{"id":2112,"date":"2010-04-13T22:17:13","date_gmt":"2010-04-14T02:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ringsidereport.com\/?p=2112"},"modified":"2010-04-13T22:17:13","modified_gmt":"2010-04-14T02:17:13","slug":"from-the-boxing-ring-to-hollywood-superman-star-jack-o%e2%80%99halloran-speaks-to-rsr-about-his-remarkable-life-part-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=2112","title":{"rendered":"From the Boxing Ring to Hollywood: Superman Star Jack O\u2019Halloran Speaks to RSR About His Remarkable Life, Part III"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Exclusive Interview by Geno McGahee (Reposted for Archive purposes)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI was in there though when there were some great fighters, and I\u2019m glad about that because I beat some great fighters, and nobody can ever take that away from me.\u201d\u2014Jack O\u2019Halloran<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Jack O\u2019Halloran has proven that he is a man of many hats and skills.\u00a0 From the boxing ring to Hollywood, he has made his mark, and it didn\u2019t stop there.\u00a0 He would go on to train and manage Frankie Liles, leading him to a world championship before a falling out.\u00a0 It was another great achievement and O\u2019Halloran presents a true American success story.\u00a0 He now focuses on two things that are very important to him: his book release of \u201cDark Legacy,\u201d which is an amazing read, and his independent movie career, all started with a movie called \u201cThe List.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The plan for O\u2019Halloran, and many independent movie makers, is to take back Hollywood with quality and with a boxing movie on the horizon, there is a lot to look forward to.\u00a0 Considering the way that Hollywood is going with the consistent remakes, the freshness has to come from the independent world and Jack vows to do his part to make the industry what it should be: Quality work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In this third and final part of \u201cFrom the Boxing Ring to Hollywood: Superman Star Jack O\u2019Halloran Speaks to RSR About His Remarkable Life,\u201d we discuss the current state of the film industry, the corruption in boxing, as well as his experiences working with Chuck Norris in the action film: \u201cThe Hero and the Terror.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

GM:\u00a0 It seems like they are dumbing down movies for this generation.\u00a0 You can\u2019t go to a movie and actually watch a good drama without all of the bells and whistles they seem to keep on pumping us full of.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

That is how insulting they are to audiences.\u00a0 That is why I came back into the business.\u00a0 There are a lot of independents that have come back to make movies.\u00a0 A lot of us want to put the creativity back into the industry.\u00a0 I\u2019m actually making a boxing movie.\u00a0 I have a great fight script.\u00a0 We have some neat stuff going on and when you read the book (Dark Legacy), you will realize why that book is going to take me right to the moon, and my whole life is going to change in just a couple of months.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I kind of kick myself in the ass, but I have a record in boxing.\u00a0 I have had one fighter\u2026one world champion that I managed and trained.\u00a0 Frankie Liles, former WBA Super Middleweight Champ in 1994.\u00a0 That was my fighter.\u00a0 The Kronk Gym had thrown him out and they sent him to the Goosens, because he had a long, extended amateur career, and he was a southpaw, and they said that he stunk the joint out and they had Tommy Hearns and a lot of people.\u00a0 So, I was in the gym, and I still go into the gym and train, and I was in Goosen\u2019s Gym and I see this kid, and I watched him for about a week, and I saw something, and I went up and chatted with the kid.\u00a0 I told him that I would make him a deal.\u00a0 I said that if you are willing to listen, I will make you a champion in six months.\u00a0 And he said: \u201cYou\u2019re serious.\u201d\u00a0 I said, dead serious.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I moved him into my house and brought a nutritionist down, and we changed his diet and brought his body fat weight down to like seven-eight percent.\u00a0 I put him through an old school training regimen.\u00a0 I got this kid into a shape that he never dreamed of being in.\u00a0 Then we went and we won the title from a kid named Steve Little, and then he defended it several times, beating Michael Nunn\u2026he beat a lot of good fighters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We were in England, and it was one of the only losses that he had in his career to a kid named Tim Littles.\u00a0 He was ranked number one, and I was there the night that he had lost to Littles, and it was a fluke.\u00a0 He had gotten cut very bad in the first round, and his lip was hanging off, and he fought ten rounds, and I give him a lot of credit.\u00a0 That\u2019s when I really took him under my wing.\u00a0 I got his mouth stitched up by the best plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, and it never broke open again, and then I really got him into shape.\u00a0 And then, when we fought Littles again, I told him exactly what to do and I took him to school, and drew it on a piece of paper for him, and he knocked him out in the third round.\u00a0 It was knockout of the year, and round of the year.\u00a0 But then he got too big for his britches.\u00a0 We had a great fight set up with Roy Jones, JR., and he came back and wanted extra money, and I told him, you know what\u2026see you later.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He fought a couple of times after that, but he could never fight without me.\u00a0 He fought a couple of times and he lost his title, and I had a deal for him to fight in Germany as a light heavyweight and he would have been champion for ten years over there.\u00a0 Frankie Liles would have beaten Roy Jones.\u00a0<\/p>\n

