Lawsuit
Former middleweight World Champion Joey Giardello sued the film's producers for libel over the depiction of his fight with Carter as a "racist fix." "This is a joke, he never hit me that much in 15 rounds. Virtually every boxing expert then and now will tell you I won the fight." Referee Robert Polis who scored the fight 72–66 in Giardello's favor stated: "They portrayed Joey Giardello as an incompetent fighter. I thought it was ludicrous." Even Carter himself agreed that Giardello was the rightful victor.
Eventually, the case was settled out of court, with the producers paying the retired champion a hefty sum and Jewison's agreement to make a statement on the DVD version that "Giardello no doubt was a great fighter."
Read more about this topic: The Hurricane (1999 film)