The little manager thought of Mae and the children. "OK," he
said. "I'll tape your hand double." Gould knew that double-taping
was against the rules, too. "Keep your left hand in his face and,
when you can, hit him with a big right. If you finish early, I'll buy
you an ice cream!"
He led the boxer past the crowd toward the ring. This crowd
was very different from the one at Madison Square Garden years
earlier. These people looked poorer and hungrier.
As Jim climbed into the ring, a radio reporter spoke into a
microphone. "Just five years ago, Jim Braddock was thought to be
ready to fight for the world heavyweight title. But he has lost ten
fights in the last year."
The crowd started to shout louder when Abe Feldman walked
toward the ring, punching the air.
"Now Braddock fights Feldman," continued the radio man, "a
young fighter who has won seventeen times and lost just once."
Jim froze. This was the boxer Joe's grandmother could beat?
Feldman was the crowd's favorite. He was young and
handsome, like Braddock had been years earlier when he had an
unbroken nose and two pretty ears. Braddock's gloves fell to his
sides.
Joe pulled Jim's gloves back up. "Jimmy, what are you going to
do?"
Jim closed his eyes and everything went away—the crowd's
shouts, Mae's worried looks, Ben's gun, Jay's silent tears, all the
mistakes of the last four years. He opened his eyes.
"I'm going to get an ice cream!"
•
Feldman's glove hit Braddock in the face, a hard punch. Jim tried
to hit back, but Feldman blocked his punches.
'Come on, Jimmy!" cried Gould from the corner. The manager
was sweating almost as much as Braddock, as he jabbed the air
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and shouted advice. But Braddock could only think about the
pain of Feldman's punches. The younger man hit him again and
again, but none of Braddock's punches seemed to hit Feldman,
who danced around his opponent easily. Suddenly, Feldman threw
a combination of punches that threw Braddock back onto the
ropes. The crowd began to boo.
"Don't just stand there!" shouted Gould.
Braddock saw an opening in Feldman's defenses and threw a
right cross. It hit the fighter's chin and knocked him back. Jim
stepped in to finish his opponent, but Feldman put his head down
as Braddock threw his big punch. The leather glove hit the top of
Feldman's head. There was a sound of bone on bone. The pain
in Braddock's right hand was terrible. He held on to Feldman as
the bell announced the end of the round. The referee had to send
both fighters back to their corners.
Gould quickly took Braddock's right glove off. Even under all
the tape, he could see that the hand was really broken.
"I can't let you continue," he said.
Jim thought of the prize money. "I can use my left," he said.
"Don't let Feldman get too close," said Gould, quickly tying the
glove back up. "Do what you can with your left."
But Braddock had never had a left-hand punch. Now he
couldn't even block with his right, and his feet felt heavy and slow.
Punch after punch fell on him.
Time usually slowed down for Jim in the ring, but now it was
flying past. He began to throw out his left hand in wild jabs. These
missed, but then one punch hit Feldman on the chin and hurt
him. Again, the two boxers held on to each other. The crowd
began to boo again and shout insults: "Go home!"
Braddock decided that maybe he had one more good right
punch in him. He pulled his arm back and threw the punch. It
hurt Feldman, but the pain was much worse for Braddock. Under
the double tape, his right hand was completely broken. Feldman
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