Jim's name wasn't even on the sign, but he didn't care. Two
hundred and fifty dollars and the chance to punch something real
were the only things on his mind.
Joe Gould didn't know what to think about the fight. The
manager had tried to get Braddock back in the ring since the time
Jim had walked around the boxing club with his hat in his hand.
Joe had pushed his way into Jimmy Johnston's office again and
again, trying to get Jim a fight.
He had been outside Johnston's office when the fight organizer
got the bad news about Griffin's opponent, just two days before
the big fight. This left Johnston with a problem. Griffin was a
promising young star in the boxing world, and Johnston wanted
to get the New York sports world interested in him. The young
Southern boxer needed to beat a fighter in the city who had once
been a big name. Now it seemed that Jim Braddock was the right
choice—especially as Braddock's manager was waiting outside
Johnston's office.