Movies based on sports are always in trend. Motivating the youngsters to pursue one or other sports in their life. Be it fictional or biographical films; sports genre movies never fail to amuse us. All the more, Boxing movies, in particular, have a huge fanbase and audience.
They are packed with action, drama, comedy, thriller, and much more. We could say we do have some pretty great role models to make boxing stand in front of other sports like football or baseball. Here is the List of 20 Best Boxing Films That Motivated Thousands of People to Get into the Ring:
20 Best Boxing Movies:
20. Fight Night
- Director: Jonathan Dillon
- Year of Release: 2008
- Genre: Sports, Action.
- Cast: Rebecca Neuenswander, Chad Ortis, Kurt Hanover, John Wilson.
- IMDb: 5.6/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: Not Scored
Fight Night is also known as Rigged, a film on women’s boxing.
Fight Night Plot:
The story follows Michael, who has practical experience in unlawful wagering and is saved from inconvenience by Katherine Parker. Not long after, he attempts to persuade her to enlist him as an advertiser and contend in battles the nation over.
19. Grudge Match
- Director: Peter Segal
- Year of Release: 2013
- Genre: Sports Drama
- Cast: Robert De Niro, Sylvester Stallone, Alan Arkin, Jon Bernthal, LL Cool J, Kevin Hart, Kim Basinger, Joey Diaz, Camden Gray.
- IMDb: 6.4/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 31%
No, It’s not a Rocky movie.
Grudge Match Plot:
Grudge Match is about two maturing boxing contenders who are persuaded out of retirement to fight against one another in one last session, which is to happen 30 years after their last challenge.
18. The Boxer
- Director: Jim Sheridan
- Year of Release: 1997
- Genre: Sports Drama.
- Based on: Loosely based on boxing champion Barry McGuigan.
- Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Ken Scott, Gerard McSorley, Ian McElhinney, Emily Watson, Brian Cox, Ciaran Fitzgerald.
- IMDb: 7/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 80%
The Boxer Plot:
One of the best boxing films of all time, The Boxer follows the life story of Danny, a fighter and ex-IRA employee, who is let out of jail following 14 years not set in stone to begin another life in Belfast. Notwithstanding, his previous will not allow him to carry on with an existence of harmony.
17. Rocky Balboa
- Director: Sylvester Stallone
- Year of Release: 2006
- Genre: Sports Drama
- Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Burt Young, Talia Shire, Milo Ventimiglia, Tony Burton, Geraldine Hughes, Antonio Tarver
- IMDb: 7.1/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 77%
Rocky Balboa Plot:
Rocky Balboa is the sixth film in the Rocky franchise. A resigned Rocky Balboa wins against defending champ Mason Dixon in a virtual experience of a battle. Irritated by this, Mason challenges Rocky to a 10-round presentation session.
16. Bare Knuckles
- Director: Eric Etebari
- Year of Release: 2009
- Genre: Sports Drama
- Cast: Jeanette Roxborough, Teya Roxborough, Martin Kove, Chris Mulkey, Bridgett Riley, Eric Etebari, Louis Mandylor
- IMDb: 3.8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: Not Scored
One of the boxing films that believe in girl power.
Bare Knuckles Plot:
Bare Knuckles boxer Samantha Rogers is a single mom who gets back into the boxing ring to provide a good living for her daughter.
15. Ali
- Director: Michael Mann
- Year of Release: 2001
- Genre: Biographical Sports Drama
- Based on: Muhammad Ali
- Cast: Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Jon Voight, Mario Van Peebles, Ron Silver, Jeffrey Wright, Michael Bentt, Paul Rodriguez.
- IMDb: 6.7/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 69%
Though this film was a box office bomb, Will Smith and Jon Voight got nominations for Academy Awards for Best Actor and Supporting Actor.
Ali Plot:
This film is different from I Am Ali as it is a biographical film converted into drama to tell you about the life of Muhammad Ali from 1964 to 1974. Muhammad Ali forever changed the course of boxing.
He did deserve a film to tell us about his catch of the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston, his change to Islam, his analysis of the Vietnam War, and expulsion from boxing, his re-visitation of his fight with Joe Frazier in 1971, and, at last, his recovering the title from George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle battle of 1974.
14. The Hurricane
- Director: Norman Jewison
- Year of Release: 1999
- Genre: Biographical Sports Drama.
- Based on: Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter
- Cast: Denzel Washington, Rod Steiger., John Hannah, David Paymer, Deborah Kara Unger, Vicellous Reon Shannon, Liev Schreiber, Dan Hedaya, Harris Yulin.
- IMDb: 7.6/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 83%
The Hurricane is Based on the 1974 autobiography The Sixteenth Round: From Number 1 Contender to 45472 and the 1991 non-fiction Lazarus and the Hurricane: Freeing the Rubin “The Hurricane” Carter.
The Hurricane Plot:
The story is about former middleweight boxer Rubin Carter who was wrongly sentenced for a triple homicide in a bar in Paterson, New Jersey. This boxing film portrays Carter’s capture, his life in jail, and how he was liberated by the adoration and empathy of a young person from Brooklyn named Lesra Martin and his Canadian temporary family.
