Boxer James Butler: biography, achievements, interesting facts. Boxer James Butler: biography, achievements, interesting facts The main films of actor James Butler

James Butler - middleweight boxer weight class from the United States of America. Nicknamed "The Jackhammer of Harlem" for his unscrupulous and tough fighting style. Butler also became known to the whole world for his unsportsmanlike behavior and strange antics, which are characterized by cruelty.

Biography of the "Harlem Sledgehammer"

James Butler Jr. was born on December 18, 1972 in Harlem, New York, USA. At the age of 14, he began boxing at a local sports section in Harlem. Two years later, he began to take part in various amateur tournaments, where he often won prizes. With the advent of the professional league, he began to compete in the weight category "second middle". James Butler had several distinctive features in terms of combat. He had a left-handed stance with a puncher style. The boxer had good potential. Many experts predicted him a great career, in which there will be many victories and belts. Audiences and fans gave him the nickname "Jackhammer from Harlem". This was due to the fact that the athlete was distinguished by extreme aggression and cruelty towards his opponents.

James Butler: Charity Fight Controversy Against Richard Grant

In November 2001, a fight took place between two outstanding fighters - James Butler and Richard Grant. This boxing match was of a charitable nature, which went to help the survivors of the events of September 11 (the tragic terrorist attack in America, during which the World Trade Center - Twin Towers was damaged).

During the fight, both boxers demonstrated excellent technique and sports excitement. Some rounds went to Butler and some to Grant. However, in last round Richard Grant carried out a series of successful attacks, thanks to which he received several extra points from the judges. He won by unanimous decision on points. The winner began to celebrate his triumph, after which he headed to the opposite side of the ring in order to thank his opponent for the fight. This is the traditional etiquette of all existing martial arts. Richard went up to Butler and held out his hand to him, expressing his respect and respect to him. But James Butler spit on all the foundations and customs of boxing etiquette and instead of reaching out in response, he simply delivered a powerful blow to Richard's jaw bare hand(without gloves). Naturally, from such a side punch, Grant fell onto the platform of the ring and for a long time could not recover. As it turned out, Richard received serious facial injuries and a broken jaw.

This act shocked the entire sports community. Previously, fans and boxing fans have not seen such gestures. As a result, Grant was immediately hospitalized. As already mentioned, the boxer was left with a broken jaw, a bitten tongue and a minor concussion. With this unsportsmanlike act, James Butler crossed out his own career. On his account there were only 25 fights, including 20 wins (12 by knockout) and 5 losses. He was disqualified, and then arrested and sentenced to prison.

Thirst for revenge or not?

Few people know that Grant and Butler had previously met in the ring in 1997. Then Richard won by unanimous decision by a significant margin on points and, apparently, became the main enemy for the psychopath from Harlem. However, after winning against Butler for the second time, he fell victim to James' unsportsmanlike behavior and received a side kick to the jaw without a glove.

Accusation of assault and murder of American journalist Sam Kellerman

The punishment in the form of imprisonment in no way affected the worldview and behavior of James Butler. The ex-boxer did not take the path of correction and did not learn any lesson from the incident. The world sports community forgot about Butler for a while, but he soon reminded everyone of himself again. Oddly enough, but this time in an even more cruel, "repulsed" and manic form. Here is what the media wrote about him:

"October 20, 2004 american boxer James Butler was convicted in a Los Angeles court and sentenced to 29 years in prison for the brutal murder of journalist Sam Kellerman. On October 17, 2004, the body of American sports journalist Sam Kellerman was found in his Hollywood home. During the investigation, it was revealed that Kellerman died 5 days before the murder. He received about 30 blows with a heavy blunt object on the head and other parts of the body."

The investigation revealed that the culprit of this incident is James Butler. The details of this case are not advertised, as well as Butler's motives. However, there are many versions and assumptions about this that cannot be refuted or confirmed by facts.

James Butler: the ring is not motivation, or the story of a vile thug

What is remarkable and surprising about this story is that Kellerman and Butler were good friends. 30 days before the assassination, Butler moved into the home of an American boxing journalist. The 29-year-old Kellerman also had a brother, Max, who hosted an analytical boxing TV show called ESPN.

As it became known later, Sam Kellerman helped Butler in every possible way after the events with Richard Grant. Kellerman appealed several times for James to have his suspension and prison sentence lifted. As a result, even after the boxer's prison term, Kellerman provided Butler with his own housing and supported the talented boxer both morally and financially. James' dastardly act cannot be justified by anything - he took the life of good man, moreover, according to some, he took a large amount of money with him and disappeared.

