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Ving Rhames will play the boxer Sonny Liston in the indie film 'Phantom Punch'.
'Phantom' will chronicle Sonny 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. Liston was the 24th of 25 children born to an Arkansas sharecropper. Prone to violence, he at one point served prison time for robbing a gas station and another for beating up a police officer. He turned to fighting as a way to gain respect and became world heavyweight champion in 1962.
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.
The photograph from the fight's conclusion was forever immortalized on the cover of "Sports Illustrated.
