The Greatest Scenes of All Time on Instagram: "The Fighter was released on this day in 2010 🥊 The Fighter came out in 2010 and people were not ready for how hard it hit. Critics loved it right away and word spread fast that this was not your typical boxing movie. It felt raw, messy, and way more real than most sports dramas at the time. Mark Wahlberg is rock solid as Micky Ward, all quiet determination and restraint. But the movie really belongs to Christian Bale, who completely disappears into