FIGHT TO THE MAX

Does boxing strengthen character and make champions out of chumps? Or does it breed brain-damaged palookas? Those on both sides of the ropes should get a ringside seat for this hard hitting look at pugilism as practiced behind the concrete walls and barbed wire of the Louisiana state penal system, by hardcore thugs-turned-athletes, convicted murderers, kidnappers, thieves, rapists, pushers and gang members, some in for life. In the absence of real jobs and family, many have found refuge in the “sweet science” of boxing, some like Clifford “The Black Rhino” Etienne even earning professional status. In a knockout series of interviews and bouts, prisoners declare that, rather than building better predators, jailhouse boxing supplies the discipline, understanding, respect, adrenalin, couch/father figures and self-esteem they lacked in their earlier lives, elements essential to their functioning outside of iron cages and guard towers. Rehabilitation may be academic in the case of men like Darrell Lewis, who announces, “I only got 162 years to do” on his armed-robbery rap. “He'll probably be fighting in his grave, ” observes an admirer. Abetted by a Cajun-zydeco soundtrack, FIGHT TO THE MAX goes the distance, equally upbeat and cinder-block tough. “We have boxing to keep us going every day.”