Cornered: A Life Caught in the Ring

Eric Drath recounts a great boxing story but in doing so defiles it. From the Michael Moore school of documentary making, he takes an already exploited, broken man and exploits him some more - always looking for a money shot.

Sending Mr Resto to see his estranged family and then, without prior warning to see the Collins family was beyond crass.

Any documentary maker who needs to put his own face in his film is flawed.

It's a great story and actually does unearth new evidence about the tragedy. It's just a pity that the project was devoid of integrity, empathy and compassion.

Watch Ring of Fire or No Mas instead.

People interested in boxing and in atoning will be equally attracted to it. I don't like to focus in subjective angles in reviews, but for this one I liked the story itself develop. The search for the truth. But I was not attracted to the part of the film connected to the guilt and atonement, the story beyond sports. This aspect is important, but I found it long and confused.

Overall, this could be a great 30 for 30 ESPN documentaries. At 90 minutes, it drags a bit. But again, if you like boxing or stories with people paying their dues, it works. Alert: a bit obvious, but if you think boxing is really savage due to its violence, you should really go for something else.

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.

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This documentary by Eric Drath is about a fight between Luis Resto and Billy Collins. Resto was a fighter with a middling record while Collins was on the path to an eventual title. The fight itself has been mired in controversy ever since, as it was found that a significant amount of the padding from Resto's gloves had been removed prior to the fight. This caused Resto's punches to be more like bare knuckled shots. You don't much like most of the people in this documentary, especially Panama Louis, who allegedly was the mastermind of this. Still, this film is compelling as a morality tale. Neither boxer ended up gaining anything, which is part of the moral. I don't usually watch sports docs but this one, especially about something I didn't know about, but I was intrigued by the characters in this film. The truth is stranger than fiction? You can count on it.

I recently watched this on cable and did not realize it was 12 years old. I remeber the fateful night when Billy Collins was beaten to a pulp and the hands of Luis Resto. This documentary did a great job of exploring Luis Resto and while it set out to vindicate him it wound up making him more guilty for what transpired. While he was the one throwing the blows I think Panama Lewis and deceased Arty Curly where the real ones at fault here. I am not excusing Luis Resto in the least, but I think he was used and manipulated by others. While guilty I find him less so than the others and also a victim. This movie abounds with victims not the least of which was Billy Collins and his wife and daughter. His father was portrayed as something of a money grabber as well but I do not know if that is true. He lost not only his son, but one of his prized fighters. Highly entertianing, not for the faint of heart but I recommend it to any boxing fan especially anyone who remembers the fight and might not recall all of the sordid details of what took place.