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Documentary “TAPIA” To Screen at LA Film Festival

Published

11 years ago

June 10, 2013

LOS ANGELES – June 10, 2013 – Entertainment mogul Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and Lou DiBella have acquired the rights to TAPIA, the gripping documentary based on the life of five-time world champion boxer, Johnny Tapia. DiBella’s new production company, BK Blu Productions, and 50 Cent’s G-Unit Film and Television have joined to present the film, also produced by filmmaker Eddie Alcazar and Andrea Monier. The world premiere of the documentary will take place at the Los Angeles Film Festival on Saturday, June 15 at the Regal Cinemas L.A. LIVE with an additional screening on Wednesday June 19.

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TAPIA chronicles the personal and professional life of the boxer, beginning with his poor childhood in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The film explores the glory of his punishing ring prowess and five world titles in three weight classes, forever mired by personal demons: his mother's brutal kidnapping and murder when he was 8 years old, and his drug addiction, mental illness and near death experiences. Using first person narration from Tapia himself, archival footage, and personal photos, director Eddie Alcazar paints an intimate picture of the fighter and the man.

TAPIA follows the champ’s winding road through victories, downfalls and redemption. Director Alcazar spent many hours with Tapia filming the biopic, just weeks before the fighter’s tragic death at age 45. Tapia’s last interviews now serve as the heartbeat of Alcazar's revealing documentary. In it, the soft-spoken champ opens up about his ‘vida loca’ and the unending pain of his mother’s murder, which led to glory in the ring and struggle throughout his life.

Jackson, who has served as a producer and acted in a number of films including Righteous Kill, Twelve and Things Fall Apart states: “I was drawn to the intensity of this project. His story resonated with me because like Tapia, I too lost my mother to violence and grew up with limited means. It’s a heartfelt story and it was important for me to get involved with bringing this to a broader audience.”

“I’m thrilled to join 50 in acquiring this riveting documentary. This is not a boxing film, but a film about tragedy, triumph, demons and redemption,” said sports promoter and entertainment entrepreneur DiBella, who has produced films such as Viva Baseball!, Love Ranch and was associate producer of The Fighter. “Johnny gives us an honest assessment of his strengths and frailties; he reminds us of the power and resiliency of the human spirit.”

The unique style in which the film was structured and directed distinguishes it from most documentaries. Including the use of landscape cinematography covering the majestic Albuquerque terrain, shots of Tapia’s own son feverishly running across a field at dusk, and dramatic use of light and music during the interviews with Tapia.

“Every day Johnny and I spent together, he was so excited to be telling his story and helping others.” said Alcazar. “Just as quickly as he entered my life, a year later he was gone. He lived his life fast and with a sense of urgency, yet I always had a feeling that he would outlive us all. Filming the last interviews of his life was a special gift and I feel very fortunate to have 50 Cent and Lou DiBella share the same vision in bringing Johnny’s life to the bright screen.”

The film features Tapia in his own words and exclusive interviews with Mike Tyson, trainer Freddie Roach and Tapia’s wife Teresa.

TAPIA is set to world premiere as part of the Documentary Competition at the 2013 Los Angeles Film Festival on June 15 at Regal Cinema L.A. LIVE 12. The Festival, presented by the nonprofit arts organization Film Independent, takes place in downtown Los Angeles at L.A. LIVE. The June 15^th screening is already sold-out. A second screening at the Festival will take place Wednesday, June 19

in Regal Cinema L.A. LIVE 14. Tickets are still available for the second screening. For more information visit www.lafilmfest.comand access documentary competition.

TAPIA, presented by G-Unit Film and Television and BK Blu Productions, is a Synthetic Creatures Production directed by Eddie Alcazar. The film is executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and Lou DiBella, along with producers Andrea Monier and Eddie Alcazar, in association with Eric Drath’s Live Star Entertainment.

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

9 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

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