Plot
Erik Kernan Jr. (Hartnett) is a young fledgling journalist employed by The Denver Times. Frustrated, Kernan struggles with his supervising editor Ralph Metz (Alda) over rudimentary coverage for his sports-related articles. Metz views Kernan's editorial work as bland and uninspiring considering his recently deceased father was a famous sportscaster. Kernan is separated from his wife, Joyce (Morris), who also works at the newspaper, and worries that he might be losing touch with their young son, Teddy (Goyo).
In an alley near the Denver Coliseum, three rowdy young men taunt an elderly homeless man (Jackson), who calls himself "Champ" and claims to have been a professional boxer. As the men begin to assault him, Kernan, leaving a boxing match he was covering at the venue, comes to his aid. Eventually, Kernan learns that Champ was once a famous former heavyweight boxing contender, Bob Satterfield. Most people though believe Satterfield died awhile back.
During an interview with a magazine publisher named Whitley (Paymer), Kernan informs him that he has an influential story about the former boxer Satterfield, who's now a homeless man living on the streets using the moniker Champ. Though at the same time, Champ is reluctant to cooperate for any biographical piece. In order to gain Champ's confidence for the chronicle, Kernan recruits an associate at the newspaper, Polly (Nichols), to assist him in retrieving information about his past.
The magazine ultimately publishes Kernan's article. It wins applause from readers and journalists alike. The story even draws the attention of a TV personality from Showtime, Flak (Hatcher), who boldly suggests it should be nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. But the intense publicity brings Kernan into contact with elderly folk who knew Satterfield personally, and are adamant that he's no longer alive. Kernan later learns that Champ is in fact a lesser known boxing contender, Tommy Kincaid, whom Satterfield once defeated in the ring. He makes a conscious choice and decides to inform his editors about the profile error. However, before he can do so, he learns that he and the newspaper are being sued by Satterfield's son, Robert (Lennix). Satterfield Jr. is angered, since it had been long known to a number of people that Champ had a lengthy history of impersonating his father. Metz derides Kernan for not having done due diligence in examining Champ's authenticity concerning his past.
Satterfield Jr. is later appeased with a proposal by Kernan to write another article retracting his mistake and include personal journalistic material about the elder Satterfield which he long wanted someone to articulate about. Kernan is also gratified with knowing that his young son Teddy will be proud of his father even if he does not know the famous people he once claimed to know.
Read more about this topic: Resurrecting The Champ
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