Your heart will bleed for this amazing man
Dear boxing fans
Iused to love the sport and, in fact, covered it many, many years ago when I was a reporter at another daily newspaper. Over the years, I slowly lost interest and gave up on it due to the proliferation of organisations professing to represent boxing. The WBC, WBA, IBF, IBO, IBC ... they all staged what they called “world title fights” when, in fact, those were bouts to decide the best boxer in a weight division in their organisation only.
Last Sunday, out of sheer boredom, I was flipping through the channels on DStv when I came across a movie that was about to begin and, because it was a boxing movie, I gave it a bash.
Bleed for This is a biography of Vincenzo Pazienza, or The Pazmanian Devil as he was known in boxing circles. Starring Miles Teller, who does a superb job as Pazienza, it is by no means a classic. But it was a reminder of one of the most heart-warming stories in the long history of the sport.
Pazienza, from the rough streets of Rhode Island in the United States, was a promising fighter with a bright future ahead of him when he broke his neck in a horrific car accident.
Guy Hawthorne
Doctors told him he would never walk again, let alone box, and it appeared his career had been cut short in his prime.
But he refused to accept the doctors’ prognosis and decided against the fusion which was his best chance of recovering to a stage where he would at least be mobile. Instead, he wore a halo for three months to stabilise his spine.
During this time, he secretly continued to train, determined to one day get back in the ring.
Thirteen months after the accident, he did just that and, after winning the IBO middleweight title, secured a fight with the legendary Roberto Duran – a real brawler in the true sense of the word – for the vacant IBC super middleweight title.
Against all the odds, Pazienza recovered from a slow and uncertain start to win that bout on points and in doing so landed his fifth world title.
Bleed for This will not be everyone’s cup of tea, but the fact that my missus – who generally loathes sport (apart from the occasional rugby match) – watched the entire film, speaks volumes. For someone who likes to sleep a lot, staying awake for the entire movie was an achievement in itself.
Bleed for This is an inspirational story about beating the odds, about bouncing back from adversity, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has suffered a setback in their lives.
In boxing parlance, it’s by no means a knockout but it is one of those films that really makes a solid impact!