Phantom Punch

Plot synopsis:
In 1950 Liston is carrying out a prison sentence in Missouri State Penitentiary. After knocking out the prison boxing champ Big Lester in a brawl over cigarettes, he is coached by the prison athletic director Father Alois to hone his boxing skills. In the ring he knocks out Big Lester again followed by several other contenders. Having shown improvement, he is released after serving just two years of a five-year sentence.
Upon his release in 1952 he joins a boxing gym in St. Louis, Missouri, run by Caesar Novak at the recommendation of Father Alois. His fellow inmate Catfish later arrives to act as his cut man. During this time Liston takes part in several matches and meets his future wife Geraldine. He visits Father Alois, now working in a church, to thank him and tell him about Geraldine. Sitting in a parked car with Geraldine at night he is told by a policeman to move his car along, which escalates into a fistfight and another prison sentence for Liston. Geraldine greets him at his release in 1957 and invites him to live with her at a house being rented to her by her cousin after getting married at a justice of the peace on the way. Liston experiences nightmares remembering abuse suffered at the hands of his father.
Caesar Novak takes Liston back in his gym as a fighter and asks him to stay out of prison. One night the policemen from the previous altercation stop by Liston's house and threaten him, telling him that he has to throw any future fight against Floyd Patterson. In 1962 Novak attacks Bobby Zazo in a club in a dispute over Farah, a girl Novak stole from him, and arranges through mutual organized crime connections to pay Zazo $10,000 in retribution. Mob connections pressure Novak to tell Liston to take a dive in the upcoming match against Patterson so that they can win on a bet but Novak asks Liston to win instead. Liston wins the match by knockout but no press arrives to interview the new champion. When approached by his organized crime connections, Novak explains that he actually bet their money on Liston and made them $1.2 million.
Liston is approached by the police and teased about his inability to write a message with his signature because of his lack of education. They attempt to pin a drunk driving charge on him, even though he is walking, and another fistfight ensues. That night in jail he is seriously beaten by the correction officers and told to get out of town or he will be killed. Novak takes him to Las Vegas, where Sonny and Geraldine buy a new house in December of 1962 as the relationship between Caesar and Farah is falling apart.
In July of 1963 Patterson and Liston fight a rematch, which Liston easily wins. Farrah pretends that Caesar has called for Sonny but when Sonny arrives Farrah merely requests sex and the two cheat on their respective partner. Novak waits outside Zazo's hotel room to threaten him to stop spreading rumors that Liston's fights are fixed and discovers him leaving the room with Farah. Farah and Sonny continue to meet for sex but find no romance in their relationship.
Liston is surprised by Cassius Clay's unusual style in their boxing match and asks Catfish to spread an irritating substance on his gloves to bother Clay's eyes. The irritant works but Liston nevertheless gives up the fight. Geraldine surprises Sonny and Farah with a gun at their next rendezvous and tells Farah to leave then tells Sonny that she hopes Cassius Clay beats him again. Already upset, Liston flies into a rage when provoked by the press with questions about the murder of Bobby Zazo and his connection to Caesar Novak. Liston asks Father Alois why others fail to give him the love they give to other fighters and the priest tells him that he cannot rely on the validation of others to determine his worth and that he has always been able to accomplish things through his own inner strengths.
Liston loses the rematch against Cassius Clay, now known as Muhammad Ali, after falling down for 20 seconds following the famous phantom punch. Many cannot see the punch and the press once again attacks Liston, accusing him of taking a dive. Caesar's mob connections are likewise suspicious but after speaking with Sonny he convinces them that Sonny was not throwing the fight. Liston works his way back up in the rankings with a record of 14-1 in fights around the world between 1966 and 1969. The mob tells Caesar to tell Sonny to start taking dives and also inform him of the meetings between Sonny and Farah. Caesar confronts Farah and physically attacks her in jealous anger then throws her out. Out of spite he lies to the mob that Sonny refuses to take a dive, hoping that Sonny will end up getting hurt because of this. In 1971 Geraldine returns home from a trip to find Sonny dead. The police officially declare it a heroin overdose but there remains doubt about this explanation.

Tags: flashback

Review:
Robert Townsend said in reports that he wanted to show the true Sonny Liston and he said, "History hasn't been kind to Sonny Liston." He goes and he makes Liston's death look like a suicide instead of a murder?
He shows Liston just plain quitting on the stool in his first fight with Ali?
He shows Liston trying to blind Ali in the first fight?
He shows Liston throwing the Ali rematch for no apparent reason?
This movie is so bad it makes Meteor Man look like a masterpiece.I was unfortunate enough to see this movie and now I know why it was never released.
This is one of the worst movies I've ever scene.
