Boxing

Writer F.X. Toole. At age 70, he’s just published his first book. It’s a collection of short stories about boxing called “Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner.” (ECCO/HarperCollins) For twenty years, he’s been a cut man, stopping the bleeding so fighters can go on to the next round. Toole has been writing for 40 years, but it was the publication of his first story last year in a small literary magazine that caught the attention of a book agent.

Will Smith is starring in the new film Ali as fighter Muhammad Ali. The film begins in 1964, the year that Cassius Clay became world heavyweight champion, announced his conversion to Islam, and took on the name Muhammad Ali. The film is directed and co-written by Michael Mann who also made The Insider. Smith also starred in the films The Legend of Bagger Vance, Men In Black, Independence Day, and Six Degrees of Separation. Smith got his start as a rapper, making his first record in high school.

Actor and rapper Will Smith. His film Ali in which he stars as fighter Muhammad Ali is now out on video and DVD. This summer he stars in Men in Black II. Smith also starred in the films The Legend of Bagger Vance, Men In Black, Independence Day, and Six Degrees of Separation. Smith got his start as a rapper, making his first record in high school. Known as the Fresh Prince he and his friend DJ Jazzy Jeff went on to make several albums and won two Grammys and three American Music Awards. He also starred in his own TV sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

Writer Carlo Rotella takes a look inside the world of boxing in his new book, Cut Time: An Education at the Fights. Rotella is also the author of Good With Their Hands: Boxers, Bluesmen, and Other Characters from the Rust Belt. Rotella is a professor at Boston College, where he teaches American literature, American studies, urban literatures and cultures, and creative and nonfiction writing. His essays have appeared in Harper's, Washington Post Magazine and Best American Essays 2001.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews Cinderella Man, starring Russell Crowe and directed by Ron Howard. Edelstein says he fell for the shmaltzy flick, "a three-hanky weeper."

Jose Torres-- the former light-heavyweight boxing champion-- died from a heart attack on Jan. 19 at the age of 72. Fresh Air remembers him with an interview from 1989.

James Toback has created a new documentary about Mike Tyson, the ex-boxing world champ. Movie critic David Edelstein says that Toback's mix of old and new footage "flows seamlessly" and that the stream-of-consciousness movie is "revelatory."

Journalist Elmer Smith continues his assessment of the ups and downs of the boxing champ's career.

In his new documentary, the director of Two Girls and a Guy turns his camera on Mike Tyson — who's been his friend since the former boxer was 19.

Journalist Elmer Smith first met Mike Tyson when the future heavyweight champion was just turning 18. Smith, who worked as a boxing writer, a general sports columnist and a general news columnist, went on to cover the ups and downs of the boxer's career.

The fading junior welterweight boxer Micky Ward was working in construction in the early '90s when he decided to give the ring one more try. That's the story of The Fighter, starring Mark Wahlberg. David Edelstein says the boxing film is a mess -- which he means as a term of endearment.

Mark Wahlberg and David O. Russell talk about creating a movie based on the real-life boxer Micky Ward, who won a welterweight championship in 2000 after several years away from the boxing ring.

The new FX series Lights Out centers on a retired heavyweight boxer contemplating a comeback. TV critic David Bianculli says the intense boxing drama may end up being the best new dramatic series of 2011.

In Bruised, which is now available on Netflix, Berry plays a disgraced mixed martial arts fighter named Jackie Justice, who takes on MMA's newest star. She does this to win back her name while figuring out how to be a mother to her estranged child. It's a role that Berry identifies with fundamentally.