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To be directed by Antoine Fuqua and penned by "Sons of Anarchy" creator Kurt Sutter, "South Paw" is an upcoming boxing film about a left-handed prize fighter to be played by Jake Gyllenhaal. The actor is cast to play Billy "The Great" Hope, a welterweight boxing champion who suffers a tragedy after his victory and tries to put his life back together to earn the respect of his young daughter.

"South Paw" has been in development since 2011 and "Training Day" director is expanding his list of cast as new talks about Forest Whitaker to join Gyllenhaal in the movie. Written by Sutter for rapper Eminem (Marshall Matters), after the success of his debut movie "8 Mile," Whitaker will play as a one-eye boxing mentor to Jake's character.

The academy award-winner's participation to the film elevates the project to a whole new level and given Jake's dramatic talent "South Paw" could be the next award-winning boxing film. The combination of the two actors sharing the same scene is like recreating a scene between Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg in the 2010 movie "The Fighter."

Whitaker is cast to play the other lead role as Titus "Tick" Willis, a former fighter who trains amateur fighters after he was forced to retire because of an injury. Although the film is set in the boxing ring, "South Paw" is "about a man learning to be a father," as previously stated by Fuqua.

To be produced by Alan Riche and Peter Riche, along with Escape Artists' Todd Black, Jason Bluementhal and Steve Tisch, the movie was originally brought by DreamWorks as a pitch from SOA creator Kurt Sutter. But Weinstein Company is now behind the upcoming film which is scheduled to start its production this summer.

Director Antoine Fuqua has proven his magic a number of times, his skills in conducting balletic sparring in both verbal and physical has made him a master of his own craft. Before jumping into production for his new film, Fuqua recently released "The Equalizer" with Denzel Washington as the lead character.