

Will be interesting
As long as Pierce isn’t asked to sing.

or box! If they wanted boxing they could have got Liam Neeson, Irish and he was junior Northern Irish am boxing champ 3 times and had 40 am fights.

[Glass Joe]

heres the trailer

Naseem Hamed casting is a bit comical

[Frostieballs]

Let’s hope he’s not using his ‘Mobland’ accent.

[si7dog7]

Let’s hope he’s not using his ‘Mobland’ accent.

Agree. Bad

[Delta Jay]

Normally with casting biopics it’s nigh on impossible to get right but I really don’t mind this. I’ll be watching and we’ll all have a matter about it here eh?

[mickey1975]

Filmed in Burmantofts gym in Leeds I heard.

[MasterG]

Free showing if its near anyone

Sorry lad, I've removed that link as it's an encouragment for people to download an app

[Ruthless-RKO]

The Naseem Hamed-Brendan Ingle story could have a ‘Giant’ impact in 2026

Prince Naseem Hamed divided opinion in his heyday in the late 1990s, and he is set to do the same in 2026.

“Giant”, a movie starring Pierce Brosnan – the former James Bond actor – as legendary Sheffield trainer Brandan Ingle and Amir El-Masry as his star student Hamed, is due out in theaters in January.

The title of the film is about a little fella – more specifically, as Brendan Ingle called him, “the Naz fella” – and the impact Ingle predicted he would have.

Hamed, from Sheffield, UK, was an exciting, brash entertainer who had dynamite in his gloves (he referred to them as his “rocket launchers”) and who walked away from boxing in 2002 with a record of 36-1 (31 KOs).

He burned brightly, with his lone loss coming against Mexican great Marco Antonio Barrera, but by then a decline had already set in – and seasoned Hamed observers knew he was no longer the same fighter, so ambitious and hungry, that Ingle had created.

Instead, Naz was distracted. He linked up with Emanuel Steward, but even the great Detroit guru struggled to get Hamed back to what he was when he and Ingle carved out their incredible story.

The bitter split between the fighter and Sheffield trainer is the centerpiece of “Giant.”

Naseem Hamed was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2015. Ingle still has not gone in, despite creating countless champions – the majority of them from scratch, most notably Johnny Nelson, Kell Brook, Kid Galahad and Junior Witter, as well as countless other champions at British and European levels. Ingle is on the ballot year after year but always overlooked. Of course, Ingle did far more than just create champions. He was a pillar of the community, insisting that fighters sweep the streets around their neighborhood (so that everyone took pride in where they lived) and taking his fighters to working men’s clubs and prisons to talk to those who could use a healthy dose of positive inspiration.

That isn’t mentioned in the film, but you couldn’t document all of Ingle’s life in just one movie. You couldn’t even make it up. But the focus in “Giant” is of the Ingle-Hamed relationship – and it’s a good film, with two particularly poignant scenes, one with Brendan having a heart-to-heart about his life in boxing with his wife, Alma, and another that would involve divulging a spoiler.

For those around at the time, the journey of Naz and his emergence – through the domestic ranks and then on to the scene at European level before he claimed the world title on an adrenaline-soaked night in Cardiff, Wales – it is one of the standout periods in modern British boxing history.

Of course, only certain contests Naz had get the cinematic treatment in a film, and they only serve to distract from what the film is really about: the ties that bound trainer and fighter, mentor and young lad, and how they deteriorate when fame and money come calling.

It is a tale as old as time in boxing, yes, but it is one worth remembering, and therefore worth telling.

Whether Brosnan’s portrayal will help Ingle’s much-deserved enshrinement into Canastota become a reality remains to be seen, but it would only be fitting if Ingle were finally inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, even though it would sadly be posthumously. Maybe Naz could go there to pay tribute.

[veriton]

Tickets for this are free at certain cinemas next week as part of the Escapes initiative.

Me and eldest boy have got ours.

Adding link: https://escapes.cinematik.app/

[big lennox]

Tickets for this are free at certain cinemas next week as part of the Escapes initiative.

Me and eldest boy have got ours.

Adding link: https://escapes.cinematik.app/

Thank you. I'm looking forward to this. I think that gym deserves a TV series and Brendan should be featured on Matthew Paris' ' Great Lives' show on Radio 4.

Brendan transformed so many people's lives, in addition to the champions he produced.

I also think it was great for youngsters, especially those from broken homes, to see how well a close knit (Ingle) family can function and achieve lots of good things. Something for the next generations to strive for and replicate. I hope Alma features a lot in the film. She and Brendan were a proper good team.

[Frostieballs]

Tickets for this are free at certain cinemas next week as part of the Escapes initiative.

Me and eldest boy have got ours.

Adding link: https://escapes.cinematik.app/

Thanks for this heads up. Tickets booked for next week!

[MightyWarrior]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a boxing movie I liked, Except when I was a kid, before I was a boxing fan, I loved “somebody up there likes me”. Raging Bull is a great great film, but I can’t say I liked it. Plus the fight scenes are way over done. Maybe I liked the set up and requiem for a heavyweight, but it’s been a long time since I watched them

I haven’t seen this and lack of hype makes me think it ain’t great, though I just saw Pierce Brosnan was ringside in New York for Nas v Kevin Kelly so he’s no newcomer.

Okay, I’ve just watched the trailer and it looks borderline diabolical. The guy who plays Nas just looks odd and I swear he’s got a southern London accent ???

The geezer who plays Frank W*rren looks pretty good , but the fight scenes look AI generated

[black panther]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a boxing movie I liked, Except when I was a kid, before I was a boxing fan, I loved “somebody up there likes me”. Raging Bull is a great great film, but I can’t say I liked it. Plus the fight scenes are way over done. Maybe I liked the set up and requiem for a heavyweight, but it’s been a long time since I watched them

I haven’t seen this and lack of hype makes me think it ain’t great, though I just saw Pierce Brosnan was ringside in New York for Nas v Kevin Kelly so he’s no newcomer.

