West Orange bar connection leads to boxing documentary

Guy “The Rock” Casale was a Newark heavyweight boxing contender in the 1970s and early 1980s.

He had the chance to become a boxing World Heavyweight Champion. But he walked away from the sport in 1981. Viewers can learn why in the three-part documentary “One More Round,” which premiered Nov. 24, streaming on One More Round TV (https://onemoreround.tv/).

“It’s not only about boxing; it’s about life,” said Emmy Award winning producer and director, Nicholas Furris.

Furris and Casale have a history together. Casale worked security at Creation, a nightclub in West Orange, when Furris was a bar boy there. The two are eight years apart. Too young to be a bartender, Furris brought out ice and beer — whatever the bartender needed.

Fondly remembering Casale, Furris said, “He was very friendly, very protective of young kids. We knew he was a professional boxer. The nicest guy in the world who would make sure nobody messed with us.”

Thirty years later, the two reconnected on Facebook.

“We picked up the phone and the rest is history,” said Furris, who to this day is still friends with others who worked at the club.

Casale and Furris met for dinner and talked. Furris told his friend he’d raise the money to tell his story. Furris, who is now living in Jacksonville, Fla., went back to New Jersey to interview Casale’s childhood friends, as well as boxers back in the day who were well known.

Any person Furris called offered to speak without hesitation.

“As soon as they heard his name, there was this immediate positivity,” he said. “The story will speak for itself,” Furris expressed. “It’s a coming of age.”

Casale’s boxing career started right out of high school.

“He just loved it,” Furris said. “He wanted to do it. His tenacity, his athletic ability, his toughness took him places.”

Twenty years after Casale’s career ended, he was recognized in the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame.

“They honored him and it was a great honor for Guy,” Furris said.

Having done more than 100 documentaries in his career, Ferris feels that “One More Round” tells a compelling story. The three-part documentary starts in Newark. Part Two focuses on Casale’s boxing career. And Part Three tells why Casale wound up walking away from the sport, began a career in law enforcement and found his own personal redemption.

Furris’s producing and directing career started when he attended Rutgers University. “I was an intern at CBS in New York for ‘60 Minutes.’ I saw how stories come together. That’s where I caught the bug,” he said.

After college, Furris went on to produce feature films and has been doing it ever since. Documentary filmmaking has always been his favorite genre. “You use reality to tell a story. You try to be true to the subject or the subject material,” he said.

Prior to getting his Emmy, Furris studied acting.

“I was in front of the camera. Producing and directing put me behind the camera,” he said. “When the first Emmy did come, it solidified the fact that I could tell the story. Tell it in a way that’s entertaining. Tell it in a way that’s informative. Tell it in a way that moves people.”

But, of course, there are challenges along the way — and according to Furris, the number one challenge is financing. And distribution. “In this particular case, we built a website and are streaming it ourselves,” he said. “Self-distributing.”

This is the first time Furris is doing it this way, but he sees it as a positive because, “You’re not at the mercy of anyone else.”

Next up on the horizon for Furris may be an in-depth documentary about “Pat” Summerall, an American football player and television sportscaster who worked for CBS, Fox and ESPN. “There is a beautiful story there about where he came from and how he rose to the top of the mountain, how he fell, how he helped
others,” Furris said.

To learn more about “One More Round,” visit: https://onemoreround.tv/.

  Boxing, Casale, Furris, West Orange