Mister Knockout

Mister Knockout () is a 2022 Russian sports drama movie. It is based on the life of Soviet boxer Valeri Popenchenko, who won a gold medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The movie was directed by Artyom Mikhalkov. Viktor Khorinyak plays Valeri Popenchenko, and Sergey Bezrukov plays his coach.

 Story 
The movie tells the story of Valeri Popenchenko. It shows his childhood at the Suvorov Military School in Tashkent, his time as a border guard cadet, and his boxing career. It also tells about his friendship with coach Grigory Kusikyants from the sports club "Dynamo". The movie shows that the biggest challenge for an athlete is not just to win fights, but to beat fear and doubt inside himself.

 Cast 
 Viktor Khorinyak as Valeri Popenchenko
 Andrey Titchenko as young Valeri (child)
 Oleg Chugunov as teenage Valeri
 Sergey Bezrukov as Grigory Kusikyants
 Angelina Strechina as Tanya
 Inga Strelkova-Oboldina as Evgenia, Tanya's mother
 Evgeniya Dmitrieva as Rufina, Valeri's mother
 Igor Savochkin as Vladimir, Valeri's father
 Vladimir Sterzhakov as Chairman of the USSR Boxing Federation
 Nikita Zverev as Yury Vlasov
 Shirin Abdullaeva as Asmira
 Production 
The film was directed by Artyom Mikhalkov, son of Russian filmmaker Nikita Mikhalkov. The script was written by brothers Vladimir and Oleg Presnyakov. The story is based on real events from Valeri Popenchenko’s life.

The movie was made with support from the Ministry of Culture of Russia, Rostec, and the Boxing Academy sports club. Filming took place in Russia, Uzbekistan, Poland, and Japan.

 Release 
Mister Knockout was released in Russia on February 23, 2022. It was distributed by Walt Disney Studios.

 Marketing 
The first trailer was released on November 23, 2021.

 References 

 Other websites