I’m a boxing champ and fought Chris Eubank for a title but retired to become an actor and star alongside Angelina Jolie
THIS former champion boxer once fought fought Chris Eubank for a world title.
But he retired to become an actor and ended up starring in a Hollywood blockbuster with Angelina Jolie.
Gary Stretch, 57, was once a top middleweight boxer who won 29 of 31 professional fights.
The highlight of his career came in 1990 when he beat Ramon Angel Alegre to become the WBC International Light Middleweight champion.
After relinquishing his belt due to a dispute with manager Frank Warren, Stretch returned in 1991 to challenge Eubank for the WBO world middleweight championship.
Stretch put in an impressive performance as he twice downed Eubank.
But the fight was controversially stopped in his opponent’s favour after Stretch was pushed through the ropes — despite being ahead on all three judges’ scorecards.
Stretch, who also worked as a model for Calvin Klein and Versace during his boxing career, fought just once more before retiring.
And he then went into the world of acting, making it into two huge films in 2004.
Stretch first landed a role in Shane Meadows’ iconic thriller Dead Man’s Shoes alongside Paddy Considine.
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And later he ended up alongside Tinseltown royalty in epic blockbuster Alexander as the character Cleitus.
Directed by Oliver Stone, it made over £130million at the box office and is best remembered for starring Hollywood beauty Jolie.
Alexander also featured performances from stars including Anthony Hopkins, Colin Farrell and Val Kilmer.
Since then, Stretch has also appeared in films including Freedbird and The Heavy.
In 2015 he also released a documentary called Safest Place on Earth, detailing how boxing helped him mature.
Stretch, who is from St Helens, told St Helens Star: “The safest place on earth in my opinion was the ring, which is the case for many fighters.
“It crosses over into film, music — the safest place on earth was on the stage for Michael Jackson.
“So many great fighters or individuals come from tough backgrounds.
“All have a story to tell — most of them have been affected in some way and feel they have something to prove and it becomes a great driving force.”