By Michael Swann

On June 16th 1983, a date that will long live in boxing infamy, junior middleweight prospect Billy Collins Jr., 14-0 (11), fought journeyman Luis Resto, 19-7-3 (8), at sold out Madison Square Garden on the Roberto Duran - Davey Moore under card. Collins, promoted by Top Rank and a heavy favorite, took a frightful beating in losing a 10 round decision, after which Collins’ face was simply grotesque, leaving him virtually blind. It was a case of a fighter with too much courage.

After the fight, Billy’s father, Billy Sr., working in his son’s corner, felt Resto’s gloves and discovered that a significant amount of padding had been removed, later determined by the New York State Athletic Commission as two ounces.  The padding was removed from small holes made in the palms of each glove. As a consequence, Collins absorbed hundreds of nearly bare knuckle punches.

Subsequently both Resto and his trainer Carlos “Panama” Lewis were convicted of assault, conspiracy, and criminal possession of a deadly weapon. Both were banned from boxing for life. Resto received a sentence of one to three years, Lewis two to six. Both served two and a half years.

On Saturday, August 1, at 10:00-11:30 p.m. ET/PT, HBO Sports will debut the documentary of the ill fated fight in “Assault in the Ring.” The film will run all month on HBO, HBO2, and HBO On Demand.

“This film will revisit one of boxing’s saddest days,” said Rick Bernstein, an HBO executive producer along with HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg. “But it’s a compelling story that we feel needs to be told, because so many lives were changed forever on that night at Madison Square Garden. This is an in depth, comprehensive examination of that tragic event.”

Bernstein was right on point. However, despite the success of HBO with Greenburg and Bernstein in producing inspired sports documentaries, this piece clearly belongs to Eric Drath. Drath directed and narrated the story and also received screen credits as executive producer, writer, and even for his camera work. Drath had previously released a documentary entitled “Cornered” on the subject.

Under Drath’s direction, Resto almost becomes the most unlikely of sympathetic protagonists. Early in the film, the 25 year burden has Resto flowing in tears and saying that he wanted to commit suicide. He doesn’t want to live with this on his mind for the rest of his life, yet an emotional Resto says that he thinks about it every day.

On the flip side, a despairing Billy Collins Jr. began to suffer from depression and started drinking to excess. He may very well have actually committed suicide by driving off a cliff to his death close to his home in Tennessee.

The documentary appeared to be rather ambiguous on the topic of the multiple lawsuits by the Collins family, even suggesting that Billy Jr. didn’t fight again because Billy Sr. saw a bigger payoff in litigation. Even Bob Arum said that Billy was offered fights.

But Billy only lived nine months after the fight. Also, he suffered a torn iris that night and incurred permanently blurred vision because of it. It’s unfair to paint the Collins family as a greedy damage seeking clan. For what it is worth, all claims for damages were dismissed by the legal system over the years.

Drath’s persistence pays off and finally after 25 years, Resto admits his guilt in the matter. Further, he adds that not only did Panama Lewis remove padding from the glove, but his hand wraps were dipped in plaster before the fight as well.

And, to top it all off, Resto said that he drank an illegal stimulant in a water bottle mixed by Panama Lewis, the same Lewis who was caught on camera in the Aaron Pryor corner asking for the water bottle --“no, not that one, the one I mixed,” in Pryor’s first fight with Alexis Arguello, just prior to knocking out Arguello.

“When you’re tired, drink that and your lungs open up,” Resto says and adds that he used it in the Collins fight.

Lewis comes off in the film quite deservingly as a lowlife, most worthy of his lifetime ban. However, appallingly Lewis still works as a trainer. The lifetime ban keeps him out of the corners on fight night but doesn’t keep him from working with fighters in gyms. During the making of the film Lewis had trained Zab Judah for his fight with Miguel Cotto.

Panama Lewis continues to proclaim his innocence. In fact, he calls it a “double whammy” that they went to jail and lost their licenses too. He seems to have some type of spell over Resto, one that intimidates him. He belittles Resto behind his back and only gives interviews to Drath in return for cash.

Resto finally confronts Lewis on the glove incident with seemingly no affect. It’s touching to see him confessing his guilt to his mother and sister, then his estranged wife and sons.  He visits the site of Billy’s tragic accident, his gravesite, where he tells Billy he is sorry, and he also attempts to see Billy Sr., but is turned away. He does see Billy’s widow, and you feel the anguish of his tortured soul every step of the way.

You want to like him, particularly in comparison with the calculating Panama Lewis, who apparently has ice water running through his veins. Resto ponders what might have been, only a dream given his talent level, sounding much like Terry Malloy in “On the Waterfront,” further torturing himself. Still you know deep inside you can’t. His sin is simply too great to forgive. 

This retrospective of the tragedy of 26 years ago underscores the importance of protecting fighters in this brutal sport. It serves as a timely reminder of why it is “unforgivable” to allow one competitor to use illegal tactics that literally put another man’s health and safety in jeopardy.

Prior to losing his WBA welterweight crown to Shane Mosley last January, it was discovered in the dressing room that Antonio Margarito had a plaster like substance in his hand wraps. Margarito and his trainer Javier Capetillo received a minimum one year suspension from the California State Athletic Commission, after which they can reapply for their licenses.

Given the lesson learned from the Collins-Resto incident, we must at least ask - is a one year suspension justice, considering the crime?

Check out “Assault in the Ring” August 1 on HBO at 10:00 ET/PT. It might well be the best documentary of the year.