In conclusion about Butler

In world boxing, there have been many cases that are far from his etiquette. So, we can remember the story of the mass brawl in Madison Square Garden in 1996, the murder of Sonny Liston 5 years after the high-profile fixed fight, the corrupt Richard Steele and much more. All these listed events are motivated only by making money. After all, where there is boxing, there is corruption, big money and the mafia.

However, the story of James Butler does not fit into a certain, explainable framework. This boxer fully lives up to his nickname "Mad Sledgehammer of Harlem" both in life and in the ring.

Professional boxing has been called the "Sweet Science" but corruption, a lack of centralized control and the rise of mixed martial arts threaten to destroy this worthy sport. Megaboys still bring in big profits, but they are few and far between. In this article, we have selected 10 events that once led to the decline of this sport.

10. James Butler

Butler was a promising young fighter from New York, known by the nickname "Harlem Hammer". In November 2001, James Butler fought Richard "The Alien" Grant. It was a charity fight, the profits from which were supposed to go to the survivors of the events of 9/11. After losing by unanimous decision, Butler approached Grant, ostensibly to congratulate him on his victory. Grant reached out to hug Butler, but Butler (who had already taken off his gloves) vilely slapped Grant in the face. Richard Grant had several injuries to his face, including a broken jaw, a bitten tongue, and several stitches. Butler was arrested and charged with assault, and served time.

Unfortunately, the story doesn't end there. James Butler continued his career after this incident, but was never able to repeat his success. In October 2004, Butler was arrested and charged with the murder of Sam Kellerman, the brother of HBO Boxing analyst Max Kellerman, and, ironically, Kellerman was killed with a hammer. Butler then burned his body. Butler pleaded guilty in 2006 and was sentenced to 29 years in prison.

9.Mass brawl in Madison Square Garden

Pole-born Andrzej Golota entered the ring on July 11, 1996 with an exceptional 27-0 record and at the height of his glory. All he needed was to get past his ex. absolute champion V heavyweight Riddick Bowe (38-1). Golota did a great job. The Polish fighter smashed the ex-champion round after round. He was well ahead on points and close to winning by knockout.

Riddick Bow - Andrzej Golota. Fight after fight (video)

However, in the 7th round, the fight took a strange turn. Golota (for reasons known to him alone), began to constantly hit Bowe below the belt line. Golota received several warnings and was even deducted a few points, but Golota continued in the same spirit. After several low blows, the referee was forced to disqualify him. Riddick Bowe's team turned on Golota and his crew. This led to a mass brawl spurred on by racial hatred that spilled out of the ring. The MSG security team was unable to deal with the mass brawl and they had to wait for the New York riot police. Reinforcements arrived, but by this point, dozens of fans, staff and police had already been injured in this strange and shameful incident.

8. Only in America.

Not everyone can own a franchise in professional football. Not everyone can own a baseball franchise. But anyone can become a fight promoter, even a murderer from Cleveland who received a sentence. In 1974, Don King struggled to promote his first pro fight. It was famous fight"Rumble in the Jungle" Ali vs. Foreman in Zaire. This mega-event immediately turned King into a major player in boxing for the next 30 years.

However, King turned out to be a dirty player and many of his machinations became public. He constantly cheated in order to lure young promising boxers into his "stable". King has been implicated in murder, bribery, theft, illegal bookmaking, breach of contract, and aiding the mob in racketeering. Larry Holmes once said, "Don King wears his hair like this to hide his horns."

7. Sonny Liston and the mafia

By all accounts, Liston had a rough childhood. Very poor and physically abused, Liston left home early and became involved in countless violent crimes. While he was incarcerated, his boxing skills showed up, and shortly after his release, he began to destroy his opponents in the fight for the heavyweight title. His incredible skill caught the attention of some mobsters, including Frankie Carbo and "Blink" Palermo.

Sonny Liston - Cassius Clay II (video)

By the time Sonny Liston lost to a young Cassius Clay on May 25, 1965, many in the press suspected he was run by the Mafia. However, he was involved in one of the most obvious contract fights in sports history. In the first round, after Clay's famous Phantom Punch, Liston fell and allowed the knockout to be called. On slow replay, you can see a fast combination that goes past, or, if you prefer, barely touches Liston. Their first fight ended controversially when Liston refused to enter the ring for the 7th round, claiming he had an injured shoulder. Sonny Liston will die 5 years later under very mysterious circumstances.

Magazine title: Robbed!

6 Corrupt Richard Steele

A very rare event occurred on March 17, 1990. That night there was a duel between two undefeated champions who were in the same weight class and in their prime. Julio Cesar Chavez (68-0), sponsored by Don King, met with Olympic champion and welterweight champion Meldrick Taylor. Chavez was the favorite, but Taylor dominated the ring from the first gong.