GM: You think so?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I know so.\u00a0 I know for a fact that he would have knocked Roy Jones out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

GM: Now, Roy Jones has proven as of late that his chin might be the best.\u00a0 Do you think that Liles would have taken him out because of that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I knew about his chin.\u00a0 When he beat Roy Jones as an amateur and I had him to where he could really punch.\u00a0 In the first Littles fight, he couldn\u2019t break an egg.\u00a0 In the rematch, he hit Littles a shot, and had he really stepped into it like I told him to, Littles would have had a hard time ever getting up.\u00a0 There was a lot of money sitting on the table and had he beaten Jones, that would have written the ticket for the rest of his life.\u00a0 It would have went down in the history books, but people are foolish.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I had already achieved what I had set out to do, and made him a world champion.\u00a0 He defended it against some tough fighters and he won handily, and he never got hurt, and he was a foolish kid.\u00a0<\/p>\n

GM:\u00a0 Well, sometimes people get those money signs in their eyes\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, and they also have those people whispering in their ears.\u00a0 He was a troubled kid before and I straightened him out.\u00a0 I was a little bit tougher than he was, and he would listen, but then he got too big for his britches and made me angry and I told him to piss off.\u00a0 And then, he couldn\u2019t get anyone to manage him because people were scared.\u00a0 They said: \u201cMy God, where\u2019s jack?\u201d\u00a0 When they found out that he had left on those terms, they said: \u201cWhen you get it sorted with Jack, come back and see us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

You know, it was sad, but I achieved what I wanted to achieve, and the kid had the world by the ass, and he just pissed it away.\u00a0 It happens all of the time.\u00a0 I would have probably had a great chance at being the champion of the world if I had gotten the Ali fight.\u00a0 Ali would have been in a little bit of trouble (laughs).\u00a0 I called him one day and said: For the first time in my life, I will go to camp, and you better bring a gun in that ring!\u00a0 It\u2019s going to be a hell of a night!<\/p>\n

GM: This is probably a stupid question, but I am going to ask it anyway.\u00a0 There were some reports that Chuck Norris had taken liberties with his costars in certain fighting scenes.\u00a0 It was said that he had hit a little bit too hard and nearly made it a real fight.\u00a0 Did you experience any of that when you faced him in \u201cThe Hero and the Terror?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

No, he wasn\u2019t that stupid.\u00a0 We had some very good fight scenes.\u00a0 I like Chuck.\u00a0 Chuck\u2019s a good guy.\u00a0 It was probably the best picture that he ever did as an actor, and it was sad because that was his last film with Canon and they ran out of money and couldn\u2019t promote it properly.\u00a0 It was really sad.\u00a0 It had a good cast, and the story was good, but they just didn\u2019t have the money to promote it properly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

GM:\u00a0 Were you involved in the fight choreography and did you perform your own stunts?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I did all my own stunts.\u00a0 We both did.\u00a0 We were up on that rooftop duking it out.\u00a0 Yeah, we did all of that together.\u00a0<\/p>\n

GM:\u00a0 You don\u2019t have any fear of heights?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No\u2026we really had a good time.\u00a0 Chuck Norris wouldn\u2019t dare get fresh with me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

GM: We went over this a little bit, but I would like to touch on it a little more. Up to the late 1980s, they were pumping them out like crazy, with the Charles Bronson movies, the Clint Eastwood movies, and the Chuck Norris films, but now, we have been in a dry spell for quite some time.\u00a0 Why don\u2019t they release any good action films anymore?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

The problem with Hollywood is that bankers took it over, and they got into these movie stars and these casting people and there are some great actors. Michael Caine done a lot of junk because he just took the money and did it.\u00a0 He is a brilliant actor.\u00a0 When he did something that he liked, he won an Oscar.\u00a0 A lot of people like Jack Nicholson that are not put into the right roles, and it is sad because it is deals that are made by ICM and big ad agencies and they put together a cast factor.\u00a0 Somebody brings a film in, and the bankers get behind it because of the bankable actors, whether they are good for the piece or not.\u00a0 That is the problem with Hollywood, but that is changing.\u00a0 There are a lot of creative people like George Clooney that are getting in to doing movies and are there for the audience.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what we are going to do.\u00a0<\/p>\n

GM:\u00a0 I don\u2019t think that there is any more creativity in Hollywood.\u00a0 You notice that everything is a remake.\u00a0 Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, Black Christmas remake, the Hitcher remake, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory remake.\u00a0 They are just sending out watered down versions of the real film from when it was fresh, wouldn\u2019t you agree?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, they are remaking classics that they have no right touching.\u00a0 They had no right to touch them.\u00a0 To remake The Producers?\u00a0 And my partner is Jonathan Sanger\u2026and to remake a Gene Wilder classic?\u00a0 I mean it\u2019s a good film, but how do you outdo Gene Wilder?\u00a0 They put in Johnny Depp and because of who he is, the picture made a fortune!\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t a great movie.\u00a0 They take liberties like crazy man.\u00a0<\/p>\n

