"The moment these guys leave that arena, we never really look after our fighters. I just hope this film makes a difference and opens awareness or creates a fund not just for Gerald and Iran, but for many ex-fighters. Back in the days, if you became the colored heavyweight champion of the world, you won your freedom. This is the heritage of the fight game. Go back and help our people...Let's help G Man, let's help Barkley and give back to our fallen heroes. Let's help our fellow brothers," stated director Bobby Razak, who talked about his latest documentary, Fallen Soldier, which features former world champion Gerald McClellan and Iran Barkley. Check it out!
PC: You are set to release a documentary titled "Fallen Soldiers", which features Gerald McClellan and Iran Barkley. Tell us about it.
BR: Gerald, I don't know how many people know, but he's pretty much blind. Obviously after the Benn fight, he suffered from brain damage and I was a really big fan of Gerald's. When I was coming up in England, he was actually my favorite fighter and that's one of the reasons why I wanted to do a film with Gerald. I was with Freddie Roach and Michael Moorer in Detroit maybe 13 to 14 years ago; Moorer was in his comeback and we were driving to Tommy Hearns' house in Detroit and I just kept asking everyone, "What's up with Gerald?" They told me his life was pretty bad. He stays in his house all day, he has brain damage, and right at that moment, I knew in my heart and mind that I would do a movie on the guy who was really my hero as a child. I wanted to be the G Man!
PC: It had to be tough to capture the footage you had to capture in creating a film like this and seeing a childhood hero in such a bad predicament?
BR: It's hard, man. It was hard, Percy, because this guy was my hero at a young age. I watched him from when he won the title from John "The Beast" Mugabi and his two fights with Julian Jackson. I loved this guy and seeing him in this state and no one helping him, and him really being a forgotten hero; it's one of the most brutal things to see knowing that he is in that situation and knowing that he is really forgotten. And I understand why fighters and all of the famous boxers keep him at a distance because as a fighter, you never want to see that reminder of what can happen to you. He's like the boogeyman in many ways, so I understood that.
PC: Whenever you tackle such a sensitive subject matter, like Barkley and McClellan's situation, you have to show the raw truth. It's tough, but imperative. What are you hoping people will take away from this film?
BR: Well, you know, Gerald is in a desperate situation. He's been living in poverty for close to 20 years now. A couple of things I would like to happen, first thing is I would like to have the people in boxing maybe give Gerald a helping hand, and two is just for the general public to remember who this guy was. Maybe someone can see this and maybe help him and send him to a doctor again. He has continuous health problems as he's getting older and there is no adequate medical care. Just to let the world know that there is a brother out there that needs help. These guys are making millions of dollars now; go help a fallen soldier. I just hope someone will give back a little bit. It's as simple as that. I hope the rumors of Floyd Mayweather helping Suge Knight isn't true. Fuck Suge Knight; help Gerald McClellan or Iran Barkley. Help your own people from your profession and that's what it's really about for me. It's not just on Floyd. A lot of these guys are making good money now. Iran Barkley has a lot of problems of his own. He had a stroke and he's been living in poverty and on and off of homelessness. Historically, people have never given a fuck about a fighter after they retire. It's the tip of the iceberg. The moment these guys leave that arena, we never really look after our fighters. I just hope this film makes a difference and opens awareness or creates a fund not just for Gerald and Iran, but for many ex-fighters. Back in the days, if you became the colored heavyweight champion of the world, you won your freedom. This is the heritage of the fight game. Go back and help our people.
PC: When creating something like this with someone like G Man, who can't give you an in-depth interview, or someone like Iran Barkley, who recently suffered a stroke and also can't give you the most in-depth interview, is that difficult and you're just more or less freestyling it and capturing what you can capture?
BR: That's a good question, I was able to extract a lot from Gerald and Iran. I don't know, man. I just think I'm capable of doing things like that. I got some amazing information from Gerald and amazing information from Iran and when you see the movie, I'll send you the movie next week, you'll be able to see that. Whatever was left in there, I was able to bring it out. I had to be very patient, but it was doable.
PC: When can we expect the release of this documentary and how can we view it?
BR: I'm going to release it in about a month; 25 to 30 days. It's going to be a video pay-per-view. I'm giving 50% of the money back to Gerald's family. I hope this really reaches our boxing people. It's been amazing what you have been able to do with FightHype over the years. I've watched you develop and I hope that your readers will really take to this film because I really want my people in the fight game to support this film. Let's get the boxing community to see this film and really get the word out. Let's start a campaign. And like I said, whatever I make from this film, half of it goes back to G Man. I funded this movie myself. I did a lot of commercials over the years and off of my commercial work, I funded this movie myself. I started with a little handy cam. It's a very rural film and that's really it, bro. It's all about word of mouth. It's a really powerful film and once they see it, I think they will support it. I talked to Mike Tyson about it after one of his performances. I told him I was doing a film on Gerald. I spoke to Sugar Ray Leonard about it. I'm just trying to reach out to the people, man, for them to support it and I know they will.
PC: I look forward to seeing the film, and props to you for remembering these two legends and bringing their stories to light. Is there anything else you want to add before I let you go?
BR: People can follow me on Twitter @BobbyRazak and I'm on Facebook at Bobby Razak. I just want everyone in the boxing community to watch this film and get the word out there. Let's help G Man, let's help Barkley and give back to our fallen heroes. Let's help our fellow brothers. At the end of the day, if we could look out for each other, we will always be stronger. We will always have the upper hand, but we have to come together. So I hope we can at the very least have people not forget about these guys!
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]