Okay, I’ve just watched the trailer and it looks borderline diabolical. The guy who plays Nas just looks odd and I swear he’s got a southern London accent ???

The geezer who plays Frank W*rren looks pretty good , but the fight scenes look AI generated

Yeah boxing films are always a huge letdown especially the fight scenes. Got a little excited about this as I'm a huge fan of Prince Nadeem but you're right best to keep the expectations very low

[JamesPhilips]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a boxing movie I liked, Except when I was a kid, before I was a boxing fan, I loved “somebody up there likes me”. Raging Bull is a great great film, but I can’t say I liked it. Plus the fight scenes are way over done. Maybe I liked the set up and requiem for a heavyweight, but it’s been a long time since I watched them

I haven’t seen this and lack of hype makes me think it ain’t great, though I just saw Pierce Brosnan was ringside in New York for Nas v Kevin Kelly so he’s no newcomer.

Okay, I’ve just watched the trailer and it looks borderline diabolical. The guy who plays Nas just looks odd and I swear he’s got a southern London accent ???

The geezer who plays Frank W*rren looks pretty good , but the fight scenes look AI generated

I never understood why filming the whole film in black and white whilst having some fights in colour. B and W never adds anything

[SeanBrennan]

Tickets for this are free at certain cinemas next week as part of the Escapes initiative.

Me and eldest boy have got ours.

Adding link: https://escapes.cinematik.app/

That’s fantastic thanks for sharing I’ve just booked tickets for Monday evening as they’re showing at our little local cinema, great stuff

[catalin714]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a boxing movie I liked, Except when I was a kid, before I was a boxing fan, I loved “somebody up there likes me”. Raging Bull is a great great film, but I can’t say I liked it. Plus the fight scenes are way over done. Maybe I liked the set up and requiem for a heavyweight, but it’s been a long time since I watched them

I haven’t seen this and lack of hype makes me think it ain’t great, though I just saw Pierce Brosnan was ringside in New York for Nas v Kevin Kelly so he’s no newcomer.

Okay, I’ve just watched the trailer and it looks borderline diabolical. The guy who plays Nas just looks odd and I swear he’s got a southern London accent ???

The geezer who plays Frank W*rren looks pretty good , but the fight scenes look AI generated

I never understood why filming the whole film in black and white whilst having some fights in colour. B and W never adds anything

Raging Bull is mostly set in the 40s.

Everything eas black and white then.

[Frostieballs]

Tickets for this are free at certain cinemas next week as part of the Escapes initiative.

Me and eldest boy have got ours.

Adding link: https://escapes.cinematik.app/

That’s fantastic thanks for sharing I’ve just booked tickets for Monday evening as they’re showing at our little local cinema, great stuff

We can all do film reviews next week :-)

[jameswilson]

I’ll definitely give it a watch but already don’t like the look of how the actor is portraying Naz. In the film the fighter I thought the difference between how Christian Bale played Dick Ecklund and Mark Wahlberg played Mickey Ward was chalk and cheese. Bale went on a crash diet to make himself look like an emaciated addict and got his accent spot on. Wahlberg looked like a Greek god body wise, which Mickey Ward wasn’t, and he didn’t sound anything like Ward. Clearly one actor had done their research and the other just went in and played themselves with an Irish American accent.

I’m confident Brosnan will do Brendan justice and just hope the guy who played Naz does the same as Naz was such a superb showman and character.

[JamesPhilips]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a boxing movie I liked, Except when I was a kid, before I was a boxing fan, I loved “somebody up there likes me”. Raging Bull is a great great film, but I can’t say I liked it. Plus the fight scenes are way over done. Maybe I liked the set up and requiem for a heavyweight, but it’s been a long time since I watched them

I haven’t seen this and lack of hype makes me think it ain’t great, though I just saw Pierce Brosnan was ringside in New York for Nas v Kevin Kelly so he’s no newcomer.

Okay, I’ve just watched the trailer and it looks borderline diabolical. The guy who plays Nas just looks odd and I swear he’s got a southern London accent ???

The geezer who plays Frank W*rren looks pretty good , but the fight scenes look AI generated

I never understood why filming the whole film in black and white whilst having some fights in colour. B and W never adds anything

Raging Bull is mostly set in the 40s.

Everything eas black and white then.

Most films set in history use colour. It didn’t add anything IMO. Do the fights in B and W to reflect TV if you want…

[John]

Pierce went to watch the Naz v Robinson fight at a time when Pierce Brosnan was playing Bond. Someone told Brendan that Bond had watched them and he said that's not Bond, Sean O'Connery is Bond!

He was staying in the same hotel as us. I was waiting for the lift with Naz's youngest sister and when it stopped just he was in it wearing his gym kit. We got in and she turned to me and said "Wow it's James Bond". I saw a faint smile on his lips. Then she said "Oh he's got legs like a chicken", he didn't smile again.

[veriton]

Tickets for this are free at certain cinemas next week as part of the Escapes initiative.

Me and eldest boy have got ours.

Adding link: https://escapes.cinematik.app/

That’s fantastic thanks for sharing I’ve just booked tickets for Monday evening as they’re showing at our little local cinema, great stuff

Not often you can get stuff for free. Hope you and everyone else enjoys.

In terms of fight films, I found The Smashing Machine decent enough but it bombed and my local fleapit put up a poster for Christy but then never showed it, presumably because that bombed badly too.

Hopefully the Naz film is at least passable. We'll soon find out.