 J. P. Davis was inspired to write the script after observing an older trainer working with a young boxer in a Brooklyn gym : " I watched the guy spar . You could tell he wasn 't going anywhere , but you could never convince the trainer . He 's almost a caretaker . He 's watching out for you completely . You could see the devotion involved . " Drawing upon material originally created for his critically acclaimed one @-@ man off @-@ Broadway show " Dreamer Awakens , " Davis completed the script in 1999 and moved to Los Angeles . 
