Local boxer featured in new documentary

 

A local boxer is the subject of a new documentary showcasing his life and boxing career.

Justin Hocko is ranked number one in Canada and trains at Rough Boxing Gym in Windsor. Filming of the documentary started in September and will continue for the next couple of months. A rough cut of the film was shown at Lakeshore Cinema Jan. 19

“We had an opportunity to do a fundraiser and I figured I might as well show a movie about me. I’d get a lot more people that way instead of showing a random movie. We did a 30 minute rough cut of the film and we had about 150 people show up,” said Hocko.

Hocko’s manager Ali Mansour has been involved in his career for a little over a year. Mansour said the choice to manage Hocko was an easy one.

“Justin is a world-class athlete and we want to highlight that spot for him,” said Mansour.

Hocko’s first fight was at age 10. Now 20 years old, he has fought in 98 fights during his career.

His parents, Donna and Randy, have supported him since his interest in the sport sparked at nine years old. While they are concerned for his safety inside the ring, financial details are a factor.

“I think the hard part is to see a kid work as hard as Justin does and not get the funding from the government. Only five of Canada’s top-10 boxers get funding, so when Justin was representing Canada in Rio (de Janeiro), he had to pay his own way,” said Donna.

Hocko’s trip to Rio cost him approximately $1,000.

He will travel to Purto Rico Feb. 8 to continue training for the Independence Cup which he will compete in Feb. 17 in the Dominican Republic.

 

 

 

 

[embedplusvideo height=”281″ width=”450″ standard=”http://www.youtube.com/v/sBzDgYvp3Gw?fs=1″ vars=”ytid=sBzDgYvp3Gw&width=450&height=281&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=&notes=” id=”ep9513″ /]