Body and Soul Page #6

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-Leon, it's :
00 in the morning.

-Will you let me in? Please.

I need to talk to you, Julie.

You're soaking wet.

-You want some tea?

-Tea?

No, I don't want any tea.

-I wanna talk to you.

-Talk.

It's just all come tumbling down,

that's all.

I can't train, my body's not right...

my head's not right.

There's no way I can win this fight.

Big Man...

he's got himself

a new moneymaker now.

He's betting against me.

He gave me $200,000...

to bet against myself.

That, and my end of the gate...

it's all I got. So I'll throw the fight.

If you want me to agree with you,

you've come to the wrong place.

You'd never agree to nothing wrong.

That's not what I came over to tell you.

Would you at least come

and sit next to me?

This money...

it's enough for Kelly's expenses,

and her happiness.

Other than that, nothing else matters

too much anymore...

except for you, Julie.

Julie, I need you.

I'm not strong enough for this.

Please don't do this to me.

If you care anything at all about me,

you wouldn't do this...

because this might be easy to you...

but it took me a long time

to get you out of my system.

I don't play with hearts the way you do.

-I love you.

-Don't.

You want me to beg?

Okay, I'm begging. I love you.

-Got up early this morning?

-I had a lot to do.

And I know you don't like yogurt.

Speaking of doing,

did you put our money in a safe place?

Did you really mean

what you said last night?

I mean, about us.

Yes. I did.

I could never love a man who would

take money to throw his own fight.

But I love you.

So I went to Big Man's office

this morning...

and I told him

that you didn't need his leech money...

and I threw it back at him.

You're just testing me.

No, you really didn't.

You had no right.

Don't you understand

it's the only guarantee I had?

You don't understand business, Julie.

I understand business enough

to borrow against everything I own:

the money, my car, this house.

And I put it on a bet

for Leon the Lover to win.

-You must've gone crazy.

-So you're mad?

Go ahead and be mad.

You can go back to Big Man's...

and retake the money,

and bet against yourself again...

but I bet every cent that I have

on my man to win.

So now what are you gonna do?

I'll show you how to jab.

Take that jab straight up.

Don't wait for it.

Come on! Got you going now.

What you gonna do?

Go, champ, go!

What are you doing here?

-You look good.

-I don't know.

Wait a minute.

What are we doing here? Let's go!

Run it out. Come on.

Come on. Good time, baby.

-A little slow.

-What are you talking about?

I got my strength back.

I got my family back.

With you,

I can whip just about anybody.

Well, maybe.

-Where are you going?

-I'm gonna work out.

Now? Why don't you just relax, baby?

I can't. I'll be at the gym.

One-two, one-two,

one-two-three, one-two-three.

Stick him.

It's almost morning.

I don't know, Julie.

Even if I were in the top best shape...

I don't know if I could beat him.

Yet I want to so bad.

It's not him I'm against.

It's just everything else tied up in it.

God. I want it so bad.

I know.

It's still not too late.

Be smart. Take your money.

You know, Big Man, you got a genius

for figuring out everybody's weakness.

Girls, pride, dope,

give them what they want.

The more you give them,

the more you can call the shots.

Nobody's ever figured out

what could get to you.

Nobody's ever said "no."

I'm not throwing this damn fight.

I'm betting to win.

Then I'm looking for the big boys

to take you both on a one-way trip...

-when you can't cover your bets.

-You'll die.

Probably still running your big mouth.

You wanna kill me?

Go ahead. Everybody dies.

One thing I learned from my sister:

It ain't dying that's bad...

it's how you do it.

Forget it.

He still don't have a chance in hell.

Ali!

Leon the Lover!

Here he is, Leon the Lover,

the Golden Boy.

He's made what some call a dirty

sport into his personal showcase.

Looks like he took lessons

from Ziegfeld, Barnum and Bailey...

and the great Muhammad Ali

in showmanship.

Undefeated, untied,

and to many folks, still untested.

You know, they refer to him

as a "showboat cheesecake."

They feel he didn't pay any dues,

it came to him too easy.

Maybe he just made it look that way,

Eddie.

But tonight,

we've got a new Leon the Lover.

Serious, deadly earnest, no jokes...

a silent, serious Leon the Lover.

Thank you for telling me to come.

I want him to know I'm here,

I'm rooting for him.

Good, have a seat.

Kelly, sit next to Mama, okay?

We got the bell for Round 1.

As you can see,

there's no feeling each other out...

no fancy strategy.

Both men hungry for a win...

come out fighting.

Ricardo, head down like a fullback,

charging into Leon.

Rope-a-dope, come on.

You heard what I told you.

-No knock down, just dirty fighting.

-Yes, it is, Eddie.

He's manhandling Leon.

Over the course of 15 rounds,

it's got to take its toll.

Get up, n*gger!

Show me something.

I came to fight a man.

I thought we'd see more movement,

more involvement from Leon...

the fastest hands and feet

in the West...

but where are they tonight?

A tremendous blow knocks out

the Lover's mouthpiece.

He's wobbly. Could go down.

Ricardo's fighting like a madman.

He's deranged, man.

He's gotta be on something.

He's on something, all right.

He's on Leon's ass.

You're right about that.

Leon the Lover is in big trouble.

He's trying to hold on,

and he's taking a terrible beating.

A tremendous Ricardo right,

and the Lover's down.

Replace the referee!

The Lover is dazed, sleepwalking.

He doesn't know where he is.

A tremendous club to the head

throws Leon hard to the canvas.

-He may not get up.

-You've got to get up!

Stay away from him!

Six, seven, eight.

And he's up. Just barely.

But two knockdowns

in the first round...

one more like that,

and this fight's over early.

-How many fingers?

-Three.

-What day is it?

-I didn't know when I walked in here.

-Where are you?

-In one hell of a fight, but it's not over.

Keep your guard up!

Hold on! Rope-a-dope!

Badly beaten, the Lover is being

helped, almost carried, to his corner.

-You all right? Can you make it?

-I gotta make it.

I just didn't know

which one of them it was.

I'm gonna fight

all three of those bastards.

It's the beginning of Round 2.

It's starting off like the last one.

Ricardo, mauling and manhandling

Leon the Lover almost at will.

This is no ring boxing.

This is back-alley brawling.

-Butt him in the head.

-Come on, Leon!

Twenty-five years of announcing,

and never anything like this.

This is a disgrace.

Why doesn't the referee stop this?

Ricardo should be disqualified,

this fight should be stopped.

We got no referee here!

This is utterly unbelievable,

a sad day for the sport of boxing.

You can't treat my baby like that.

What a tremendous beating,

in fact, an unnecessary beating...

as Leon is literally dragged

to his corner.

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