Walter Hill is an accomplished director whose career has seen its fair share of ups (“48 Hrs.,” “The Long Riders,” writing duties on the first three “Alien” films), downs (“Another 48 Hrs.,” “Johnny Handsome”) and points in between (“Southern Comfort,” “The Warriors”). While “Undisputed” isn’t exactly a high, it is a gripping, tidy little movie that takes Hill higher than he’s been in awhile.

The setup is simple: heavyweight boxing champ George “Iceman” Chambers (Ving Rhames) is sent to the spanking-new Sweetwater maximum-security prison after a rape conviction.

It isn’t long before he catches wind of Monroe Hutchen (Wesley Snipes), a pugilist and Zen warrior of sorts serving a life sentence for murder who has been the top-ranking champ in the prison boxing program for 10 years. He’s the hero of fellow inmates, the pride of Sweetwater. Being the new alpha male on C block, Iceman unable to defend or enjoy his champion status on the outside decides on the next best thing.

Enter Emmanuel “Mendy” Ripstein (Peter Falk), a mobster doing time for tax evasion whose gangland ties and experience as a boxing promoter reach all the way back to Batista’s Cuba.

Smelling a chance to promote one last great fight, he pulls strings with the mob and Department of Corrections to arrange a face-off between the heavyweight champion of the world and an unbeaten newcomer.

It’s all straightforward and predictable (there’s only a modicum of doubt as to who will win), but it’s fun to watch the drama play out toward its inevitable conclusion and one heck of a slugfest. Hill’s chops as an action director are still sharp, and a number of the blows are real (albeit restrained).