13. Cinderella Man
- Director: Ron Howard
- Year of Release: 2005
- Genre: Biographical Sports Drama.
- Based on: James J. Braddock
- Cast: Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger, Rosemarie DeWitt, Paul Giamatti, Bruce McGill, Connor Price, Craig Bierko, David Huband, Ariel Waller, Patrick Louis, Paddy Considine.
- IMDb: 8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 80%
Cinderella Man is one of the best boxing films packed with action and drama.
#CinderellaMan… I have not seen this movie in many years. It’s still as good as the first time I saw it. Directed by Ron Howard. The story of boxer James J. Braddock played by Russell Crowe. Paul Giamatti as his manager is so good! #boxingmovies #boxing 🥊 pic.twitter.com/OXMQLP1jh6
— Raquel Queen of Bail Bonds (@BONDGIRLRAQUEL) January 29, 2021
Cinderella Man Plot:
The film follows the life story of heavyweight boxing champion James J. Braddock, an ordinary man residing in the US. Be that as it may, when the Great Depression negatively affects his family, he chooses to get once more into the boxing ring.
The film did well at the box office and was critically acclaimed too.
12. Jungleland
- Director: Max Winkler
- Year of Release: 2019
- Genre: Sports Drama
- Cast: Jack O’Connell, Charlie Hunnam, Jessica Barden, Jonathan Majors, Owen Burke, Fran Kranz, Frank L. Ridley, John Cullum, Nick Mullen, Lucien Spelman.
- IMDb: 6.2/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 74%
Jungleland is one of the boxing movies that keep you entertained with its well-choreographed action scenes.
Jungleland Plot:
Its story is about two siblings who acknowledge a criminal’s proposal of contending in an underground prizefight to dispose of the obligation they owe him. They, notwithstanding before long become familiar with the risks it involves.
11. Rocky IV
- Director: Sylvester Stallone
- Year of Release: 1985
- Genre: Sports Drama
- Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Carl Weathers, Brigitte Nielsen, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Tony Burton.
- IMDb: 6.8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 37%
Rocky IV was the fourth film in the Rocky franchise. The film is the highest-grossing film in the whole of the series.
Rocky IV Plot:
Rocky IV is a story of action, revenge, drama, and emotion. The story follows boxing champion Apollo Creed, trained by his friend Rocky Balboa to fight against Russian boxer Ivan Drago. This movie was a blockbuster but received mixed reviews.
10. The Fighter
- Director: David O. Russell
- Year of Release: 2010
- Genre: Biographical Sports Drama
- Based on: Welterweight Champion Micky Ward
- Cast: Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, Melissa Leo, Amy Adams, Jack McGee, Frank Renzulli, Jenna Lamia.
- IMDb: 7.8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 91%
The Fighter Plot:
Based on the documentary High on Crack Street: Lost Live in Lowell (1995), The Fighter is a biographical movie based on the life of Boxer Micky Ward who is trained by his older half-brother Dicky Ward while he also struggles to quit his addiction of drugs.
This boxing film is perfect for sports lovers and the ones who praise good cinematography and story.
9. China Heavyweight
- Director: Yung Chung
- Year of Release: 2012
- Genre: Documentary
- Based on: Coach Qi Moxiang.
- Cast: Qi Moxiang, He Zongli, Miao Yunfei, Zhao Zhong.
- IMDb: 6.3/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 82%
China Heavyweight Plot:
One of the boxing films that offers a lot of action and boxing. The film focuses on two young men: Miao Yunfei and He Zhongli, whom mentor Qi has brought to the Chinese commonplace finals. To give a good example to his understudies, Qi chooses to battle expertly again against a much more youthful opponent from Japan.
8. Fat City
- Director: John Huston
- Year of Release: 1972
- Genre: Sports Drama
- Cast: Jeff Bridges, Stacy Keach, Susan Tyrrell, Candy Clark, Wayne Mahan, Nicholas Colasanto, Ruben Navarro, Billy Walker, Wayne Mahan.
- IMDb: 7.2/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
Fat City Plot:
Its plot follows a previous top dogfighter who starts to foster competition with a more youthful fighter on the ascent, whom he is preparing.
One of Huston’s later films, it depends on the boxing novel Fat City (1969) by Leonard Gardner, who additionally composed the screenplay.
7. Champion
- Director: Mark Robson
- Year of Release: 1949
- Genre: Sports Drama
- Cast: Kirk Douglas, Ruth Roman, Arthur Kennedy, Paul Stewart, Marilyn Maxwell, Lola Albright, John Dahiem, Luis Van Rooten, Harry Shannon, Ralph Sandford, Esther Howard.
- IMDb: 7.4/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
A sports film of the boxing genre with drama and noir? Yes, exactly what we needed.
Champion Plot:
The story is about boxer “Midge” Kelly (Kirk Douglas), who is on the run from a shotgun marriage and expecting to assist with supporting his disabled sibling, Connie (Arthur Kennedy), who points his direction into a momentary occupation as a fighter.
