March 18, 1992 -- ``Gladiators'' is very similar to another boxing movie, "Streets of Gold," the 1986 film starring Klaus Maria Brandauer. To its credit, ``Gladiators'' does not try to glamorize boxing, but does try to explore the mental characteristics which separate successful boxers from failures. It speaks about the inner fury, the heart, and the intelligence it takes to master the skills of boxing, but it also addresses the corruption brought about by gambling interests.

This film features some very good performances by Cuba Gooding Jr. (Boyz N the Hood) and James Marshall. Brian Dennehy plays a slimy villainous boxing promoter. The plot concerns a young boxer who is forced to fight to pay for his father's gambling habit and other young fighters who are similarly trapped by circumstance and how they manage to muster the courage to rise above the situation. It sounds a bit like ``Rocky,'' but the movie does O.K. on its own merits.

If you like boxing, you'll like this film. There are so many boxing scenes in it I felt punch drunk when it was over. This is not a bad film, but not as good as the original ``Rocky,'' because it spends less time on the characters and more time on boxing. It rates a C+.

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