Taylor's speed dropped towards the end, but he was still leading in points going into the final round. A few seconds before the end of the match, Chavez knocked Taylor down, but he quickly got back on his feet. If the fight had continued, Taylor would still have won by unanimous decision. But this was not destined to happen. The referee of the fight, Richard Steele, stopped the fight with 2 seconds left and awarded the victory to Chavez. Taylor's team immediately protested the decision, but the Nevada State Athletic Committee (whose impartiality was often called into question) upheld the judge's decision. Taylor's career and health were ruined, and Steele, who provided assistance to King's fighters, brought shame to the sport forever.

Julio Cesar Chavez - Meldrick Taylor (video)

James Butler is an American actor, best known for his roles in films such as Resident Evil, Ghost and the TV series Southland.

The main films of the actor James Butler

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  short biography

  James Butler was born on November 1, 1959 in the USA. Before becoming an actor, James was a unit officer special purpose American army.

  Butler's debut on the big screen in 2001 was the role in the melodrama about angelic labor "Messenger of Heaven". She was followed by work in the fantasy story about the alien invasion "Ice Planet", the fantasy action movie about the zombie invasion "Resident Evil", the adventure comedy about the magic dagger "Bodyguards vs. the Forces of Darkness", the comedy horror film about school zombies "Night of the Living Jerks", action-adventure film about the warriors of the Roman Empire "The Last Gladiator", tragicomedy "Welcome Home!", action movie about revenge "Sharpshooter", horror film about the incident with escaped prisoners "House Full of Blood", action movie about the fire on the observation tower "Hell in heaven”, a thriller about former spouses “Divorce”.

  IN last years he took part in the filming of the comedy "In Search of Marakunda", an adventure drama on board the ship "Sea Wolf", a comedy about emigration and dancing "Welcome to the Westerwald", a melodrama about a hitman in love "Murder is my strong point, dear", an adventure drama about epidemics aboard the aircraft Factor 8, a detective thriller about a dangerous biography The Ghost, a historical drama about a Mossad agent Munich, a crime comedy about a famous FBI agent Jerry Cotton, an adventure story about the search for the famous monster The Second Loch Mystery Ness”, an action movie about the adventures of a super agent “Mission: Impossible 3”, a drama “Charlie and Carl”, a comedy about the adventures of a comedian in Moscow “Hotel Lux”, an action adventure movie “Destroying Vegas”, a comedy about the adventures of an old woman in Rome “Omamamiya”, a family fantastic story about the friendship of a boy and a ghost "Little Ghost", children's films based on Mark Twain's books "Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn".

  In addition, Butler actively starred in multi-part films, he can be seen in the crime scene about the work of the German police "Crime Scene", the action movie about the capture of terrorists "Special Forces", the crime drama "Special Commission", the family comedy about video amateurs on the Internet "iCarly", a crime detective about a German police worker "Woman Commissar", a thriller about workers of law and order "Southland", an action movie about the search for a missing boy "Missing".

Gerard James Butler was born on November 13, 1969 in Glasgow, Scotland. The boy became the youngest of three children in the family. Gerard was less than six months old when his parents moved to Canada. My father dreamed of starting his own business there, but all attempts ended in failure. He blamed his wife and children for his troubles, and, in the end, Gerard's mother filed for divorce. In 1972, she returned to Scotland with her children and soon married a second time.

Gerard Butler was addicted martial arts, showed good sports results. There was a cinema not far from their house and the boy liked to be there with his mother. So, imperceptibly, he became interested in cinema and persuaded his mother to take him to auditions.

At the age of twelve, the young man was accepted into the youth theater, where he played a small role in the performance of the Royal Theater. The mother was not delighted with her son's hobby, as she considered stagecraft to be pampering. The guy studied well at school, and after graduation he did not upset his mother and entered the law college.

After completing his law degree, Butler traveled to Los Angeles, California, USA. As it turned out, the guy did not give up his acting dream. The capital of world cinema met him coolly, received only the role of an extra in the film "The Bodyguard".

Further, Gerard got an internship at the largest law firm and showed promise as a lawyer, but the work was not a pleasure. In Edinburgh, on the stage of the festival, Fringe saw the play "Trainspotting" and finally realized that he had chosen the wrong profession. Two days after his dismissal, he went to London in search of acting happiness. But even in London, no one was in a hurry to open doors for him.

He had to change several professions, from a waiter to a wind-up toy demonstrator, before he got a job at London's Marmaid Theater, but even then only as a casting assistant for a production of Shakespeare's play Coriolanus. The production was directed by Steven Birkoff, who was approached by Butler one day in a cafe to ask for an audition. Impressed by his boldness, Birkoff agreed, and thus Butler landed his first professional role. And after some time he played in Ireland the leading role in the production of "Trainspotting", which he had previously admired from the auditorium.

