Director Robert Townsend connects us with a little boxing history that may have been overshadowed by the phenomenon that succeeded it.

The right hook that led to the quote “I shook up the world! I’m pretty! I’m a baaaad man!” was a punch that no one actually saw land. Long before the days of slow motion and playback, the Phantom Punch that took out the most punishing heavyweight boxing champions of record may reveal more about the complex character of Sonny Liston outside of the ring in which it was landed than in it. The mob ties, the lurid affairs, the conflicts with law enforcement and a silent craving for acceptance are colorfully depicted in this film set in the early 1960s. Ving Rhames is the Sonny Liston you love to hate and root for all at once. Nicholas Turturro channels Liston’s hot-headed manager, Caesar Novak, and Stacey Dash (as Geraldine Liston) reveals mature, emotional depth in this keenly insightful story that inspires empathy, disappointment, joy, pain and a series of unanswered questions. Did he really throw the fight? A heroin overdose, really? What happened to a once proud, healthy, champion? This is a treat for boxing historians. -- Nicole Ross