Undisputed

The film stars Wesley Snipes, Ving Rhames, Peter Falk, Michael Rooker, Jon Seda, Wes Studi, Fisher Stevens, and Master P.

Undisputed was released in the United States on August 23, 2002. The film performed poorly at the box-office and received mixed reviews from critics; nevertheless it later found success in the home video market.

The high-security facility is populated by hardened criminals. Unaware of the prison’s ways and its unique hierarchy, the pompous and bratty Chambers tries to impress upon the inmates his status as a champion boxer.

The prison camp has a competition on which a betting syndicate thrives. Criminals fight in boxing matches with very lax rules, thus making it a very addictive and lucrative venture for the syndicate. The most popular boxer behind bars is Sweetwater’s soft-spoken, humble undefeated Monroe “Undisputed” Hutchen, who ends up in solitary confinement after Chambers picks a fight with him in the mess hall.

Flashbacks to Hutchen’s own boxing career shows that he had been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for beating to death a man who was sleeping with his girlfriend.

Sensing the brewing hatred for the heavyweight champion, an incarcerated mob boss named Ripstein senses potential in a match between Hutchen and Chambers. Ripstein, a lifelong boxing fan, proposes a match and Warden Lipscomb is persuaded to look the other way.

As all the arrangements are finally organized, an eagerly awaited fight night arrives. Chambers knocks down Hutchen twice (and with the London Prize Ring Rules, each knockdown counts as the end of a round, as the boxer is given only 60 seconds to get up).

In the third round, Hutchen charges back and knocks Chambers down for the first time in his career, sending the crowd of prisoners into a frenzy. Finally, in the fourth round Hutchen officially KO’s Chambers to become the undisputed champion.

Ripstein’s Mexican assistant reveals; in a narrator voice, that Ripstein died three weeks after the fight, but in his will, he left him $2 million. Chambers was released on parole, and Hutchen received the money for his sister, who was experiencing hardship.

It is also revealed that Chambers and his manager denied that the fight with Hutchen ever occurred, and that it was all a rumor. Months later, Chambers wins back the Heavyweight Championship of the World.

The whole cell block watches the televised fight, and laugh and cheer Monroe’s name after hearing Chambers being crowned the “undisputed” heavyweight champion of the world.