'It's a hard, tough, but beautiful sport'

I'm pretty inspired by most professional boxers.  Almost without exception they'll have had to overcome financial and/or personal adversity, demonstrate a level of discipline few of us can begin to understand, and I expect, have a million things tempting them to quit.  But they don't.  They get up at dawn and they work.  Relentlessly.  


One such boxer who epitomised this beautiful, all consuming scenario I've described, was Welsh legend, Howard Winstone.  Aside from possessing a remarkable skill for the sport, his tale is more interesting than most.  In a horrific factory accident, before his professional career had even begun, Winstone lost the tips of three fingers on his right hand.  Now I don't know about you, but losing any of my fingers would definitely stop me doing a fair few things.  Boxing being one of them.  Thankfully, Winstone did not share this mindset.  Undeterred by this seemingly disabling turn of events, Winstone went on to go pro and won 61 of his 67 professional boughts.  Truly epic.


Documenting a story this dramatic seems only fitting, so I'm thrilled that a film (Risen) has been made, capturing the life of this amazing man.  I was lucky enough to have a chat with Stuart Brennan, the actor who's performance as Howard Winstone has just earned him a Welsh Bafta.  Here's what the jammy so and so had to say...

Stuart winning his Bafta

All in all this project has taken forever to make.  Some people would have given up by now.  Were you tempted to throw in the towel (ha!) at any point?  What kept you going?
SB: Finishing the project was what we were committed to when we started the project.  It took us five years, but if it would have taken longer, we'd still be working on it.  Doing a life story about someone is a commitment, a commitment to the family, to the person and in this case to all the people he inspired.  He was a hero to a nation and to the whole of the UK.  Having the support of the family and Howard's friends helped us greatly, without them it would have been very difficult.


What have you learned personally from Howard's inspirational story?
SB: What Howard taught everyone, is that nothing is impossible.  You may have a handicap, you may have the biggest blow imaginable, yet there is always hope and always a way to achieve your goals.  Dedication, hard work, commitment and belief, that's all you need.  Never let go of your dream.


It's been said that you've captured the spirit of Winstone's fighting and also nailed his left jab.  How difficult was that to achieve?  I mean, just learning to box must be tough enough, let alone tailoring it to someone else's style!
SB: My trainer said to me that it couldn't be done, no one could look like Winstone, especially someone who hadn't boxed before.  But I turned up at 6am the next day to prove him wrong and together we worked on and off over the full five year period.  By the time of the final fight scenes with Erik Morales, which were the last things that we shot, my trainer Don actually had a tear in his eye and said it was like watching his old mate up there.  Incredible hard work constant dieting for a long time, but it was all worth it when you hear someone say that and see how much it means to them.


What for you, was the most significant boxing moment during the making of this film?
SB: I have two moments that stand out, both of which were similar.  I got to box with World Champions Steve Robinson and Erik Morales in the film. When we were filming, they both took it easy on me to start with, but they also both underestimated me.  Once I caught them both with a couple of jabs they didn't see coming, their eyes became focused and the punches landed with incredible speed, accuracy and precision.  It was phenomenal.  It wasn't nasty, but just a moment from both of them when they said "ok you can box, but I'm the boss."  And they were the boss in the ring.  No doubt!


The sport has changed so much since Winstone's day.  What are your opinions on boxing in the modern era, compared to boxing in the 50's?
SB: It's tough to compare - the different training regimes, the different dieting.  I think today's fighters are stronger, but endurance and heart are always measurable and can be put head to head.  I think pride had a lot more to do with boxing back in the 50's, now it's so commercial, with so many belts.  It's very difficult to decide who is the true world champion at any one time.  It's a hard, tough, but beautiful sport - that hasn't changed.


Risen is currently being shown at selected cinemas and is available on DVD.  For more information visit http://www.howardwinstone.com/rsnindex.html