FIGHT FILMS: THE CHAMP (1979)

FIGHT FILMS: THE CHAMP (1979)

Jon Voight plays Billy Flynn, an ex-champion boxer who was KO'd by booze and gambling. When the wealthy, estranged mother of Flynn's young son begins trying to lure the boy away from him, Flynn must return to the ring to provide for his child.

A young Rick Schroder makes his debut in this tearjerker from director Franco Zeffirelli. Jon Voight plays Billy Flynn, a former champion boxer now given to drinking, gambling, and raising his son T.J. (Schroder, billed here as Ricky) as best he can.

The ups and downs of the devoted codependent pair might be enough movie on their own, but soon enough Annie (Faye Dunaway) shows up and displays a strangely protective interest in T.J.

Though the plot jumps around too much to quite hold together, The Champ is certainly affecting, and all three leads take the film so earnestly that somehow it works.

Voight is believable both as a boxer and as a well-intentioned screwup of a dad, and Schroder is a fine young actor.