No Biting,
g, Just Bong

Poetry in the ring.

RICHARD ASHTON SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

t's ironic that in a summer white photography made it look Leon Gast. 1996 (Polygram
in which Mike Tyson has even bloodier and more brutal. Video, 95 minutes).
Billed as "The Rumble in the
brought the sport of boxing Scorsese's camera didn't look
such disgrace, a recently re- away as La Motta had his face re- Jungle," the 1974 fight for the
leased-on-video documentary cel- arranged. But Raging Bull fol- heavyweight championship held
ebrates one of the greatest fights lowed the inarticulate La Motta in Kinshasa, Zaire, was the
in history. At the center of that out of the ring and into his private biggest fight in boxing history. All
took on mean Foreman, and this
documentary is a man whose per- life.
Full of anger and jealousy, the film follows the media frenzy sur-
sonality looms larger than life. He
became a national institution. His boxer destroyed everything in his rounding the event.
life that was good, and lost every-
name is Muhammad Ali.
When We Were Kings, which thing he had won in the ring. RAGING BULL, starring Robert
won an Oscar for Best Documen- Alone, in a prison cell, arrested for De Niro, Joe Pesci and Cathy Mo-
tary, is a remarkable film that statutory rape, he beats his fists riarty. Directed by Martin Scors-
ese. 1980 (MGM/UA Home Video
pieces together news footage of into the stone walls, still raging.
and Criterion Laserdisc,
the days leading up to the
128 minutes).
infamous Ali vs. George
De Niro plays the true
Foreman fight in Zaire in
rags-to-riches-to-rags
tale
1974. The fight was a spec-
of boxer Jake La Motta. The
tacle with the biggest
film opens with La Motta
purse ever. At stake was
on the rise as a New York
the title of the heavy-
boxer whose brutality
weight champion of the
makes him a winner. But
world.
the violence doesn't stop in
The documentary cap-
the ring as he sets about de-
tures Ali in his prime. Ar-
stroying his private life with
ticulate and outrageous,
the same ferocity he dis-
he was the darling of the
plays in his career.
media with his boxing po-
etry both in the ring and
THE KINGS OF THE
out of his mouth. If Whe 1
RING, narrated by Lou
We Were Kings does any-
Gossett Jr. Directed by
thing, it illustrates one
Christopher Rose. 1995
thing: Iron Mike is no Ali.
(11B0 Home Video, 92 min-
Boxing has been a reli-
utes).
able staple for filmmakers
This documentary covers
as a subject. Fighters
the history of boxing, with
make for stunningly pa-
footage dating back to 1912
thetic figures — heroes
and featuring such leg-
who like having the living
endary names from boxing
daylights knocked out of Robert De Niro, portraying Jake LaMotta, raises his arms
history as Primo Camera,
them. Who can forget the in anticipation of victory in the classic boxing film Raging
"The Ambling Amp"; Joe
punch-drunk Marlon Bull.
Louis; Rocky Marciano —
Brando in On the Water-
all the way to Mike Tyson.
front or Sylvester Stal-
Looking at Raging Bull, one
lone's Rocky? Paul Newman
made a name for himself in Some- can see parallels to Tyson. Both THE GREAT WHITE HYPE,
body Up There Likes Me, as did Tyson and La Motta were tough starring Samuel L. Jackson, Da-
Jack Palance in Requiem for a street fighters who had a natur- mon Wayans and Peter Berg. Di-
al gift for pulverizing people. Both rected by Reginald Hudlin. 1996
Heavyweight.
But by far the most brutal por- men are raging bulls, barely ca- (Fox Video, 95 minutes).
A spoof of the whole Tyson
trayal of a boxer was Robert De pable of keeping their anger in
scene, it stars the ever-brilliant
Niro's landmark, Oscar-winning check.
The following films, available Jackson as a boxing promoter
performance as Jake La Motta in
on home video, are all boxing who is more like Don King than
Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull.
It was a boxing film like no oth- classics. If Tyson has turned you Don King. With boxing revenues
er. The film went into the ring off the sport, maybe these videos down, Jackson sets out to hype
a fight between a black world
with La Motta, and Michael will make it fun again.
champ (Wayans) and his white
Chapman's striking black-and-
WHEN WE WERE KINGS, opponent (Berg).
starring Muhammad Ali and
Richard Ashton writes for Copley
George
Foreman. Directed by THE GREAT 'WHITE HOPE,
News Service.

DETRO I T J EWIS H NEWS

I

w

1-

84

starring James Earl Jones, Jane
Alexander and Lou Gilbert. Di-
rected by Martin Ritt. 1970
(CBS/Fox Home Video, 103 min-
utes).
Jones made his name playing
boxer Jack Jefferson, who broke
the race barrier by becoming the
first black heavyweight champi-
on of the world in 1910. Howev-
er, Jefferson finds racism in
every corner, and more so in his
celebrated private life as Alexan-
der plays his white lover.

REQUIEM FOR A HEAVY-
WEIGHT, starring Jack Palance,

Keenan Wynn and Kim Hunter.
Directed by Ralph Nelson. 1956
(Fusion Video, 90 minutes).
"Twilight Zone" creator Rod Ser-
ling wrote this stirring play for the
live TV show "Playhouse 90."
Palance plays an American Indi-
an boxer who keeps stepping into
the ring, despite his doctor's warn-
ings that hell go blind. But Palance
needs money to pay off his gam-
bling debts and fights on.

Jews In Boxing

Editor's note: Jewish boxers are
few and far between in today's
boxing world, but the early his-
tory of the sport chronicles a
number of Jewish boxers in the
spotlight, as well as behind the
scenes. Jewish boxing greats in-
clude the following:

ABE ATTELL• San Francis-

co's "Little Champ" held world
featherweight titles 1901-1912.

JACKIE FIELDS:

An
Olympic Gold Medalist at age
16, Fields was crowned the
Olympic featherweight champ
in 1924.

NAT FLEISCHER: Fleischer

was the founder and editor of

Ring , the influential boxing

magazine.

LOUIS "KID" KAPLAN: 'The

Kid" reigned as world feather-
weight champ from 1925-1927.

BENNY LEONARD: Leonard,

considered the best Jewish box-
er in history, held the world
lightweight title from 1917-
1924. Said Hearst editor Arthur
Brisbane, "He has done more to
conquer anti-Semitism than a
thousand textbooks."

"BATTLING" LEVINSKY:

Levinsky held the world light
heavyweight championship
1916-1920.

TED "KID" LEWIS: The only

British boxer to win a title in

the United States (1916), the
"Kid" was the first boxer to
wear a mouthpiece.

DANIEL MENDOZA: The

"Father of Modern Boxing,"
Mendoza (1764-1836) was Eng-
land's 16th heavyweight cham-
pion (and thus a world
champion). He introduced the
Mendoza school, with its sci-
ence of footwork, sparring, new
punches and strategy, replac-
ing the brutal slugging that
comprised the sport up until
then.

MAXIE ROSENBLOOM: The

light heavyweight champion
from 1930-1934, Rosenbloom
was knocked out only twice in
16 years of boxing-. His 1933 15-
round decision over Adolph
Heuser, Germany's light heavy-
weight champ, at New York's
Madison Square Garden, was
an important factor in Ger-
many's decision to prohibit oth-
er German athletes from
competing with Jewish athletes.

BARNEY ROSS: In the mid-

1930s, Ross became the first
boxer to hold the lightweight
and welterweight crowns si-
multaneously.

AL SINGER: Singer was the

world lightweight champion in
1930.

— Information compiled from

Great Jews in Sports,

by Robert Slater.

