Lights Out and the Top TV/Movie Boxing Matchups

As the boxing drama Lights Out premieres tonight on FX, we at Bleacher Report found it a good idea to look at boxing figures throughout TV and film history and proceed to match them up with each other and see how they would do.

Of course, Raging Bull and all the Rocky movies came to mind, as well as The Great White Hope, The Hurricane, Wesley Snipes' Undisputed and even some boxers from Pulp Fiction, Fight Club and Snatch.

We also mixed some cartoons in there for you. Even a boxer from The Hangover made an appearance.

Needless to say, this was a lot of fun to write about.

Here are some fictional matchups we wish could turn into real fights one day.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to add some more fights in the "Comments" section.

Patrick Lights Leary (Lights Out) vs. Mickey O'Neill (Snatch)

Patrick "Lights" Leary is the centerpiece of the new show on FX, Lights Out.

He struggles to support his family by boxing while battling dementia.

The character Mickey O'Neill, played by Brad Pitt in Snatch, is already demented.

As much as Leary's story is endearing, just watch this clip of Snatch and tell me Mickey O'Neill doesn't win the fight.

I mean, he battles a guy twice his size, knocks him down repeatedly, and seemingly comes back from the dead.

WARNING: GRAPHIC VIOLENCE/LANGUAGE

Tyler Durden (Fight Club) vs. Butch Coolidge (Pulp Fiction)

Tyler Durden, played by Brad Pitt, was Edward Norton's split personality in the film Fight Club.

He was crazy, wild and had a killer cross.

Butch Coolidge, played by Bruce Willis, was the boxer who refused to throw the fight in Pulp Fiction.

I would give this to Durden on the fact that he's nuts, but Coolidge was, too. And he had to kill a bunch of people.

Ivan Drago vs. Maggie Fitzgerald (Million Dollar Baby)

Hilary Swank had heart as Maggie Fitzgerald in Million Dollar Baby, but Rocky's Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) was a giant and could kill a man with one punch.

Maybe you could argue there was a loophole when Drago said "I defeat all man," but this one's no contest.

Drago wins.

Apollo Creed (Rocky) vs. Robert De Niro (Raging Bull)

Robert De Niro played Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull.

Apollo Creed was the dynamic heavyweight champion pitted against Rocky Balboa in Rocky.

You can't beat De Niro. Ever.

Tommy Gunn (Rocky V) vs. Real Steel Robots

Tommy Gunn was played by real-life boxer Tommy Morrison in Rocky V.

Hugh Jackman trains giant robots to box in the upcoming movie Real Steel.

Tommy Gunn/Tommy Morrison just bugs us here at Bleacher Report.

So we decided to pit him up against a giant robotic punching machine.

Advantage: Giant robotic punching machine.

Drederick Tatum (The Simpsons) vs. Mike Tyson (The Hangover)

Of course, you've got to wonder how the fictional Mike Tyson from The Simpsons would fare against the real Mike Tyson who knocks out Alan in The Hangover.

It's hard to say, but I would think that the real Mike Tyson would knock Homer Simpson out in one punch, so I'm giving it to him.

Lou Gossett Jr (Diggstown) vs. James Earl Jones (Great White Hope)

Lou Gossett Jr. plays Honey Roy Palmer in Diggstown, a man who is thrust into the ring to try to beat 10 men in one day.

James Earl Jones plays Jack Jefferson, the young, spry, athletic fighter.

Seriously. Did you see how ripped Lou Gossitt Jr. is in Diggstown?

I'm taking Gossett Jr.

Plus he's got a killer stare.

Russell Crowe (Cinderella Man) vs. Bruce Willis (Pulp Fiction)

Here's contender No. 2 for Butch Coolidge.

Russell Crowe aka James Braddock showed tremendous heart in Cinderella Man, coming back from long odds.

Although Butch Coolidge is legitimately crazy in Pulp Fiction, I could see Crowe winning this one based on his heart and endurance.

Butch will wish he threw the fight.

King Hippo vs. Bald Bull (Mike Tyson's Punch-Out)

You all remember Mike Tyson's Punch-Out on NES, don't you?

I decided to pick the most ridiculous characters in the game and conclude how they'd do without the use of joysticks.

Just mano-y-mano.

King Hippo's favorite phrase was, "Ha ha ha! I'm the king! Ha ha ha!"

Despite being large, he was also fat and you only had to hit him a few times in the stomach to knock him down.

Bald Bull's favorite phrase was, "My barber didn't know when to quit...do you?"

His special move was the Bull Charge.

A Bull Charge right into King Hippo's stomach ought to do it.

Denzel Washington (The Hurricane) vs. Wesley Snipes (Undisputed)

Denzel Washington played Rubin "Hurricane" Carter in the movie The Hurricane.

Wesley Snipes fights Ving Rhames, who playes George "Iceman" Chambers, the heavyweight champion of the world.

Snipes, as always, was ripped in this movie.

Nobody beats Denzel, though. It's just that simple. He's up there with De Niro.

Plus, Denzel's always ripped too.

James Franco (Annapolis) vs. "Marky" Mark Wahlberg (The Fighter)

James Franco, who plays James Huard in Annapolis, begins the movie by waking up after getting knocked down in a boxing match.

We could pick nobody better than Mark Wahlberg, who plays Micky Ward in The Fighter, to knock Franco down.

Antonio Banderas (Play It to the Bone) vs. Cuba Gooding Jr (Gladiator)

Before Russell Crowe decided to be a gladiator in Gladiator, Cuba Gooding Jr. was a boxer pitted against his friend in 1992's Gladiator.

Antonio Banderas was pitted against his friend Woody Harrelson in Play it to the Bone.

Both Banderas and Gooding Jr. are of similar height.

Although Banderas might have a few extra pounds on him, I could see Gooding Jr. being the more elusive and more in-shape fighter, hitting Banderas with a good amount of counter-punches.

Bonus Trainer Fight: Paulie (Rocky) vs. Christian Bale (The Fighter)

You kidding me?!

Look at poor little Paulie.

He wouldn't stand a chance against Christan Bale in The Fighter.

Unless, of course, Bale, who played Dickie Eklund, was on drugs.

Then ol' Paulie might have a chance.

Otherwise, I'd say a prayer for Paulie before this one.