Not only is it a terrible boxing movie, but it's an awful biopic.
I was really shocked at how bad this movie was.
I couldn't wait for a movie about Sonny Liston and this is what I got?
This movie hasn't been released to theaters and it never will be.
If Townsend is lucky, maybe the movie will get released straight to DVD or maybe they will put it on TV.
But I don't see this doing well wherever it goes.Meteor Man failed to mention in his movie that Liston was the favorite in his fights with Ali. In the first fight, Liston was a 7-1 favorite.
I read accounts that Liston said he was "only following orders" when he quit on the stool.
Another stupid part of the scene that had me shaking my head was the part when Townsend shows them putting a foreign substance on his glove to blind Ali. First of all, Liston did not need to cheat.
Liston was a great fighter.
He was one of the toughest fighters in history and he wasn't afraid of anyone.
This is a man that knocked out the great Floyd Patterson in 2 minutes.
He fought a whole fight with a broken jaw and only lost a split decision to Marty Marshall.
Second of all, why would Liston try to cheat in a fight that he was going to throw?
There's no doubt something got in Ali's eyes during the fight, but to say Liston put it there is ridiculous and there is no proof.
In the end of the fight Townsend tries to make you believe Liston just quit like a spineless bum.
I know some people would love to believe Ali was this mighty man that overcame Sonny Liston, but let's get real.
The movie gets to the big moment, the infamous "phantom punch." The scene is so uneventfully done in the movie it's pathetic.
Townsend never even tells you why Liston took a dive in the rematch.
Townsend had the nerve to keep the mob out of that fight too.
It looked like even more of a sham than the first fight.This movie failed to show Sonny Liston's hard upbringing.
It also failed to show that he really wasn't a bad guy and that he loved children and even tried to help people that were less fortunate.
One of the biggest slaps in the face to Liston is how they handle his death in the movie.
Instead of showing Liston getting murdered they make it look like a suicide.
In the movie they make it look like Liston was depressed over his girlfriend on the side leaving him, so he does heroine one night.
Sonny Liston was M-U-R-D-E-R-E-D.You want the real scoop on Liston, get the book The Devil and Sonny Liston by Nick Tosches.
Nick Tosches did what Townsend lied about saying he was going to do.
Townsend made Liston look like a no good bum, but that wasn't the real Liston.
Avoid this horribly written and directed movie at all costs.
I don't think Townsend was taking his job seriously when he made this movie.
By the looks of it, it's like he was just fooling around.
If you were wondering why this movie was never released, you have your answer.
If you want to see what the real Sonny was all about, watch HBO's documentary "Sonny Liston: The Mysterious Life and Death of a Champion".
This movie...well not so good.
Ving Rhames is great as usual.
A lot of what we know about Sonny was historically inaccurate or missing.
No harassment from Ali(a young Cassius Clay) before, or after the Patterson rematch.
Ali (Clay) made Liston's life hell for over a year before their first fight.
No scene detailing Sonny slapping Ali's face in a casino.
Not even a mention of his first fight against Marty Marshall.
Liston suffered a broken jaw in the fourth round before losing a close 8-round decision.
But he deserves better than Phantom Punch..
Impressive job if you like fiction.
I've seen several movies about Muhammad Ali but I have forgotten everything I knew about Sonny Liston from those movies.
Reading some of the IMDb comments tells me this movie might not be telling the whole story.
In fact, the comments suggest this movie may be wrong about a lot of historical facts about a real person.But forgetting all this, I thought this was quite a good movie.
Ving Rhames gave an Oscar-worthy performance and made me believe there was more to Sonny Liston than the angry man the world believed he was.
I actually didn't know anything about Liston, but once he became famous, it appeared the world hated him for defeating Floyd Patterson and being such a bad boy.
Plenty of scenes show him as a gentle man trying to make a better life for himself.
And as hard as mobsters try to get him to throw fights, he doesn't appear to want to.True, he is shown getting violent because someone accuses Geraldine, a woman he genuinely loves, of being a mere hooker.And he is unfaithful to Geraldine.
And he doesn't hit her.And Rhames doesn't give the only good performance.
Stacey Dash shows intelligence and determination as the woman Liston loves.
Rick Roberts is great as the prison priest who discovers Liston's tendency to get into fights could be used constructively.
And the good father follows Liston's career on the outside as well, as he takes a regular church job.
Nicholas Turturro does a great job as the man who seems to be in charge of Liston's career, but has to answer to higher authorities.There is quite a lot of violence and threats of violence, and I don't mean just in the ring.One very effective scene makes use of slow motion as well as sound editing (that's what I'll call it) that suggests Liston has been hit one too many times and things don't seem real.Most of the music here is great, and why not?
Very good-looking too.
