Director Alan Swyer’s new documentary “El Boxeo” (www.elboxeothemovie.com), which tells the dramatic story of the emergence of Latinos in boxing, will be released on Father’s Day, June 15. The film illustrates the evolution of the sport as Latinos exploded onto the scene to dominate what was once considered the traditional all-white sport. The television release will be announced at a later date.
Swyer’s list of credits range from HBO’s award-winning “Rebound,” starring Don Cheadle, Forrest Whitaker, and James Earl Jones to “The Buddy Holly Story.” “El Boxeo” is not his first foray to the intriguing world of Latinos in sports; his documentary “Beisbol,” won the 2009 Imagen Award.
El Boxeo” is the definitive look at how boxing has become a Latino-dominated sport both in the ring and in the stands. The film features champions past and present as well as commissioners, managers, trainers, referees, broadcasters, and historians – from champions such as Oscar de la Hoya, Sergio Martinez, Julio Cesar Chavez, Canelo Alvarez, Boom Boom Mancini, Sugar Ray Leonard, Juan LaPorte, and Wilfredo Vazquez Sr. and Jr. to Bob Arum, Jose Sulaiman, Richard Steele, Larry Merchant, Al Bernstein, and Lou DiBella, just to name a few.
The initial release will be both Video On Demand and via DVD, with a television release to follow. The film can be purchased or rented at www.elboxeothemovie.com or through the El Boxeo Facebook page. Pre-sales are now available. Further information email info@elboxeothemovie.com or call Chris Garcia at (626) 230-4044.
“El Boxeo” has played at the International Puerto Rican Film Festival, the Oaxaca Filmfest in Mexico, where it was a prestigious Opening Night selection, and the audience choice for the Closing Night Reprise Screening, and the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival.
Culled from over eighty hours of new interviews, the film, in the words of the filmmakers, is about race, language, culture, politics, economics… and boxing. Showing how boxing has long been the sport of immigrants, the film uses boxing as a metaphor to show how group after group has fought both figuratively and literally for a better way of life. “El Boxeo” reveals how the immigrant pugilists redefined the world of boxing and established the West Coast as a new mecca in the sport. El Boxeo is as much a film about Latinos in boxing as it is about the immigrant stories that reshaped the sport.
Together with his producing partner Rick Gil de Montes, Swyer has created a film that will thrill not just boxing enthusiasts, but all those interested in sports, culture, and contemporary life.
