Holy ****! Sonny Liston Biopic coming out?!

A Sports Illustrated article from March 1964 seemed to report that this is what happened.

The article is online at SI vault.

Also, I've read Dundee himself quoted as saying he thought it was cut liniment or ointment from Liston's shoulder that caused the blinding. And Dundee is a cutman par excellence. He's an expert.
I'll find the source of the quote (I have as suspicion it's Thomas Hauser's "Muhammad Ali His Life and Times").

 

So now he's played Don King, Mike Tyson (in all but name) and Sonny Liston. He's basically worked his way progressively through the most controversial and criminally convicted figures in big-time boxing. In fact, all he has to do now is be in a biopic of an old Jack Johnson and he's done the lot.

 

I've got a 60 minute preview to the Ali-Patterson fight from Vegas in 1965. Lots of behind the scenes action from both camps. At that same time they were filming the The Professionals in the California/Nevada desert starring Burt Lancaster (big fight fan), Lee Marvin, Jack Palance, and Woody Strode. They dropped by both camps during the film. Marvin and Strode are shown sitting and talking to Patterson and Palance playfully tries to start a fight with Ali..."you don't look so tough to me... "

Good stuff...

 

Thanks for the info.

But anyone who has played sports knows using HEET, AtomicBalm, lintiment, etc. around your face or eyes is asking for trouble.

Even when you wash your hands real good it is always hard to get off and your eyes many times start burning anyway.

A "cutman" using that stuff anywhere above the waistline during a fight is pretty shakey.

I think Liston's group came "loaded for bear" and was trying to do whatever it takes.

 

Will there be anymore insight into his mysterious death? I don't think I ever heard the straight story about Sonny Liston's Death. Would be very interesting.

 

This film should have been done with Ving Rhames years ago, probably right after he finished "Pulp Fiction" or even around the time of "Casualties of War." Many of the important people in boxing could have been consulted about the film before they passed on.

I seriously hope they make this film right and get the appropriate supporting cast around Ving Rhames as the central figure in the movie.

Floyd Patterson, Cleveland Williams and George Foreman should have considerable representation and dialogue in this film as important secondary fighters in Liston's career.

The Michael Mann "Ali" movie was the worst piece of boxing junk on film that was ruined largely because the producers had poorly researched Ali's career. Frazier, Norton, Foreman, Chuvalo and Larry Holmes were supposedly never consulted about the movie. Still in shock that James Toney was portrayed as Frazier and the FOTC was a mere footnote in that film? Big time LOL!

 

I'd love to see that, Palance was a pretty fair boxer in his time ,he would be my choice for Jack Dempsey.Strode had a great build he went from Football to some wrestling and allways kept in shape.

 

speed a plenty, but only when i was running d1 track.

nowadays, not much of anything.

feel free to get a sense of humor. you have seen where i rank liston as a top-10 HW All-Time.

 

This Liston film will be much worse than the Ali film for historical accuracy.

Nick Turturro plays "Caesar Novak", Liston's manager. But there was NO SUCH PERSON. The Novak character will be one of the pivotal characters, hence the film will be absolutely bull****. Total fiction.

As far as historical accuracy in boxing biopics goes, Mann's "Ali" was one of the better ones. I avoided watching it for a long time, and it wasn't good but it wasn't completely made up either. Unlike, "Hurricane" and "Cinderella Man" which I haven't watch either.

As for Toney playing Frazier I thought he done alright (at least in the speaking scene, not so convincing with his flabby torso exposed). I thought a more serious problem was WILL SMITH playing ALI !

 

Was it the ears?

 

They dont exactly help.

 

I thought Smith did a pretty good job actually. His looks are close enough and his gestures were spot on. I thought the movie was pretty boring however.. maybe because you already know what's going to happen.

 

Perhaps there is a directors cut where George Foreman knocks out Muhamad ali at the end of the film.

 

There were lots of problems with the Ali movie IMO.

#1 The Fight of the century was made to be a miniscule event and Frazier was poorly represented by James Toney IMO. I could think of many more actors that would have done a better job, namely Omar Epps, who had the Frazier beard at one time.

#2 Ken Norton was not even in the film even though a character in his name was in the credits. I certainly can't remember any important dialogue that featured Norton.

#3 Angelo Dundee had NO significant lines in the film which is hard to understand being the primary trainer and manager for Ali's career. I don't even recall someone being cast to play the role of Dr Ferdie Pacheco who was just as important as Dundee was to Ali's career.

#4 Johnny Adie and Dun Dunphy should have been portrayed in the film even if the roles were tiny at most. A film about Ali should not have forgotten the influence of Don Dunphy on boxing and MSG's most famous ring announcer.

#5 For as much as they focused on Ali's womanizing, they left out probably the most significant boxing event that surrounds his infidelity. Nothing in the movie was mentioned about Manilla and the fact that his wife at the time Belinda, flew there and broke everything in the room after Ali started calling Veronica Porsche his wife on TV.

#6 The first half of this movie is practically about Malcolm X which I didn't quite understand. I already saw Denzel Washington lose the Best Actor award for that film and I think they went overboard with his character in the Ali movie.


I could go on and on with more criticisms and personal flaws I have with the film yet some people I've spoken to think the Ali movie is the best depiction of his career? Burt Sugar himself said the only thing barely worth mentioning was the perfomance of Jamie Fox as Bundini Brown. Other than that, he said this film was garbage and I coudn't agree more.

 

The same guy who played John Henry Lewis in Cinderella Man is playing Patterson.