The Ringside Boxing Show Special Edition: The Boxer who Became ‘American Graffiti’ Tough Guy John Milner

On this special edition of The Ringside Boxing Show, we replay our classic interview from nine months ago with Paul Le Mat, the Hollywood actor who played “John Milner,” the small-town tough guy in the classic film, “American Graffiti.”

What fans of the film might not realize as that Le Mat also was an accomplished amateur boxer in his day — he won the 1972 Los Angeles Diamond Belt championship — right up until the day he auditioned for the movie that helped launch the careers of director George Lucas (“Star Wars”) and actors Richard Dreyfus, Harrison Ford, Ron Howard, Cindy Williams, Suzanne Somers and others.

This conversation provides a colorful, behind-the-scenes glimpse of the filming of one of the best movies ever made, as well as a reminiscence of Paul Le Mat’s boxing career alongside “Schoolboy” Bobby Chacon, Alberto Davila, and other future world champions.

And be sure to tune in for our next Ringside Boxing Show this coming Sunday, when we’ll interview another fascinating character from boxing history, former world lightweight champion Livingstone Bramble.

Dennis Taylor is host of The Ringside Boxing Show, editor/publisher of www.ringsideboxingshow.com, and co-author (with John J. Raspanti) of Intimate Warfare: The True Story of the Arturo Gatti vs. Micky Ward Boxing Trilogy, currently on Amazon’s Bestsellers list.