"It was a very emotionally draining experience for everyone. For Nigel and Gerald, it was a culmination full circle. Gerald getting hurt in the fight and meeting the guy that did that to him, it was a very emotional and highly charged event. You could literally cut the atmosphere with a knife. It was a very emotional and highly charged environment for sure," 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: I got a chance to watch the film, "Fallen Soldier," and it was a very powerful documentary and it was everything that you said it would be. How do you feel about the finished product that you released this week?
BR: I'm just excited to get it out, bro. I think it's a beautiful film. It's a film that needs to be seen by the world and I am very proud of what I did.
PC: You obviously spent a lot of time with Iran Barkley and Gerald McClellan and his family. What was it like being around Gerald's sister and his aunt, who are taking care of him right now, and Iran?
BR: Iran is an incredible individual. He is a wonderful guy, man. He's a very humble and honest and loving guy. He seems like a guy who would do anything for anyone. Of course I loved being around Lisa McClellan and I love Gerald. I was a huge fan of Gerald growing up, so it was great being around "G Man." Lisa McClellan...tell me about her, bro. She is a warrior. What she did bro, she dedicated her life to her brother. But watching her interact and seeing it all unfold is an incredible thing to view.
PC: I'll be honest, Gerald's speaking and recognition of certain things was a lot better than I expected. Were you surprised one way or the other by Gerald's interaction or lack thereof?
BR: You know, it's interesting that you say that. There were times when he met Nigel [Benn] or when he meets Iran Barkley for the first time, you almost wouldn't even know that anything is wrong. He is very glowing. It seems like certain events and certain people bring out the best of his brain's ability, but not being stimulated on that very extreme level, he has a hard time comprehending. He is an anomaly for sure. There were times when he would speak and it's like, man, he is really together and he is there. But then it's only for a very brief moment. I was very surprised. The way he communicated with Nigel, he was all there, you know what I mean, bro?
PC: That was the part of the film that actually had me the most intrigued. It was a very interesting meeting. It had to be so hard for both parties to go through with that.
BR: It was a very emotionally draining experience for everyone. For Nigel and Gerald, it was a culmination full circle. Gerald getting hurt in the fight and meeting the guy that did that to him, it was a very emotional and highly charged event. You could literally cut the atmosphere with a knife. It was a very emotional and highly charged environment for sure.
PC: I wanted to ask you, was it tense leading up to the meeting or did it turn that way once they met?
BR: It was very tense, man. For me, it felt tense because no one really knew what to expect. No one knew how Gerald was going to act to the situation and we see how he eventually reacts. Lisa was tense. It was her first time meeting Nigel, so yeah, it was a very tense situation. And it was Gerald's first time back in England. No one really knew what to expect. It was very emotionally charged for sure.
PC: I really enjoyed Iran Barkley's ex-trainer, Hector Roca, who was in the film and you could tell he genuinely cares about Iran, but it's only so much a trainer could do.
BR: Absolutely, bro! At the end of the day, Hector knows if Iran would have tried to continue to fight, he would have ended up dead or severely brain damaged. I mean, look what happened to Greg Page, right? Greg Page was in a similar situation as Iran, and even the same age I believe. He continued to fight, got hurt severely, and he ended up dying. Hector is a smart guy, he's been around the block, he's experienced, a seasoned trainer, and he knows the reality.
PC: Was it something that was thought out letting Iran and Gerald meet because it was amazing to me that that was their first time meeting one another.
BR: It was kind of calculated. I was a big fan of Iran Barkley. You just saw a raw talent from the Bronx and he was a street guy and he just wasn't going to let himself be denied. Coming from the ghetto myself and seeing him rip that middleweight title away, that told me right there and then that if you want something in life, you gotta fucking rip it away and that's what he did, he ripped that title from Hearns. One of the reasons why I had them meet is because Iran Barkley fought Nigel Benn too. It was the merging of the union for them. Iran fought Nigel and he thought he got a raw deal from Nigel and we know how Gerald felt about it all, so that was kind of the story behind it all. Nigel ended the fight with Iran with a 1st round knockout, but Nigel mugged him, man. It was not a boxing match, it was a street fight.
PC: I'll be honest, there were a few years there where I really disliked Nigel Benn. I thought he made some insensitive comments before really checking Gerald's status. But watching the film, he seems like a good guy and he was very remorseful.
BR: No, he's a very genuine guy. You gotta remember, Gerald beat Nigel up in that fight and Nigel came back at the end. But Gerald had knocked him out of the ring. It was a brutal beating he had to come back from, so at that time, I'm sure that fight brought a lot of fire out of him. But at the end of the day, Nigel tried to commit suicide for what he did to Gerald. That affected him badly and his life drastically changed after that fight. And he was kind of a shot fighter after that fight. If you look at Nigel's fights after the McClellan fight, he was pretty much done, man. He was never the same.
PC: One last thing before I let you go. It was surprising to hear that even when Iran had money, he never really moved out of the projects and he stuck around and handed out a lot of money. It's almost like a mentality with him that he just couldn't escape the ghetto, even in wealth.
BR: Absolutely! When I go back to my old block, the same guy that was on the block when I was 7 years old is still there. Some people can't escape it, man. That's the mentality. Even when he made that money, I'm sure he momentarily tried, but through bad business decisions and people taking advantage of him being in the boxing game, he ironically ended up in the same house that he was raised in. And that's not only Iran's story. That's the case for a lot of boxers I know. Riddick Bowe I know is in a very bad situation right now. I know a lot of fighters that come from the ghetto and they momentarily escape and they go back. Some of them don't even escape. They have their wealth within the ghetto. It's just a mentality, man. The reality is, Percy, it goes back to how the black man was treated in America since slavery. We don't know anything better. It's a generational storyline. And as far as him just giving his money away, bro, this guy is so generous, it's insane. I have never seen anything like it. I shot the film on a handycam and camera phone. It was the lowest budget thing I ever did. But I remember the one time I had a camera, man, he was a white guy from New York and I remember we went to the dinner for Gerald and Iran made such a stink about my camera guy not getting a dinner plate. He was like, "Your camera man need to eat something too." He went out and made sure my guy got a plate, man. That's how he is. He is a beautiful individual. But just so that people know, 50% of the money that I make on this film is going back to Gerald McClellan. I'm giving that to Lisa. And 5% of the money made will go towards Ring 10, which is a boxing organization and they are going to funnel the money to Iran Barkley and buy him food and clothes and whatever he needs. So 55% of the money is going back to the fighters anyway. I'm really giving back with this film. I never believed that I would be a director. I never believed I would be anything when I was growing up. The reason why I ultimately did this film is because Iran and Gerald showed me as a youngster that if I want something in life, all I have to do is rip it away, man. They were my childhood heroes.
PC: I cannot wait for people to see this film. If you are a fan of boxing and of boxers, please, please go out and support this film. It's less than $5 and it was very much worth it. Thank you for your time and this great film, Bobby. Best of luck with it. Is there anything else you want to add before I let you go?
BR: Percy, you are a king, bro! I have not physically met you, but I speak of you highly. I love you, brother, and you are just one of a kind!
TO PURCHASE THIS FILM, PLEASE GO TO THE LINK BELOW:
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/fallensoldier?ref=tw-share
TO VIEW THE FALLEN SOLDIER TRAILER, CLICK THE LINK BELOW:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKMygOzCf74
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]