Includes bibliographical references and index.

Why the boxing film?: the meaningful structure of the boxing film genre -- Gangsters, champions, and the history of the boxing film -- "Down for the count": critique of the success ethic in the boxing film -- "On the ropes": the conflict between assimilation and the indigenous community -- Romance and the ring: gender conflict in the boxing film -- "Hitting below the belt": violence, suffering, and male emotion -- Body and soul: the conflict between the flesh and the spirit -- Art and genre in Raging bull (1980) -- Epilogue: into the twenty-first century -- Appendix 1: cycles/clusters of the boxing film genre -- Appendix 2: boxing films cited.

Electronic reproduction. Palo Alto, Calif. : ebrary, 2011. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ebrary affiliated libraries.