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VING RHAMES TO PLAY SONNY LISTON IN BIOPIC: Film will follow boxer's rise to fame and the infamous "phantom punch" from Ali.
*Ving Rhames, who famously played boxing promoter Don King in the 1998 TV movie "Don King: Only In America," returns to the sport nearly a decade later to star as heavyweight fighter Sonny Liston in the biopic "Phantom Punch."
The independently-financed project follows Liston's rise to fame and the single "phantom punch" he took from Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay), which many believe was the beginning of the end for his career.
Robert Townsend is directing the film, which began production Monday in Toronto.
"The thing is that certain people are born to play certain roles and Ving has always gravitated toward Sonny Liston's story," Townsend told the Hollywood Reporter. "This is his baby and he's giving birth to it. He's already playing the character at so many levels."
Liston, the 24th of 25 children born to an Arkansas sharecropper, was a trouble-prone kid who served prison time for robbing a gas station and later for beating up a police officer. He found boxing as a way to gain respect and became world heavyweight champion in 1962.
He's best remembered for the "phantom punch" that occurred two minutes into his 1965 fight against Ali. Liston -- 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 immortalized on the cover of "Sports Illustrated."
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