*Every great sports story needs a rival. But once somebody gets cast as the villain, how often do we bother learning who he was when the cameras stopped rolling?
For Amin Joseph, playing Sonny Liston in Prime Video’s The Greatest offered an opportunity to explore the man beyond his place in Muhammad Ali’s story. Speaking with EUR alongside Giovanni Ribisi, who portrays Ali’s trainer Angelo Dundee, Joseph explained why the material immediately stood out.
“I’ve never seen words on a page that treated Sonny Liston with this much humanity,” he said.
That humanity included something Joseph hadn’t expected: humor.
“I realized that, you know, he was a jokester,” Joseph shared.
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He also came away believing Liston participated in some of the theater surrounding his intimidating public image. Recalling Ali’s provocative promotional antics, Joseph suggested their dynamic had more layers than the familiar hero-and-villain framing allowed.
His interpretation raises an interesting question: When a fighter helps sell the spectacle, does the audience ever let him step out of character?
For Joseph, the role provided room to explore romance, isolation and the emotional contradictions of being celebrated for what you can do while feeling rejected for who you are.
He described the opportunity to portray “the vulnerability of being a man that is the heavyweight champion of the world, but feels like he’s a pariah to society.”
Across the conversation, Ribisi approached another complicated assignment: How do you coach Muhammad Ali without trying to edit Muhammad Ali?
His reading of Dundee starts with recognizing that extraordinary talent sometimes needs protection more than correction.
“It could be argued that no matter what, no matter who was in Muhammad Ali’s corner, he would have been Muhammad Ali,” Ribisi told EUR.
In Ribisi’s interpretation, Dundee helped keep outside pressures at bay while nurturing the fighter’s gifts. The affection mattered, too.
“I think he truly loved Muhammad Ali like a family member,” he said.
That included appreciating the wit and showmanship that made Ali compelling beyond boxing.
A trainer could see the genius in the personality without reaching for a mute button.
EUR also asked how these men’s public images might function in today’s world of constant access. Joseph imagined Liston using social media to address audiences directly.
“Sonny Liston probably would go straight to social media and claim his own identity,” he said.
It’s a hypothetical with a familiar sting. Visibility and control over your story aren’t always the same thing.
Together, the actors point toward a compelling reason to revisit Ali’s world: The people around a legend deserve more than supporting labels. A rival had vulnerabilities. A trainer understood when to make room. Those details give the larger story its human stakes.
All eight episodes of The Greatest premiere November 4, 2026, on Prime Video.
Jill Munroe is a Los Angeles-bred entertainment journalist, producer, and host. Follow her socials @StilettoJill or visit JillMunroe.com. Catch her live Mon-Thu on KBLA Talk 1580 from 6PM to 7PM.
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