Ving Rhames as Sonny Liston in Phantom Punch

Posted on October 30, 2007
Filed Under Actors, News

It’s not that often I get to write about boxing movies (probably ’cause there aren’t that many made) but today I’m gonna make an exception. And it’s not just any run-of-the-mill boxing movie. I have a feeling this one will be something else…

The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Ving Rhames will portray the infamous heavyweight fighter Sonny Liston in the biopic “Phantom Punch,” which Robert Townsend will direct.

The movie will chronicle Liston’s rise to fame as a boxer and the single “phantom punch” he took at the hands of Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) that many believe led to the demise of his career.

While he was known to have ties to the mob, and one of the most potent punches in heavyweight division history, the boxer is best remembered for the incident that took place just two minutes into the 1965 bout with Ali. The fighter, who had seldom been knocked to his feet, went down from what was long debated as a felonious punch.

Townsend said Rhames, who brought the script to him after years of wanting to bring the story to the big screen, is the perfect actor to play the role of the notorious fighter. “The thing is that certain people are born to play certain roles and Ving has always gravitated toward Sonny Liston’s story,” said Townsend. “This is his baby and he’s giving birth to it. He’s already playing the character at so many levels.”

Ving is a such a charismatic actor and I believe that Townsend made made a wise choice when asking Rhames to portrait Sonny Liston.  I have high hopes.

Comments