Dossier: Hammer of Tor

In "Hammer of Tor," director Ben Younger (Boiler Room, Prime) profiles rising professional heavyweight boxer Tor Hamer. It's not every day that the director of a major motion picture takes an interest in a boxer who hasn't even gotten to the point where his fights are nationally televised. Then again, Tor Hamer is not your average boxer, in or out of the ring.

“ I guarantee you by the third round, I'll be in this guy's chest, trying to break his neck. ”

After a 34-1 amateur career that included a Gold Gloves super heavyweight title in 2008, Hamer has gone pro with a 7-0 record. Coming off a pummeling first-round knockout of Marcus Dickerson in his last fight, Hamer fights Theron Johnson at B.B. King Blues Club in New York on August 26.

Hamer doesn't have your typical "school-of-hard-knocks" boxer background. His father attended Harvard, his mother graduated from Villanova and Hamer himself has a Big Ten pedigree, having graduated from Penn State.

As Younger reveals in his short film, Hamer's only obstacle so far seems to be an inability to rein in his fighting instinct and learn to box. "My trainer tries to hide that I like to fight," Hamer says. "He teaches me how to box, but inevitably, I fight. I might start out the first few minutes of the first round moving, getting used to it. But I guarantee you by the third round, I'll be in this guy's chest, trying to break his neck."