The story was inspired by the article "Resurrecting the Champ" by J.R. Moehringer which appeared in the Los Angeles Times Magazine in 1997; although the article indeed purportedly focused on Bob Satterfield, there are various other differences with the true story. Moehringer had no children, and his father was not well-known though he did abandon his family when the writer was an infant.
In the original article in the LA times, the gentleman who first makes the journalist question the truth of "the champ's" identity is Ernie Terrell, a heavyweight contender who is perhaps most famous for being severely beaten by Muhammad Ali, after Terrell had refused to refer to Ali by his new name at the weigh-in for their fight, instead addressing Ali by his former name of Cassius Clay.
When Erik leaves Champ at the house they were conversing in front of, Champ is shown standing on the curb as he contemplates knocking on the door of the house. Then, as Erik is driving away, he looks into his rear-view mirror, and Champ is instantly shown standing in the middle of the street instead of on the curb.
Youth:
[Clenching fists]
Come on, Champ, let's go! Right now!
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Erik Kernan Jr.: [about Champ]
He's not a bum. He's homeless.
In an article about the film Los Angeles Times reporter Dana Parsons has said that the film largely distorts the actual events. In the film the reporter, Kernan Jr. (who works for a major Denver paper), does not learn that Satterfield is an impersonator until after the article is published and then seriously considers ignoring this fact for the sake of his burgeoning career. In reality the actual reporter, J.R. Moehringer, did extensive research and discovered the boxer's true identity long before any article was ever published. Moehringer then changed the focus of the article to "describe how he'd been duped." [7] Parsons goes on to express irritation that the film depicted journalism in such a disparaging light.http://articles.latimes.com/2007/aug/30/local/me-parsons30