His life of difficult times has given Midge a blazing attitude and a will to win that rapidly makes him quite possibly the most well-known warrior on the circuit. Yet, when he gets educated to take a make a plunge a title session, his supervisors discover that nobody instructs Midge Kelly. The champion won Academy Award for Best film editing.
6. I Am Ali
- Director: Clare Lewins
- Year of Release: 2014
- Genre: Documentary.
- Based on: Muhammad Ali
- Cast: Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, George Foreman, Tom Jones, Mike Tyson.
- IMDb: 7.2/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 65%
Undoubtedly, one of the best boxing films of all time that gives you more than just action.
I Am Ali Plot:
Based on the life and struggles of Muhammad Ali, I Am Ali is a documentary that features audio recordings made by Ali himself. The movie gives a vision and perspective of Ali very beautifully. I Am Ali also features meetings of companions, relatives, and people related to proficient boxing.
5. Rocky I
- Director: John G. Avildsen
- Year of Release: 1976
- Genre: Sports Drama
- Based on: Chuck Wepner
- Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith, Tony Burton, Thayer David, Joe Spinell, Pedro Lovell, Stan Shaw, Joe Frazier.
- IMDb: 6.8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 67%
A film that needs no introduction. One of the best boxing films.
Rocky I Plot:
Rocky is the best boxing movie in the whole Rocky franchise. In the film, Rocky Balboa, an uninformed, humble club contender and obligation gatherer, has a far-fetched chance at the world heavyweight title held by champion Apollo Creed.
It got ten Academy Award selections and won three, including Best Picture. Rocky was the highest-grossing movie of that year.
4. Creed
- Director: Ryan Coogler
- Year of Release: 2015
- Genre: Sports Drama
- Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Tony Bellew, Andre Ward, Wood Harris, Graham McTavish, Tone Trump.
- IMDb: 7.6/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
How many boxing films can Sylvester Stallone give? In short, a lot. Creed is the sixth and seventh movie in the spin-off of the Rocky franchise and a sequel to Rocky Balboa’s movie.
Creed Plot:
The story is about Adonis Johnson, the child of boxing champion Apollo Creed, who embraces his inheritance as a fighter and looks for mentorship from Rocky Balboa, his dad’s close buddy and opponent.
3. The Champ
- Director: King Vidor
- Year of Release: 1931
- Genre: Sports Drama
- Cast: Wallace Beery, Jackie Cooper. Jesse Scott, Edward Brophy, Irene Rich, Roscoe Ates, Marcia Mae Jones, Hale Hamilton.
- IMDb: 7.3/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
The Champ Review:
One of the best boxing films ever made. A film that shows the importance of a father-son relationship. An addict who is willing to put his life back on track for the sake of his young son is what is the essence of this movie.
The Champ won 3 Academy Awards for Best Actor, Best Story, and Best Picture.
2. Million Dollar Baby
- Director: Clint Eastwood
- Year of Release: 2004
- Genre: Sports Drama
- Cast: Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman, Jay Baruchel, Lucia Rijker, Anthony Mackie, Mike Colter.
- IMDb: 8.1/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 90%
How many good movies with female boxers are out there?
Million Dollar Baby Plot:
A boxing film about a female boxer, Maggie, is worth your time. Million Dollar Baby is a movie that follows the story of a young woman trained by an old grumpy, underappreciated boxer who has formed a good bond in the end. The story may seem quite interpretive at fast, but the narration is what keeps you engaged in the movie.
Million Dollar Baby won 4 Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actor.
1. Raging Bull
- Director: Martin Scorsese
- Year of Release: 1980
- Genre: Biographical Sports Drama
- Based on: Former middleweight boxer Jake La Motta.
- Cast: Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, Frank Vincent, Nicholas Colasanto, Mario Gallo, Frank Adonis, Joseph Bono, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty, Charles Scorsese, Jake LaMotta.
- IMDb: 8.2/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
The best film in boxing cinema history. A boxing film that needs no introduction is considered the fourth greatest American film of all time. We present you Raging Bull, the best boxing film ever.
Raging Bull Plot:
The movie is based on Jake LaMotta’s memoir Raging Bull: My Story, released in 1970. The story may seem typical at once, but the narration is what keeps you stuck to your screen. The way Martin Scorsese has shown the self-destructive raging behavior of Jake shows why he is the best director out there.
Raging Bull is the life story of Jake; a person’s rage and aggressive nature will take away his career, friends, and family from him. However, only family will be with you in the end.
Frequently Asked Questions
-What’s that one boxing film?
Raging Bull.
-What is the most realistic boxing film?
Million Dollar Baby.
-Who is the best movie boxer?
Apollo Creed.
-Which boxing film is based on a true story?
Raging Bull.
-Is the movie the boxer a true story?
“The Boxer” is a made-up story inexactly founded on the existence of boxing champion Barry McGuigan.
-Would Rocky be a good boxer?
Despite his status as the most popular film fighter ever, the Rocky establishment’s Rocky Balboa is not an especially decent fighter – and it’s truly an ideal fit for his personality.
-Is Rocky the best boxing film?
Rocky is the best boxing film in the Rocky franchise, including its spin-off, yet Raging Bull will always top it off as the best boxing film ever made.
