For the 2001 biopic Ali, star Will Smith underwent some serious training in boxing to prepare for his role as ‘The Greatest.’ Smith reportedly trained as many as 6 hours per day with boxing and celebrity personal trainer Darrell Foster like we see in the footage below.

Despite all the hard work Will Smith put in to prepare for the role, the film received mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike and was considered a box office flop.

Nevertheless, Smith’s performance as Ali was excellent and you could really tell he put a lot into the role as it probably meant a lot to him to play someone so revered and beloved as Muhammad Ali.

In the footage we see Smith smashing some mitt work and he looks pretty good. He does a pretty good job keeping his hands up too. In most boxing movies the technique is way off and unrealistic so any bit of good technique and realism is always appreciated by hardcore fans of the sport.

We also see him move around and do some sparring and he’s throwing some serious leather at his opponents from the look of it. He also does a very good job emulating all of Ali’s movements and style.

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ABOUT ALI (FILM):
Ali is a 2001 American biographical sports drama film written, produced and directed by Michael Mann. The film focuses on ten years in the life of the late boxer Muhammad Ali, played by Will Smith, from 1964 to 1974, featuring his capture of the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston, his conversion to Islam, criticism of the Vietnam War, and banishment from boxing, his return to fight Joe Frazier in 1971, and, finally, his reclaiming the title from George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle fight of 1974. It also touches on the great social and political upheaval in the United States following the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.[Source: Wiki]