BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

bdgill12 On a summer night in 1983, two welterweight boxers met at center ring in front of a large Madison Square Garden crowd. The boxers were on different levels, with Billy Collins having been pegged for stardom and Luis Resto considered by most to be a tune-up fighter, though one with a solid reputation. The battle lasted ten rounds before Resto was named the winner. What should have been a career-making victory for Resto turned out to be short lived as almost immediately it was discovered that Resto's gloves had been tampered with. The padding had been removed from the gloves, essentially allowing Resto to pummel Collins with bare knuckles (see the photo below). For Resto, this meant the end of his boxing career, a stint in jail, and a haunted past. The fight was even more harmful for Collins, who never fully recovered from the beating which, combined with his already dark disposition, led him down a rough path toward a tragic death. 25 years later director Eric Drath follows Resto as he attempts to come to grips with the results of the fight.Considering the damage he inflicted on Collins (and his family), Resto is an exceedingly sympathetic figure. A poor immigrant from Puerto Rico, Resto found not only a livelihood but also significance when he showed some talent in the ring. He had a chance to better his life and the lives of his family members and he worked extremely hard to make that happen. He learned early on, however, that you never question the men in your corner and that would ultimately lead to his undoing. He didn't remove the padding from the gloves himself but as he reluctantly admits about halfway through the film, he knew something wasn't right. Resto buried himself under a mountain of guilt not only because of the impact the fight had on Collins but because of the way he had disrespected his sport. His grief is written all over his face. By all accounts, this fight ended two lives with Resto holding on as a shell of a man, estranged from friends and family and unable to find redemption.Drath offers just that, redemption, with a whirl-wind tour to the homes of all those affected by the fight. Resto is given the opportunity to confront his former trainer, Mario Costa, the man ultimately responsible for the customized gloves. While Resto spent two years in prison, Costa was simply stripped of his trainer's license due to a chain of custody issue that resulted in his court case being thrown out. Upon their first on-screen meeting, I was immediately struck by how much power Costa still held over Resto. Here stood the man responsible for Resto's troubles and yet he could not even look him in the eye. When questioned about the events of that night, Costa denies and feigns offense but in later footage he makes it abundantly clear that he would never admit his wrongdoing. It is abundantly clear that while Resto may have known something wasn't right when he stepped into the ring, Costa knew exactly what the game plan was. Drath also sheds a little light on the New York Athletic Commission, leading one to wonder what kind of shady business was conducted behind closed doors and under grimy tables on the way to that night's infamous events. In this sense, Drath allows "Assault" to illustrate what a shady business professional boxing truly is.If Resto's confrontation with Costa is somewhat unsatisfying, his other meetings pick up the slack. He finally confesses his (limited) knowledge of the tampered gloves with his ex-wife and grown sons and you can see the relief wash over him. He weeps quietly when receiving forgiveness from Collins' widow and is even reunited with his mother and sister. It isn't a picture perfect ending, of course. Collins' father refused Resto's apologies and Costa provides no comfort for his former protégé. Still, Drath's simple and understated film finds a poignant groove and stays within in, capturing the essence of a man who has paid for his mistakes a thousand times over without hope of reprieve, almost as much a victim as the man he sparred with on that fateful night.Check out my site: httwww.thesoapboxoffice.blogspot.com

poe426 Luis Resto mans up and admits to having loaded gloves when he fought (and nearly killed) Billy Collins, Jr. It was Collins, Sr., who caught Resto and his accomplice, the dirty "Panama" Lewis, in the act. Although Lewis appears to have gotten away with attempted murder, his underhanded tactics in this fight raise some interesting questions: for years, he trained (or at least assisted in the training of) none other than "Manos de Piedra" ("Hands of Stone") himself, Roberto Duran. More than once, opponents complained that Duran's gloves were loaded. Nothing ever came of any of the charges (at least, not that I know of), but Lewis also worked the corner of Aaron Pryor against Alexis Arguello. Pryor twice gave Arguello a fearsome beating. (I've watched these two fights several times and wondered what Lewis meant when- in a clip that's shown in this documentary- he asks specifically for a water bottle that he had "mixed." Now I know.) Resto comes clean (finally), but Lewis ducks and dodges to this day. The fact that so unsavory a character is still training fighters is all the more reason why a boxing commission of the type espoused by Teddy Atlas is needed. Boxing has YET to step out of The Dark Ages and into the light. Consider the all too recent case of Antonio Margarito: the murderous Margarito seemed to be a fighter on the rise (he "stopped" Kermit Citron and Miguel Cotto) before Shane Mosley's trainer caught Margarito with loaded gloves before their fight. Margarito's hands were re-wrapped... and Mosley knocked him out. Without the plaster cast, Margarito stood exposed (like Resto) for the fraud he was/is. (And Margarito is once again being licensed to fight in this country!) Everyone involved in these fights, from the promoters and matchmakers to the broadcasting companies and the ringside announcers, is responsible to one degree or another for the safety of these fighters. In the words of Roberto Duran himself: "No mas." ("No more.") Boxing's dangerous enough as it is.

goodfellamikec The film really starts off great as a very objective approach to what happened at the notorious Resto/Collins fight. But the film loses all credibility when the director breaks the fourth wall and starts parading Resto around.It is the cardinal sin of a documentary filmmaker to do anything but DOCUMENT. Here, the director pays to have Resto fly all over America and do something he would otherwise not do. That is not a documentary. That is "reality" television.Furthermore, his constant harassment of Billy Collins family is very uncomfortable. When a subject doesn't want to be interviewed, LEAVE THEM ALONE. There is nothing entertaining about watching a filmmaker bother someone until the police are called. It's something I would expect from network news, not a serious documentary filmmaker.It's really such a shame because the film had a lot of promise. I won't say it's completely a waste of time, but I felt the filmmaker could have made a great film without Resto's guilt parade.

udar55 Just finished this excellent feature length documentary that details an infamous (in the boxing world at least) 1983 bout between undefeated prospect Billy Collins, Jr. and the guy he was supposed to beat, Luis Resto. The end result is kind of a THE THIN BLUE LINE (1988) for the boxing world as the film examines the illegal activity that occurred during the bout and the tragic consequences it had on a multitude of lives. It certainly exposes the sleaziest side of boxing and you can't help but feel sorry for the guilt-ridden Resto who bares his soul for the filmmakers. Lewis, on the other hand, is a piece of work. I've never seen a more reprehensible human being in my entire life. First time director Eric Drath used to be a boxing agent and he handles a majority of the material well. There is one hugely manipulative misstep though with Drath having Resto travel to Tennessee to apologize to Collins' family, despite their earlier request of not wanting anything to do with the documentary. Regardless, this can be seen as being much more than about dirty boxing - it showcases the workings of the human conscience.