Phantom Punch

Charles 'Sonny' Liston is one of the most feared heavyweights in history, with a ramrod jab, crushing right hand and concussive left hook. He was a mean and moody man, with a history of violent assaults and spells in prison. As one of the youngest of many children, I have read that there are as many as 25, with him at the 24th, he was subjected to beatings by his father and never knew his true date of birth. While serving a jail term for a spate of armed robberies, he was persuaded to take up boxing by a Catholic priest and his ring prowess earned him the daily release.

Following a brief, but successful, amateur career, Liston turned pro and garnered a reputation as a knockout artist, only losing one fight when his opponent made him laugh and then punched him, breaking his jaw. After a while, his management -- with links to the mafia -- successfully lobbied for him to become the mandatory challenger to Floyd Patterson's world title. When the time came, Liston took the chance with both hands and knocked Patterson out in 126 seconds. He proved to be an extremely unpopular champion due to his criminal past and propensity for violence outside the ring with even the NAACP preferring Patterson as champion. In the rematch, Patterson only lasted four seconds longer and was again dispatched inside a round.

Liston is probably most well known for his two fights with Cassius Clay (in the second, Clay was fighting under his new name of Muhammad Ali) where he lost his championship after retiring on his stool citing a shoulder injury and, in the rematch, the result was again overshadowed by the manner in which he lost as he went down from the infamous 'Phantom Punch'. Following a lightning fast right hand from Ali that hardly anyone saw, Liston spent over 20 seconds on the floor whilst Ali stood over him, ran around the ring with his arms in the air and the referee, former heavyweight champion Jersey Joe Walcott, had to be told by the editor of Ring Magazine, Nat Fleischer, that Liston had been down for over 10 seconds and was therefore the loser by knockout.

This biopic by Robert Townsend begins in 1950 with Liston in jail and an extremely uncooperative, violent and truculent inmate. It shows how he was taken under the wing of the priest, taught how to box and how this led to him being released two years early. It has a 'movie of the week' feel and is the sort of film that I'd expect to see on order for minor cable movie channels, but this doesn't necessarily make a bad film. In the lead, Ving Rhames certainly has the look right and, with his dressing gown on and towel over his head, sometimes looks uncannily like Liston.


The film shows how he met a woman, got married, became involved with the mob, began cheating on his wife and how everything just about fell apart when he fought Muhammad Ali, losing by knockout following that titular blow. Ving Rhames has an extremely distinctive voice but then I don't think that's too much of an issue as Sonny Liston was not like Ali -- the press didn't love him, he was known more for his actions than words and I've never had an interview with him, so I don't know what Liston sounded like. Apart from Rhames, the only real name in the cast is David Proval who plays, what else, a mobster who has a controlling interest in Liston's career, giving instructions from Las Vegas to St Louis, Missouri were Liston was based for much of his early career.

As Phantom Punch didn't have a theatrical release, I hadn't heard of it and was almost expecting a documentary about Liston's life and particularly 'that night' in Lewiston, Maine where Liston went down to that chopping right hand and had Ali standing over him, screaming "get up sucker!" at him in a moment that was beautifully captured on film in one of the most iconic boxing photographs of all time. As a film, it works quite well although the aesthetic choice to move between scenes by fading to black and white, dissolving out and then bringing the car back in another locale didn't seem to allow anything and actually annoyed me. This is perfectly watchable fare and probably has that crossover appeal where it will find viewers who aren't particularly interested in boxing and know nothing about Sonny Liston.

The Disc

Extra Features
Not a great deal here, only a couple of text based features with short biographies on some of the greatest heavyweight champions and a description of what the Phantom Punch moment really means.

The Picture
The transfer is very good with vibrant colours and almost nothing in the way of grain or scratches and only the slightest hint of moiré on one of the car's front grills. The period detail is very good with quite authentic looking cars, clothing and interiors. As far as the boxing scenes go, I've seen better but I've also seen much worse as they look like decent sparring sessions with rather dramatic knockouts. Ving Rhames certainly got himself into shape, appearing extremely muscular and thick set to lend credence to Liston's formidable reputation.


The Sound
I started off watching this with the Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix but found it to be too 'rear speaker happy', with music blasting out from behind me as a volume that was disproportionate to the on-screen events. Switching to the stereo soundtrack proved to be much more enjoyable with clear dialogue and well presented sound effects in the boxing scenes.


Final Thoughts
Sonny Liston is an extraordinary and rather sad character who spent time in jail, paid his price, but found himself involved with the mob and defending his world title against a man with strong links to militant Islam. Whether the rematch with Muhammad Ali finished in a legitimate knockout or whether Liston threw the fight either for money because he was scared stiff of the Nation of Islam and possible reprisals should he beat Ali is open to question and this doesn't provide any answers, leaving it up to you to add your own interpretation on events.

Phantom Punch is very watchable even if it isn't the most accomplished film you'll ever see. It shame that there is no commentary or interviews with members of the cast and crew, but the film itself is worth seeing for both casual viewers and pugilist specialists alike.