Miles Teller (Whiplash) as former lightweight world champion Vinny Pazienza. Shortly after winning the junior middleweight world title, Pazienza was forced to relinquish the title due to a serious car accident in which his neck was broken. Doctors informed him he might never walk again and would certainly never fight again. Pazienza had to wear a medical device called a Halo, a circular metal brace screwed into the skull in four spots and propped up with four metal rods. Pazienza had the Halo screwed to his skull for 3 months, during which time he maintained a workout regime--disobeying the doctors' orders.
Vinny Pazienza tribute...