“The transformation begins…It is no secret that I have been pursuing the @miketyson biopic for some time.” That is what Jamie Foxx, the Oscar-winning actor, wrote in the caption of his Instagram post in June 2020, almost five years ago. Sharing a series of pictures where he looked bulked up and pumped, he announced to star in the 1980s’ heavyweight terror, Mike Tyson, in his biopic by the name of Finding Mike. Boxing fans have been waiting for a decade now, but the movie is nowhere near out.

Unfortunately, in April of 2023, Jamie underwent a medical emergency while he was filming Back in Action in Atlanta. After which, fans were left with only breadcrumbs about the speculated series. So, everything settled to dust, but there was still some hope alive to see the talented actor breathe as Tyson. Adding fuel to the on-and-off of it, just three days ago, a fan-generated poster for the biopic went viral, with Samuel L. Jackson as Don King and Martin Scorsese directing a 2026 film. At first, it was expected to be the real poster, now debunked as fake.

Now, another update has confirmed that Jamie Foxx is going to star in a separate boxing movie titled Fight for ’84, which is a biopic on the 1984 U.S. Olympic team. Three hours ago, Ring Magazine shared it on its Instagram handle (@ringmagazine), echoing Netflix’s announcement during its Upfront week in New York. Because that is the platform set for the film’s release. “Netflix has announced it will produce a biopic starring Jamie Foxx about the record-breaking 1984 US Olympic boxing team, which won a remarkable nine gold medals and eleven medals in total,” the caption read.

In the image was a picture of five boxers from the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics team that year, all with gold medals around their neck. You see, it was one of the most legendary squads in America’s entire sporting history. The boxers on it dominated, bringing home 9 gold, 1 silver, and a bronze medal. At the time, even later turned professional boxers were on the team, including Evander Holyfield, Pernell Sweet Pea Whitaker, and Mark Breland. And, fans had mixed reactions.

Comments flood after the overshadowing of Mike Tyson’s biopic

At this point, it is not hard to assume that the Mike Tyson series with Foxx in it may just be a thing of the past now that the latter is starring in another boxing movie. Both fans and boxing pages were equally confused and expressed their honest takes in the comments. One of them wrote, “I thought he was playing Tyson,” referring to the previously promised biopic. Especially considering the July 2023 clip that surfaced on the internet, where Foxx narrated the opening scene in detail.

Another fan wrote, “So no Mike Tyson for Foxx been hearing that rumor about 8 business years.” And it’s true. In fact, it has been more than eight years since the announcement regarding Foxx starring in a Mike Tyson biopic was made in 2014.

Then, one of the fans welcomed what was coming their way. “Can’t wait to see it finally something other than Ali or Tyson movies lol 😂,“ he/she wrote. Seemingly, this fan was tired of seeing biopics of legendary, yet clichéd boxers like Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. Quite literally, Foxx has even played the role of Drew Bundini Brown, The Greatest Heavyweight’s coach, in a 2001 film named Ali.

One more fan tried to draw into the news, asking, “pernell whitaker, holyfield, and who else?” He was asking about which boxers from the Olympic team in question would be seen in the movie. In the Olympic team that year, there were notable boxers like Paul Gonzales, Steve McCrory, Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker, Jerry Page, Frank Tate, Mark Breland, Henry Tillman, Tyrell Biggs, Virgil Hill, and Evander Holyfield.

Dropping in a suggestion, or you could say a request, another fan said, “Ryan Gosling & Tom Holland hopefully up for the other parts..” Sure enough, for boxers who were smaller in frame and fought at lighter-weight divisions, actors like Gosling or Holland would make a good fit.

Understandably, while others were busy with the discussion, one of the fanatics wrote angrily, “I don’t believe this couldn’t the people pick somebody else they pick him [Foxx] shaking my head.“ Now that could be a frustration about Foxx being in the film, or it could be about him not being on the Tyson biopic instead.

Clearing most of the chaos, an informed purist wrote, “Foxx is playing a member of the coaching staff, not one of the boxers bruh… lmao the post just said he was starring in it,” hitting the bulls eye. You see, Foxx is actually going to play a coach who was hired to rebuild the Olympic team after the original one died in an extremely tragic plane crash.

It was March 14, 1980, when a LOT Polish Airlines flight headed from New York to Poland crashed. It was found less than a mile from Warsaw’s Okecie Airport. That day, 14 of the USA’s best amateur boxers died, along with eight staff members. The team was en route to compete in dual events in Krakow and Katowice, and this story in the background makes it all the more interesting for the film to happen. A tribute to the team, this could be a better way to go for Foxx than the Mike Tyson biopic for now. What are your thoughts?