Exclusive: The story of Black British boxing sensation Len Johnson is to be told in a feature film from Rush exec Guy East, written by the “godmother of Black British playwrights” Winsome Pinnock.
Champion is the first major project from UK commercials producer MindsEye’s two-year-old film and TV division and is based on Rob Howard’s book Boxing’s Uncrowned Champion – Len Johnson and the Colour Bar.
Johnson was one of the top middleweight boxers in the 1920s and 1930s but was denied his dream of becoming a British boxing champion due to the ‘colour bar’, the rule that stated only white fighters could claim championship status.
He fought tirelessly against this injustice and his determined activism led to the ‘colour bar’ being overturned, clearing the pathway for multiple future Black British champions. Last year, a petition to have a statue erected in his hometown of Manchester was signed...
Champion is the first major project from UK commercials producer MindsEye’s two-year-old film and TV division and is based on Rob Howard’s book Boxing’s Uncrowned Champion – Len Johnson and the Colour Bar.
Johnson was one of the top middleweight boxers in the 1920s and 1930s but was denied his dream of becoming a British boxing champion due to the ‘colour bar’, the rule that stated only white fighters could claim championship status.
He fought tirelessly against this injustice and his determined activism led to the ‘colour bar’ being overturned, clearing the pathway for multiple future Black British champions. Last year, a petition to have a statue erected in his hometown of Manchester was signed...
- 10/19/2021
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
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