Press are excited about TitleShot while still in production:
|
It’s a time capsule, and a head trip if you know the faces that pop onto the screen. There’s Bobby Cassidy Sr, there’s Bobby Cassidy Jr, versions of them as they appeared to the world in 1995, when director Gaylen Ross got footage for a project focusing on Uganda native Godfrey Nyakana, a junior middleweight who had high hopes to keep on progressing to the point where he’d be in the mix for title shots and beefier purses. “TitleShot” illustrates vividly the rollercoaster ride of the prospect turned contender who grinds to receive an opportunity which will make the toil worthwhile.
Let’s kick it old school—Golden Girls style. Picture it. Boxing. 1995.
The sonic sledgehammers of Wu-Tang, Biggie, and Nas sluiced the streets. If you had a cell phone, it was of the Zack Morris variety. Forget about the internet.
Fighters like James Toney, Felix Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Pernell Whitaker, Ricardo Lopez, Roy Jones, Jr., and so many other exceptional fighters of the day, could be seen gracing the squared circle with such excellence to riva; another era in the sport. I was a young man then, in front of the blaze of my parents’ television, turned on to the sweet science for life.
And how lucky is the boxing community now to have Gaylen Ross’s documentary Titleshot capturing that time period in the sport...
The sonic sledgehammers of Wu-Tang, Biggie, and Nas sluiced the streets. If you had a cell phone, it was of the Zack Morris variety. Forget about the internet.
Fighters like James Toney, Felix Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Pernell Whitaker, Ricardo Lopez, Roy Jones, Jr., and so many other exceptional fighters of the day, could be seen gracing the squared circle with such excellence to riva; another era in the sport. I was a young man then, in front of the blaze of my parents’ television, turned on to the sweet science for life.
And how lucky is the boxing community now to have Gaylen Ross’s documentary Titleshot capturing that time period in the sport...
|
Godfrey Nyakana reflects on TitleShot and careerNyakana looks back on his boxing career fondly, emphasizing that he had a great team around him and developed strong interpersonal relationships with those he worked with, including trainer “Irish” Bobby Cassidy. Nyakana was completely “focused on becoming a world champion,” and while he fell short of that goal, the journey proved memorable and rewarding.
“I came to the Big Apple envisaging great opportunity because America was the Mecca of boxing,” Nyakana said. New York was certainly home to many of boxing’s power brokers at the time (and still is), and the promise of financial success was also a draw. “I was inspired, which made aspire for greater heights,” Nyakana recalls about his feelings after arriving in America. |
|
Exciting Boxing Documentary in the WorksAn exciting new addition to the canon of great boxing films.. Ross' existing footage has the classic look of real film, no longer seen often in contemporary documentaries, where much cheaper video production has become standard. It's the perfect visual aesthetic for what is essentially a "time capsule" for a now-gone era of boxing history.
|
A Boxing Film That Needs Your Support
|
"Have you wondered what a young Shane Mosley looks like in sparring? Or what Angelo Dundee is like behind the scenes? ... unprecedented access to Nyakana’s career, from sparring with a young Shane Mosley to pre-fight pep talks and post-fight analysis, moments rarely seen by those outside Boxing’s inner-circle. “
|
Resurrected Boxing Documentary Film “Titleshot"
|
Sometimes in life we come across that hidden treasure that we all can appreciate. This leads me to my interview with film director Gaylen Ross. She is working on the boxing documentary entitled, “Titleshot”. The film dates back to scenes in 1995-97, some 20 years ago about professional boxer Godfrey Nyakana (31-4-1, 19 Ko’s) from Uganda, fighting in the United States for his title shot. The scenes were shot in different locations, one being the famous Gleason’s Gym. Through crowd funding and individual contributors, and with the help of new technology this film can finally become a reality." |
|
It’s Taken More Than 20 Years to Make the Boxing Documentary ‘Titleshot’ and It’s Not Done Yet
More than 20 years in the making, boxing documentary “Titleshot” will be granted another chance to make it to the big screen with filmmaker Gaylen Ross’s launch of an Indiegogo campaign to take the 16mm prints of the uncompleted film and combine it with new footage.
The film follows the rise and fall of up-and-coming boxer Godfrey Nyakana. “Titleshot” records some of the biggest names of boxing during the 1990’s. Fighters “Sugar” Shane Mosley and Kevin Kelley, along with Muhammad Ali’s trainer Angelo Dundee, all make appearances. “The dramatic behind-the-scenes of professional boxing are fly on the wall filming, and rarely, if ever, accessible to outsiders. From a midnight meeting post-fight with trainer and manager in a hotel lobby, to a career-determining confrontation with a fighter, it’s the stuff of boxing you only find in scripted feature films,” said Ross in a statement. |
|
'TitleShot': 20-year-old boxing film seeks completion'TitleShot' isn't another Rocky, Creed, or Southpaw film - it's a real-life documentary that followed Ugandan boxer Godfrey Nyakana from fight to fight as he sought a junior-middleweight world championship. The film has been in storage for 20 years and has never been completed due to production complications, but award-winning filmmaker Gayle Ross is hoping to finally finish the project with some help from her kickstarter campaign.
|
'
|