[3] The film centers on a fictionalized former athlete portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson, living on the streets of Denver, who attempts to impersonate the life and career of former professional heavyweight boxer Bob Satterfield.

With its initial foray into the home video marketplace; the widescreen DVD edition of the film featuring theatrical trailers, cast and crew interviews, and commentary with director Lurie among other highlights, was released in the United States on April 8, 2008.

Frustrated, Kernan struggles with his supervising editor Ralph Metz concerning rudimentary coverage of his articles related to professional sports.

In an alley near the Denver Coliseum, three rowdy young men taunt an elderly homeless man, who calls himself "Champ" and claims to have been a professional boxer.

To gain Champ's confidence for the chronicle, Kernan recruits an associate at the newspaper, Polly, to assist him in retrieving information about his past.

Meanwhile, Champ finally gets his chance against real former heavyweight champion boxer—and former opponent of both Satterfield and Kincaid—Rocky Marciano, who taunts him into a fight, a “sparring match” for their “comeback”.

Champ wins the fight, proclaiming victory under his real name and title, but tragically suffers a heart attack and dies alone in the streets.

He’s given a proper Christian burial; understandably it’s a small attendance, but it’s filled with people who genuinely cared for him (including his ex-wife Betty).

He decides to continue his job as a journalist, he and Joyce reconcile, they have another son together, and Teddy begins teaching his little brother what Champ taught him.

"[14] Left a bit impressed, J.R. Jones writing in the Chicago Reader, surmised how actor Hartnett "really connects with the role of a dull-witted but grandly ambitious Denver Post reporter who hits on a great story when he crosses paths with a foggy homeless man (Samuel L. Jackson) who claims he's fearsome heavyweight boxer.

"[15] In a mixed to positive review, Carrie Rickey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, relayed that motion picture "has morals that Winston Churchill and Jake LaMotta both could love.

"[16] Stephen Holden of The New York Times, emphatically expressed that the film "captures the hard-boiled tone of a big-city newsroom almost perfectly."

Writing for Entertainment Weekly, film critic Lisa Schwarzbaum viewed the filmmakers as not content enough "to make this a story of two imperfect men.

Instead, speechy monologues on the responsibilities of journalism, the particular evil of infotainment (represented by Teri Hatcher as a she-devil from Showtime), and the gooey sanctity of the bond between fathers and sons all but nullify Jackson's zesty performance.

"[18] In similar fashion, columnist Joanne Kaufman writing for The Wall Street Journal emphasized, "Samuel L. Jackson is a knock-out as a broken-down, boozed-up former boxer in the fact-based 'Resurrecting the Champ.'

"[19] In the Chicago Sun-Times, noted film critic Roger Ebert voiced his enthusiasm with the picture observing, "There are developments in this movie that I don't want to hint at, especially since they surprised me, and you should have the same pleasure.

"[13] Columnist Marjorie Baumgarten of The Austin Chronicle professed that the film was "a sentimental drama about fathers and sons and the emotional distances between them.

"[20] 'Resurrecting the Champ,' which is never short of mesmerizing when Mr. Jackson is on screen — in fairness, he's got all the good lines — loses power when, by dint of a plot twist, attention turns to the none-too-compelling Erik.

[21] John Anderson writing in Variety took a neutral position exclaiming, "Although helmer Rod Lurie circles a lot of thorny issues in this morality tale of a middleweight contender-turned-homeless vagrant and the reporter who rescues him from obscurity, the plan of attack is overly sentimentalized and the execution is slack.