Denzel Washington & the Top ‘Equalizer’ Moments in Combat Sports - Part 1

Everyone loves a comeback. The hero lying on the ground, blinking away the blood and sweat while his enemy gloats, relishing an imminent victory.

All is lost, we think.

Only, wait… did you catch that sudden glint in our hero’s eyes? No, that wasn’t hope. It was desperation. A madness that overwhelms at the moment of defeat, when there’s nothing to lose. Nothing left but shame, injury, or worse.

A precipice, you might say. This is the moment that historic fights are founded on. A turning point that months and years later, seems destined.

Fight fans know this, just as filmmakers know, which is why in the movie biz it’s called the ‘all is lost’ moment. And without it, the hero’s victory lacks that exultant bliss that lingers for days after watching those come-from-behind battles.

The Equalizer

, which opens in theaters September 26, features Denzel Washington as Robert McCall, a man who believes he has put his mysterious past behind him and dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. Unlike your typical action hero, he's a complex character—a literate bookworm working as an associate at a big-box hardware store. But when McCall meets Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz), a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by—he has to help her. Armed with hidden skills that allow him to serve vengeance against anyone who would brutalize the helpless, McCall comes out of his self-imposed retirement and finds himself at the crossroads, forced to choose a life of civility, or the hero’s journey.

How are the fight scenes? More Krav Maga than Tae Kwon Do, in the heat of battle McCall shuns sportsmanship and butts heads, gouges eyes, and utilizes whatever utensils lie within reach, including a pair of corkscrews, to quickly dispense of the minions.

Unfortunately (for McCall, not us), an equally-skilled Russian operative (Teddy, played by Marton Csokas) arrives to stem the bleeding, and before long he’s got McCall blinking away the blood and sweat, wondering if this is the end.

The scene is reminiscent of Muhammad Ali during his most famous bout,

The Rumble in the Jungle

: in 1974, between rounds Ali stared across the ring at the monstrous, George Foreman, who’d just pummeled him at the start of their fight in Zaire. Make no mistake, Foreman was a killer. He’d amassed a 40-0 record by KO’ing nearly every opponent, including Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, and most fans thought this was the end for Ali.

Norman Mailer, one of America’s greatest writers, summed up Ali’s ‘all is lost’ moment in the documentary,

When We Were Kings

: “[T]he nightmare he'd been awaiting in the ring had finally come to visit. He was in the ring with a man he could not dominate. Who was stronger than him. Who was not afraid of him. Who was going to try and knock him out. Who punched harder than Ali could punch. This man was determined and unstoppable. Ali had a look on his face that I'll never forget—the only time I ever saw fear in Ali's eyes… Then [Ali] nodded to himself… as if looking into the eyes of his maker… [then] he turned to the crowd [raised his hand] and said, 'Ali, bomaye!' [translation = Ali kill him] And 100,000 people all yelled, 'ALI BOMAYE!’

But that wasn’t the turning point. Foreman again lumbered across the canvas, backing Ali into the ropes—the last bastion of the losing fighter. Ali absorbed blows. Tried to tie up Foreman’s arms. Ducking and throwing when possible. No way he could endure this onslaught much longer.

"You don't go to the ropes—yet there he was, leaning way back," remarked George Plimpton, another highly-regarded American literati who was sitting ringside: "It looked as though he were being set up for the kill.”

Yet Ali, blinking away the blood and sweat, all of hope of redemption fading, did endure. Endured those brutal body shots until Foreman, inch by inch, dropped his arms, punching slower. Huffing for breath.

This was the infamous Rope-a-Dope, the corkscrew that Ali reached for in desperation, and jammed into the sockets of Foreman’s resolve. Exhausted, no longer able to defend himself, much less throw an effective punch, Foreman stumbled, flailing for another shot. Like the special operative he was, Ali zeroed in and dropped him with a barrage.

K-fucking-O, 2:58 of the 8th round!

In

The Equalizer

—I’m not going to spoil the ending—but Denzel faces just such a dark moment. Only, unlike Ali, it ain’t the Rope-a-Dope he employs.

The fight scenes are savage and innovative, much cooler than typical summer fare. Check it out, and check back next week for Part II of this Throw Down Thursday series.