Steve Read and Robert Douglas are filmmaker colleagues who flew over from the UK to meet some of America’s greatest boxers not just any fighters, but those who turned to the sport as a means of escape from poverty. “In the Company of Kings” is about boxing’s brotherhood and its promise of redemption.
Douglas begins with his own story about growing up mixed race in Liverpool. He found himself in Philadelphia where he was never fazed by the rough neighbourhoods, he wanted to be at what he considers the heart of the sport.
His documentary features eight world champions. The first character we meet is a young boxer from Philly, seen training in a gym that offers structure and maybe a route off the streets for other aspiring athletes.
We meet all sorts of people associated with the sport, from Leon and Michael Spinks to Larry Holmes and Tim Witherspoon, who was Muhammad Ali’s sparring partner towards the end of his career. Several people with some kind of connection to Ali are interviewed here, each with an interesting tale to tell.
My favourite interview is former professional boxer Bernard Hopkins’, whose candid recollections of life before the ring are unforgettable: as a teenager growing up in Philly he spent years involved in crime then was jailed for robbery. It was behind bars that he discovered his love for boxing.
“It’s The Peace That Deafens” by Ola Onabule is one of the most beautiful jazz pieces you will ever hear, and it provides a perfect ending to this documentary which never outstays its welcome with its references to men who fight on many fronts.
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