He made his film debut in Mrs. Brown in 1997. The role turned out to be small: his hero swam in ice water and ended up in the hospital with hypothermia. In the same year, he received two more small roles. Then came the comedy series "Lucy Sullivan Gets Married" starring Gerard Butler.

the first leading role the actor received in the films "Dracula 2000" and "Attila the Conqueror". It took him a long time to get rid of his Scottish accent. These roles brought Butler popularity, and soon the actor signed an agreement with a new agency. Since 2000, for three years, he starred in the TV series The Jury, the films Power of Fire and Trapped in Time, and then in Lara Croft with the famous Angelina Jolie.

The musical Phantom of the Opera, which was released in 2004, became a landmark in his career. The box office exceeded $150 million, the film was nominated for the Oscar three times, received a dozen prestigious awards. The actor performed all solo parts himself. Shooting was not easy for Butler, he had to spend several hours every day while he was putting on makeup, which turned out to be much more difficult to sing than usual. But the final product, of course, justified all the efforts invested in it and can rightfully be considered one of the best screen musicals of recent times.

Among other iconic roles, the king of the Spartans Leonidas in "300 Spartans". For this role, Butler spent six months in gym, typed muscle mass and mastered the art of sword fighting. "MTV Movie Awards" recognized the actor as the "Best Fighter".

With success, the audience greeted the picture "Rock and Roller", which the magazine "Empire" named the best British film of the year. In 2010, the picture "The Naked Truth" was released, where Butler showed himself as a comedian. In the same year, another comedy, Headhunter, was released. Among other projects, it is worth noting the painting "Preacher with a machine gun."

Butler is popular, wealthy and in demand, but is also considered one of the most benevolent actors in Hollywood.

Filmography of Gerard Butler

Mrs Brown Brown Archie Brown 1997
"Tomorrow Never Dies" Tomorrow Never Dies sailor 1997
The Mummy: Prince of Egypt Tale of the Mummy Burke 1998
"Fast Food" Fast Food Jaco 1998
"Little White Lies" Little White Lies Peter 1998
The Young Person's Guide to Becoming a Rock Star Marty Claymore 1998
"The Cherry Orchard" The Cherry Orchard Yasha 1999
"One More Kiss" One More Kiss Sam 1999
Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married Gus 1999
"Harrison's Flowers" Harrison's Flowers Chris Kamack, photojournalist 2000
Dracula 2000 Dracula 2000 Count Dracula 2000
Attila Attila Attila 2001
"Diamond of the Sahara" Jewel of the Sahara Captain Charles Bellamy 2001
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman Tim Bolton 2001
"Power of Fire" Reign of Fire Creedy 2002
Shooters Jackie Jr. 2002
The Jury Johnny Donny 2002
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Cradle of Life Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life Terry Sheridan 2003
"Trapped in Time" Timeline Andre Marek 2003
The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera Phantom 2004
The Game of Their Lives Frank Borghi 2005
"Dear Frankie" Dear Frankie Stranger 2005
"Beowulf and Grendel" Beowulf & Grendel Beowulf 2006
"Redemption" Butterfly on a Wheel Neil Randall 2007
"300 Spartans" 300 King Leonid I 2007
P.S. I love you P.S. I Love You Jerry Kennedy 2007
Nim's Island Jack Russo, Alex Rover 2008
"Rock-n-Roller" RocknRolla One-Two 2008
Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter Captain from the Black Schooner (voice) 2009
"The Naked Truth" The Ugly Truth Mike Chadway 2009
"Gamer" Gamer Cable/John Tillman 2009
Law Abiding Citizen Clyde Shelton 2009
"How to Train Your Dragon" How to Train Your Dragon Stoick the Vast (voice) 2010
Bounty Hunter Milo Boyd 2010
"Coriolanus" Coriolanus Tullus Aufidius 2011
Machine Gun Preacher Sam Childers 2011
"A man in great demand" Playing for Keeps George 2012
Wave Breakers Chasing Mavericks Rick "Frosty" Hesson 2012
Movie 43 Movie 43 Leprechaun 2013
Olympus Has Fallen Mike Banning 2013
"How to Train Your Dragon 2" How to Train Your Dragon 2 Stoick the Vast (voice) 2014
London Has Fallen Mike Banning 2016
"Gods of Egypt" Gods of Egypt Set 2016
Wall Street Hunter A Family Man Dane Jensen 2016
"Geostorm" Geostorm Jake 2017
Hunter Killer Captain Joe Glass
"Fallen Angel" Angel Has Fallen Mike Banning 2018
Hunt for Thieves Den of Thieves 2018