Fernando Decillis/PEACOCK

‘Fight Night’ Creator Shaye Ogbonna on His Real-Life Connections to the Heist: ‘It Came From a Personal Place for Me’

10 Oct 2024, 22:30 by Aramide Tinubu · Variety

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains plot details for Peacock’s “Fight Night”

In the sixth and final episode of “Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist,” viewers learn the shocking truth. A twist reveals that New Jersey gangster Richard “Cadillac Richie” Wheeler (Terrance Howard), who appeared to be a victim of the brazen robbery, was the mastermind behind the entire endeavor. His attempt to usurp Frank ‘Black Godfather’ Moten’s (Samuel L. Jackson) position nearly prevented Atlanta from transforming into the Black Mecca.

Based on Jeff Keating’s true-crime podcast of the same name, Peacock’s “Fight Night,” created by Shaye Ogbonna, is based on the real-life heist following Muhammad Ali’s triumphant return to the boxing ring in 1970. The fight would relaunch Ali into the boxing stratosphere following his blacklisting over his refusal to be drafted into the Vietnam War. However, the day following the fight, the robbery, a hustler named Chicken Man (Kevin Hart) and Atlanta’s first Black detective, J.D. Hudson (Don Cheadle), were front page news.

Ogbonna’s star-studded and evocative series brings this little-known story from Black Atlanta lore to life, while immersing its audience in the specificity of the culture, texture and events that occurred some five decades ago. “This show is about people that were born too early,” the creator/showrunner says.

Recently, Ogbonna spoke with Variety about his personal connections to the heist, why Muhammad Ali is such a significant figure in the series and Debbie Allen’s iconic cameo.

As an Atlantan who spent his formative years in the city, you’ve said you didn’t know about the heist until recently. Why do you think it was such a coveted secret?

Local African-American stories connected to a place tend to be orally told. You won’t find it in a book. You’re not going to see it on TV or in the news. All I knew was that Ali had a fight in Atlanta, and I barely knew about that. I didn’t know its ramifications until I heard about this project. Once I listened to the podcast, I went home and asked my aunties, uncles and friends about it. Everybody knew about it.

Can you share any personal connections you have to the heist?

I’ll just tell you this: I found out that I have a connection to Chicken Man in my own family. Also, people close to me have told me that they knew one of the robbers. I’m still finding these connections that validate the choice to tell this story about community and about adding humanity to everyone, not just our main people or our victims.

Though the Muhammad Ali fight is just the backdrop for the story, why did you decide to follow him for the first three episodes of the series?

It came from a personal place for me. Ali lit the torch at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, and I remember people crying, but I didn’t get it. I was very young, and the Ali I saw growing up wasn’t the Ali who was vilified by his whole country for choosing not to join the war effort because of his religious beliefs. It was important to explore that through his relationship with Atlanta. He comes to this city and sees the energy, which connects with the type of person he is as an aspirational Black man. This is probably the most pivotal time in his life. He’s not this larger-than-life figure. He’s up against the system he feels is created to destroy him. I was interested in exploring that idea. He came back [to Atlanta] several times. He came back during the child murders, and some of our most pivotal moments.

You chose to unveil this story through the eyes of Chicken Man and Det. Hudson. Why was it important to position them as the anchors of “Fight Night”?

Both men are polarizing elements of my community on opposite sides of the law. But they’re both fathers; they’re both community men. Episode 6, “Community Men,” is one of my favorite episodes. J.D. and Chicken are in the community trying to solve this thing. It’s important to me to show Black men with pride, trying to mentor and protect the community. A hustler and a lawman must unite to save the city; that’s a Western. For me, their stories are like a two-hander, because both men are driving our show.

The texture of “Fight Night,” from the set design to the costuming, is so authentic. Can you talk about working with your department heads to ensure everything was accurate?

Being from the community, I’ve got to be able to come back and walk these streets. I can’t articulate my love for Atlanta; it’s just in my bones. If you notice, almost everybody on this show is trying to level up: That’s Atlanta. The most important thing for me was to get that kind of energy and theme regarding dialogue and everything else. I wish I could take credit for Ernesto’s [Martinez] amazing work with wardrobe. What Toni Barton did with production design, what Lawrence [Davis] and Duwana [Harris] did with hair, we had a fantastic team of craftspeople who got what we were trying to do, and they came through.

Terrence Howard as Cadillac RichieCourtesy of Fernando Decillis/PEACOCK

In Episode 6, the audience learns that Cadillac is the mastermind behind the heist. Is that accurate in real life?

Frank Moten was always of the mindset that Cadillac Richie did the robbery, but the real Cadillac Richie is a little bit different than our Cadillac Richie; the real Cadillac Richie was more of a stickup kid. We just made him more of a Mafia figure. But the consensus from the people who were involved was that Cadillac Richie came down to the fight, and left. He clearly was trying to show he had an alibi. Ultimately, Cadillac perished. I think it might’ve been connected to a revenge thing for the robbery.

Let’s talk about casting Debbie Allen as Cadillac’s mother. That was perfect casting. How did you get her to agree to come on board?

It just worked out. She came in, we hugged and she said, “Baby, can we put that line back in? I was looking forward to saying that line.” I was originally going to cut that last line where she says, “That licorice-chewing motherfucker.” I said, “Ms. Debbie Allen, we can do whatever you want.” She was just light.

As the creator, what makes you most proud about “Fight Night”?

I grew up watching “Uptown Saturday Night,” “Boomerang” and “Coming to America,” these iconic pieces of entertainment where we come together and have fun. I’ve always wanted to contribute to that. I hope it sparks more of these types of stories.

This interview has been edited and condensed.