Trainer’s family share their pride over boxing film

The family of Brendan Ingle have shared their pride over the late boxing trainer being portrayed by a Hollywood icon in an upcoming film.

‘Giant’ shares the story of boxer ‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed’s rise to fame during the 1990s and his relationship with Ingle, played by James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan.

The Dublin-born former boxer, who died aged 77 in 2018, guided four fighters to world titles – Hamed, Johnny Nelson, Junior Witter and Kell Brook.

Daughter Tara Ingle said her father would have “loved” to have known he was played in a film “by a big star”.

“I got quite emotional seeing the film poster on the bus in Sheffield, it’s a weird feeling,” the 53-year-old said.

“I just wish he could see all this – he’d be amazed that someone had made a film about him.”

Raised in a working-class family in Sheffield, Hamed established himself as one of the brightest young talents in boxing after being introduced to the sport by his father aged seven.

He turned professional at 18 and was a European champion at 20, with world honours following a year later.

Ingle’s relatives, boxers and former trainers from the Ingle Gym are expected to be in the audience at a special screening at The Light cinema in Sheffield on Thursday.

A question and answer session will also be held with lead actor Amir El-Masry, who plays Hamed, and writer director Rowan Athale.

The film’s executive producer is legendary Rocky actor Sylvester Stallone.

Tara said: “[Brendan] loved Rocky, we always got dragged out to a Rocky film as kids.”

The trainer coached a run of world-beating fighters from an early age from his gym in an old church hall in Wincobank in the east end of Sheffield.

His sons, Dominic and John, took over the gym when Ingle stood down and trained former world champions Kell Brook and Billy Joe Saunders.

Barnsley-born Athale admits he felt the “pressure” to get “the details right” about the Ingle story.

“The first time I went to meet Dom Ingle, around 15 people suddenly emerged at the gym keen to tell their Brendan stories,” he said.

“It was at that point I realised just how much he meant to so many people – I saw it in their eyes.”

The writer director also recalls the “daunting” experience of a recent screening for the extended Ingle family at the Vue cinema in Meadowhall.

“Dom Ingle is a tough Sheffield guy, he’s been training boxers his whole life,” he said.

“To see how emotional he got and the whole family’s reaction was really moving.”

The film was 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.

Tara said she was pleased how the film captured the “generosity” of her father.

“My dad’s biggest story is what happened when people weren’t looking,” she said.

“We found this out when he died and my mum got hundreds of letters and people wrote about how he’d changed their life.”

Giant is released in cinemas on Friday.