Rocky is one of the best movies ever produced, but Rocky Balboa… that’s the best movie in the franchise.

Hard Times 1975 starring Charles Bronson Chaney, a drifter who travels to Louisiana during the Great Depression and begins competing in illegal bare-knuckled boxing matches. This was Walter Hill’s directorial debut.

Gladiator 1992 film directed by Rowdy Herrington. The film tells the story of two teenagers trapped in the world of illegal underground boxing. One is fighting to pay off gambling debts accumulated by his father. The second is fighting for the money to get out of the ghetto. While being exploited by a boxing promoter, the two teens become friends.

Also Truimph Of The Spirit 1989 directed by Robert M. Young starring William Dafoe. It is based on the true story of Salamo Arouch, a Greek-Jewish boxer imprisoned in Auschwitz during World War II and was forced to fight other internees to the death for the SS guards’ entertainment.

Also Tyson 1995 television film based on the life of American heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson. Directed by Uli Edel, it is an adaptation of the 1989 book Fire and Fear: The Inside Story of Mike Tyson by José Torres, former boxer and former chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission. The film depicts events from Tyson’s troubled childhood in Brooklyn through his conviction in 1992 for the rape of beauty pageant contestant Desiree Washington.

Tough Enough 1983 boxing film starring Dennis Quaid & directed by Richard Fleischer about a down-on-his-luck country & western singer from Fort Worth enters a “toughman” competition to help pay his family’s bills. Surprisingly, he does well against the other fighters and wins enough matches to qualify for a national championship. An unexpected break forces him to choose between his passion for his music career and his new-found success.

Facing Ali is a 2009 documentary directed by Pete McCormack about Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. in Louisville, Kentucky) as told from the perspectives of some of the notable opponents he faced during his career: George Chuvalo, Sir Henry Cooper, George Foreman, “Smokin’” Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes (a former sparring partner of Ali), Ron Lyle, Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers, Leon Spinks and Ernie Terrell.