No wonder Liston was tempted.The movie is not without its weaknesses.
I never speculated on what was real and what wasn't, but Cassius Clay doesn't even look like Cassius Clay (though neither did Will Smith), and he hardly says a word.
Not in this movie.And I saw a 50-star flag.
Phantom Punch is a Good Movie.
I saw this movie, and wondered why it was not released in theatres.
It is a quite good movie, that is very thought provoking especially, concerning the circumstance surrounding Sonny Liston's death.
The actor named Ving Rhames does a very good job and is fantastic in it.
It amazes me, and I do not understand why the other reviewers are so negative, but if you like boxing and are a boxing history fan, this is a must see.....
PS - Robert Townsend is a fine talent as both an actor and director...
Phantom Punch is directed by Robert Townsend and written by Ryan Combs.
It traces the life and times of Sonny Liston, the World heavyweight boxing champion who over his career fought the likes of Muhammad Ali and Floyd Patterson.
Townsend biopic traces Liston's career from 1950 to his death in 1971.Ving Rhames, is perfectly cast as Charles L 'Sonny' Liston.
Rhames gives a stellar performance depicting the boxer's tumultuous life, where dealing with the rampant racism of the day, the heavy hand of the mob, and the heavier hand of the law was part and parcel of the job.
Not just a boxing movie, a amazing story untold!.
This film isn't just swagger, or an imitation of Sonny Liston.
When I was young I use to hear Patterson and Sonny Liston's name all the way till I became an adult.
This film is socially important because it raises up one of the most notable and under-appreciated figures of the twentieth century, Sonny Liston.
His fights with Patterson is also in the film so I learned a lot here.
The fights are not rocky-type or "entertaining" but REAL.
Never long and drawn out but super exciting for someone not into boxing, like me.
My mother & I really got into this movie than researched after, and boy were the males in out family surprised.
They didn't show a younger Liston but instead had Ving play the entire role from his discovery by the Catholic priest in prison to Liston's champ days, and finally his passing.
It was boxing or a life in prison.
And a lot of shady people were attached to boxing back than.
Surprisingly, the movie was so good & went by so fast, no one even noticed.
This movie gives us all an important lesson.
This certainly is a movie worth seeing..
Not Sonny Liston but Director Robert Townsend.
The Once Promising Director who Helmed this Biopic of Heavyweight Champion Liston is Either Out of His Depth or couldn't Pull this Off and it seems like there wasn't much Effort and the Whole Thing Looks Cheap, Undeveloped, and Haphazard.The Low-Budget is No Excuse.
The Movie is so Muddled and Amateurish at Times that it is Knocked Down In the Opening and Never gets up.
The Highlights and Lowlights of the Life of Sonny Liston are Never Explored with Compelling Cinema.
It is Flat and Uninteresting and Considering the Enigmatic Liston's Private Life and His Powerful Presence in the Ring it is Mysteriously Boring.The Phantom Punch that Cassius Clay (Ali) Threw in Their Second Fight, one of the most Controversial Knockouts in Boxing History and Ironically the Title of the Film is Hardly Examined, Explored, or for that Matter it is Glossed Over for some Unknown Reason.
The Ending of Liston's Life is also Mysterious and the Mystery here is that, again it is so Rushed that it seems a Featherweight is at the Controls.The Film isn't Awful, it is just a Mess.
Great Entertainment For Boxing Buffs.
I loved it because it was about one of the Greatest Heavyweights Ever in Charles "Sonny" Liston.
No, it's not "Casablanca" but it is time well spent for former fighters like myself and boxing fans.
We love just about anything on The Bad Man and the movie is very stylishly shot with a sleek music score backing it.
I have been to Liston's grave in Vegas and "Night Train" played in my head the entire time I was there.
Watch this with an open mind and enjoy it, sports fans.
Troy Ross is a real fighter who plays Floyd Patterson but the guy that plays Ali is not.
He is the only downside to this movie that I found as they should have gotten a real boxer to play him.
Ving is not as big nor nearly as massive as Sonny was but then again, few men have been.
One of the Great Hitters and most Mysterious Men in Boxing history..
I kinda enjoyed this film.
I didn't know anything about Sonny Listen so after watching this film, it shinned a little light on him for me.
I know the Clay/Ali fight was a major event in his life but the film played it as just another fight.
I would of liked to see the build up to that fight, and the aftermath.
The movie never mentioned how Clay was harassing him and how he felt about it.
I also didn't understand why he would cheat against Clay when there was no history of cheating before that fight.
The film was titled Phantom Punch but he doesn't admit to taking a dive.
I liked the possible motive for his death.
I enjoyed it but I think I just wanted more on the rise and fall of SL..
