Professor’s books inspire Hollywood boxing movie

A university professor is swapping the lecture theatre for the red carpet as his books are being turned into a Hollywood movie.

Filming is underway on Giant, which will tell the story of former world featherweight champion boxer Prince Naseem Hamed.

Starring Pierce Brosnan and Amir El-Masry, it has been inspired by two books written by Edge Hill University psychology professor Geoff Beattie, who trained at the same gym as Naseem and charted his rise.

"I was approached for the rights years ago and I thought nothing will ever happen and suddenly here it is," he said.

He said: "I'd written the books quite a few years ago and I wasn't expecting anything like this, I was shocked."

The books - written in the 1990s - focus on Brendan Ingle’s famous gym in Wincobank in Sheffield and explore boxing in precarious economic times after the pit closures and the decline of the steel industry.

“We got on brilliantly and became close," Professor Beattie said of Ingle, played by former James Bond star Pierce Brosnan.

"He would tell me what was on his mind, and we would have some very personal chats."

Among those training at the gym was boxer Prince Naseem Hamed who went on to become Britain’s most successful featherweight boxer.

"I immersed myself in that culture, writing about what I saw," Prof Beattie said.

"Following this Naseem Hamed all the way up, and looking at the development of this father-son relationship between him and Brendan, which eventually all turned sour.”

Hamed is played by Amir El-Masry and the film's executive producer is Sylvester Stallone.

"The books are the background to the whole thing," Prof Beattie said.

"The writer and director is Rowan Athale who came to see me early on and he sent me the script which I though was really good.

"He's taken all of the details from the books, and some of the dialogue, some of the conversations and so on and put them into the script."

He said: "Boxers are interesting characters from a psychology point of view, how you turn a young guy from Wincobank into a world title holder."

While researching his books, Prof Beattie also trained at Ingle’s gym which launched the careers of a string of famed boxers including Hamed and fellow world champions Johnny Nelson, Junior Witter and Kell Brook.

"I took up training to get a feel for the whole thing, to get a taste for boxing," he said.

"I got into the ring and wasn't really expecting what happened next. I remember I had a squash game that night and I took off my shirt and somebody said to me 'have you been in a road accident?' because my back was bruised so badly."

He continued to visit the gym "for quite a few years to watch and get a feel for the culture of the place and also chart the rise of Naseem Hamed".

He continued: "He was a phenomenal and exciting boxer and I wrote the first book called On The Ropes which was about his rise to taking the world title.

"I did a follow-up a few years later when the relationship between him and his trainer Brendan had broken down to some extent.

"But of course I wasn't expecting to get a call from Hollywood saying they wanted the books for a movie.

"Hollywood is an unknown land from my point of view but I suspect with any luck it should be out towards the end of 2025.

"I think it's going to be an amazing film. I think the actors and director are really good - I'm looking forward to seeing it myself."

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