F.X. Toole is the pen name of boxing trainer Jerry Boyd (1930 – September 2, 2002). Toole is most noted for writing the 2000 collection of short stories '' Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner'', which were adapted into the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

-winning movie '' Million Dollar Baby'' in 2004. F.X. Toole's posthumous novel ''Pound for Pound'' was released in 2006 to rave reviews. ''Cutman'', a one-hour dramatic series set in the world of boxing, drawn from short stories by F.X. Toole, is in development by AMC Television. ''Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner'' is dedicated to Dub Huntley, the man who introduced Boyd to boxing, and many of the characters and events related in the book are from Dub Huntley's life and experience. Huntley trained Boyd to box when Boyd was in his 40s and the two became friends during that time. Huntley was the trainer for world champions

Laila Ali Laila Amaria Ali (born December 30, 1977) is an American television personality and retired professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2007. During her career, from which she retired undefeated, she held the WBC, WIBA, IWBF and IBA female sup ...

, Hector Lopez, and many others, including comedian/writer

Chris Strait Christopher Alan Strait (born January 14, 1976) is an American comedian and writer. He is best known for being a regular contributor to TRU-TV's ''World's Dumbest'' series. Personal Strait was born in Inglewood, California, and grew up in the L ...

when he was an amateur boxer. Immediately before his death, Boyd was acting as a

cutman A cutman is a person responsible for preventing and treating physical damage to a fighter during the breaks between rounds of a full contact match such as a boxing, kickboxing or a mixed martial arts bout. Cutmen typically handle swelling, nose ...

and assistant trainer to Huntley with female professional boxer

Juli Crockett Juli Crockett is an American playwright and theater director, retired professional boxer and amateur champion,Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

'' in an interview was the basis for the characterization of Maggie Fitzgerald in '' Million Dollar Baby''. Boyd was born and raised in Long Beach, California, and died in Torrance, CA of a heart attack at age 71.

References

External links

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US News article: Million Dollar Maybe, A real-life version of Maggie Fitzgerald

Rotten Tomatoes' summary of more than 170 reviews
American boxing trainers 1930 births 2002 deaths American male boxers American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers {{US-boxing-bio-stub