Ving Rhames stellar performance is the only reason to see this bio of Sonny Liston.
Ving Rhames turns in another stellar performance as Sonny Liston in Robert Townsend's film of Liston's rise and fall.
Liston was an ex-con who rose through the ranks of professional boxing to take on Cassius Clay before he was felled by a "phantom punch" and his own demons.
Rhames is truly amazing as Liston and you feel for him.
Unfortunately the rest of the film is nowhere near his level with some bad performances, a weak script with awful dialog and a directorial style that makes this tough going.
If it wasn't for Rhames performance I would day that the film isn't worth bothering with, but he's so good that he really should be seen if this comes across your TV screen on cable.
Boxing is a sport almost impossible to fake believably; the subtleties of in-fighting, for instance, or a short, solid shot to the jaw (like the one that felled Sonny Liston in real life) are lost on the big screen- despite the size of the "canvas." In RAGING BULL, director Martin Scorsese (applauded by critics upon the film's release) has Robert DeNiro as Jake Lamotta literally roaring like a dinosaur at one point- and, in some of the most amateurish filmmaking I've ever seen outside of a ROCKY movie, clinging to a strand of rope while being cinematically slain by "Sugar Ray Robinson," taunting him with: "You never knocked me down, Ray." A mere technicality, that: in Real Life, Lamotta was out on his feet when the referee rescued him, and, barely able to stand, was led back to his corner by his corner men.
Which kinda sorta brings me to PHANTOM PUNCH.
The book by Nick Tosches that may or may not have inspired this movie is so one-sided in its presentation of "the facts" that several facts are overlooked (or glossed over in passing): Muhammad Ali (who was NOT A SOUTHPAW, as depicted in this alleged Motion Picture) DID, in fact, drop Liston with a short, jolting right to the jaw in their second fight.
In fact, the very first punch he landed in the rematch was just such a short, jolting right to the jaw- a punch the crouching Liston proved susceptible to in both fights.
Boxing writer Jimmy Cannon is said to have made this observation: "I saw the punch land, and it couldn't have squashed a grape." Oh, yeah?
Tell that to Cleveland Williams, who ran into that selfsame right in the second round of his fight with Ali: the punch dropped him in his tracks.
Many of Ali's many fans refer to the Williams fight as his finest performance- and yet NO ONE has ever suggested that the same short, jolting right that dropped Williams for the first of four knockdowns was a "phantom punch." That this movie would even perpetuate such a myth speaks volumes.
Against former middleweight Floyd Patterson, Liston looked awesome; against bigger and better opponents, not so much.
Eddie Machen, who was stopped by Joe Frazier, went the distance with Liston.
And, like Cleveland Williams, he complained of ointment of some kind getting in his eyes during the fight.
In his first fight with Ali, Liston can actually be seen extending his arm to place his glove against Ali's cheek and then WIPING it across Ali's face.
One need only go back and look at the fight: the proof of something unsavory going on is THERE.
Ving Rhames, so good as "Mike Tyson" in UNDISPUTED, is wasted here: PHANTOM PUNCH is so badly written and directed that it wouldn't pass muster as a TV movie (which is saying a lot: I remember cringing when, as a kid, I saw a TV movie with Erik Estrada playing-acting as a boxer: at one point, he tells someone that there are "five punches in boxing").
I've been on the receiving end of a beating at least once in my life (to a three-time Golden Gloves champion), so I find the kind of misinformation in movies like this nigh intolerable.
Muhammad Ali was NOT a southpaw..
When I saw Robert Townsend directing and so many actors I respect like Ving Rhames, David Proval and Stacey Dash I really expected a lot more out of this film.
It showed absolute zero of the ferociousness of Sonny Liston, the way he paralyzed Floyd Patterson with fear (in real life Patterson brought a fake beard and glasses to both Liston fights so he could sneak out unnoticed after getting his inevitable beatings) and it showed absolute zero of the build up to the first Cassius Clay fight.
In real life Liston slapped Clay in a casino, and Clay famously left a bear trap on Liston's front steps.
Sonny Liston was one of the most enigmatic figures of the 20th century, but this film shows none of that.
It's basically: convict gets paroled, boxes, deals with bigotry and eventually...well, honestly, I turned it off during the first Clay fight, so I don't know how the film goes after that.
This looked to me like a payday for everyone involved.
I hate to post a bad review, especially after all the years that I've enjoyed Robert Townsend's work, but this movie was a real stinkeroo!
You look at a film like Raging Bull where they were able to make Jake LaMotta sympathetic, even while showing his violent side.
None of that is done in Phantom Punch.
None of that is done in Phantom Punch.
It's like making a film on Mike Tyson and simply showing that he raised pigeons while he wasn't boxing.