GM: What do you find to be the most difficult profession: boxing, acting, or producing movies?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I enjoy all of them!\u00a0 I didn\u2019t find any of them difficult.\u00a0 I enjoyed boxing, but I\u2019m mad at myself for not doing what I should have done, and taking a liberty with a God given talent that I could have done a lot more with, but you cannot turn the clock back.\u00a0 That\u2019s life.\u00a0 I was in there though when there were some great fighters, and I\u2019m glad about that because I beat some great fighters, and nobody can ever take that away from me.<\/p>\n

I fought Ron Stander in Omaha and they poured me into the plane for the fight.\u00a0 I trained one day, went ten rounds and beat the shit out of him, but I didn\u2019t win in Omaha\u2026that\u2019s his hometown.\u00a0 And I knew Ron well.\u00a0 He moved to Rhode Island before he fought Joe Frazier and I would box him in the gym and beat the hell out of him every day.\u00a0 But that\u2019s just the game.\u00a0 You reap what you sow, and I don\u2019t have anyone to blame but myself.\u00a0 I don\u2019t blame anyone.\u00a0 I don\u2019t point any fingers.\u00a0 I was my own worst enemy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

GM: Is there any dirtier business than boxing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is only dirty if you allow it to be.\u00a0 The good thing about that is when I had Frankie, and I went to Don King and told him that I wanted a title fight, and he knew who I was, so there was no arguing.\u00a0 He was the promoter for Frankie, but he didn\u2019t think that he was a great fighter and they thought that they were going to fix the fight on me in Argentina where we fought, but he had one ref and I had three.\u00a0 They can only hurt you if you cannot fight.\u00a0 If you have a fighter that can fight and a manager that won\u2019t take any shit, they can\u2019t fix anything on you.\u00a0<\/p>\n

GM:\u00a0 Would you still agree though that there is still corruption regardless of any circumstance?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a tremendous amount of corruption, but there\u2019s a tremendous amount in every sport.\u00a0 Boxing is not the lone ranger.\u00a0 It just gets picked on more than others.\u00a0 What bigger scam is there than professional wrestling?\u00a0 That right there is the biggest scam in the world.\u00a0 The problem with boxing is that these kids don\u2019t fight enough.\u00a0 These big paydays have taken the blood and guts out of it.\u00a0 You have guys that only fight once a year and you can\u2019t learn your trade that way in boxing.\u00a0 Boxing is a different kind of sport than any other sport.\u00a0 When they ring that bell, you are on your own man.\u00a0 There are no time outs or anything like that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

GM:\u00a0 Do you see any chance of boxing rebounding?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once in a while I do, and I keep threatening that I\u2019m going to find a champion and come back into it, but I just got so much on my plate right now.\u00a0 If I looked around and found a heavyweight, I would give the sport a big shot in the arm, because he would fight every month.\u00a0 I would have him fighting all the time and the public loves that.\u00a0 That\u2019s what stirs it up.\u00a0 I would say, bring on any comer you want.\u00a0 What are you gonna fix?\u00a0 Bring them on!\u00a0 I don\u2019t care who you got\u2026bring them!\u00a0<\/p>\n

GM:\u00a0 Outside of the book \u201cDark Legacy,\u201d you are working on a boxing movie you said, correct?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We actually just produced a picture called \u201cThe List\u201d with Wayne Brady and it\u2019s coming out through Warner Brothers.\u00a0 That\u2019s got a good cast in it\u2026Flex Alexander, and Sydney Poitier\u2019s daughter, and Illeana Douglas.\u00a0 It\u2019s a nice little film.\u00a0 It\u2019s a comedy.\u00a0 That will come out, but they put it on DVD, which sort of perturbed me, but it was a learning lesson.\u00a0<\/p>\n

GM: Thank you very much for your time and is there anything else that you would like to mention?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You are welcome and I would just like to say that we\u2019ve got the boxing picture, and the book, which will be huge.\u00a0 It will keep you up all night\u2026it\u2019s a great read.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Writer\u2019s Final Thoughts<\/strong><\/p>\n

I want to thank Jack O\u2019Halloran for his time and encourage everyone to look for his book \u201cDark Legacy\u201d this summer.\u00a0 I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek and it is a compelling and surprising read.<\/p>\n

Advertise Now On RSR<\/a><\/p>\n

Purchase Boxing Interviews Of A Lifetime<\/a><\/p>\n

Watch The Trailer For Family Secret<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Exclusive Interview by Geno McGahee (Reposted for Archive purposes) \u201cI was in there though when there were some great fighters, and I\u2019m glad about that because I beat some great fighters, and nobody can ever take that away from me.\u201d\u2014Jack O\u2019Halloran Jack O\u2019Halloran has proven that he is a man of many hats and skills.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[105,167,331,515,616],"class_list":["post-2112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-boxing","tag-chuck-norris","tag-hollywood","tag-movies","tag-robert-mitchum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2112"}],"version-history":[{"count":-4,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2112\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}