The 1996 movie The Great White Hype stars Samuel L. Jackson, Peter Berg, Damon Wayans, Jeff Goldblum, Jon Lovitz, Cheech Marin, John Rhys-Davies and Jamie Foxx .
The movie is loosely based on the Larry Holmes/Gerry Cooney fight of 1983, and the concept is based on the Henry Tillman/Mike Tyson amateur fights during the boxoffs for the United States American team. The name is a play on the title of the 1970 film, The Great White Hope.
The film was distributed by 20th Century Fox.
When the champ's promoter, Rev. Sultan, decides something new is needed to boost the marketability of the boxing matches, he searches and finds the only man to ever beat the champ. The problem is that he isn't a boxer anymore and he's white. However, once Rev. Sultan convinces him to fight, he goes into heavy training while the confident champ takes it easy and falls out of shape. Written by P. Wong
