WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — "Assault in the Ring" is what they call the documentary debuting at 10 p.m. ET Saturday on HBO, probably because "Assault on the Eyes, Ears and Sensibilities" isn't quite as catchy.
Make no mistake, by the time 83 minutes are up, viewers are likely to be repulsed by what they've seen ... and riveted by it.
"Assault in the Ring" is the story of a 1983 bout in Madison Square Garden between Luis Resto and Billy Collins Jr., an undercard fight that would have been long forgotten if Collins had not taken the beating of his life at the fists of Resto, whose gloves were missing half their padding. A depressed Collins was killed in an auto accident the next year in what those who knew him believe was suicide.
Not only was Resto thrown out of boxing and into prison for 2 1/2 years, but so was his trainer, Panama Lewis, who at 62 still believes he'll regain his license.
Filmmaker Eric Drath, a former boxing agent and producer for CNN and Fox News, interviews Resto, Lewis and other key figures connected with a fight in which everyone was a loser.
Many of Drath's subjects elicit sympathy.
Nearly all elicit frustration, if not anger.
By the end, viewers will be told the truth, half the truth and things not even remotely resembling the truth. Victims turn into perpetrators, perpetrators into victims.
"My cameraman and I would go from one interview to the next and say, 'Oh, they're guilty,' and then the next one we'd say, 'No, they're not guilty,'" Drath says.
Drath focuses on Resto, who clings to the role of the confused pawn haunted by the damage he caused. If he knew all the illegal activity taking place under his nose, he never would have stepped into the ring, he says."The worst night of my life," Resto says.
Lies, most of it.
Today, we know that Resto knew a lot more than he let on. Resto points a finger at Lewis, who wins a spirited race for biggest villain of the documentary.
Resto leans so heavily on how guilty he feels about Collins that he never gets around to explaining an earlier admission. He had said he wanted to "destroy" Collins and eschewed his normal strategy of throwing ample body punches when he saw the damage his loaded fists were having on Collins' head.
A man's face is turning purple right in front of you, you're breaking the rules of boxing in the most despicable manner imaginable, and you never stop to think some real damage could come of it?
Lewis' bid for sainthood is KOd about the time Resto says he needs to know what really happened.
"Only God knows," Lewis tells him.
Terrific. Soccer has Diego Maradona and his infamous "Hand of God" goal; boxing has Panama Lewis and his "Hand of God" defense.
Since no higher authority is granting interviews and offering real honesty, viewers will have to make up their own minds — once they recover from a captivating assault on their sense of decency.
Hal Habib writes for The Palm Beach Post. E-mail: hal(underscore)habib(at)pbpost.com.