Cinderella Man Page #4

with Griffin without training.

So I told them use the angle

Griffin's gonna knock out a guy...

never been knocked out.

You're meat, Jimmy.

Are you on the level, Joe?

Come on. Always.

For $250,

I would fight your wife.

Now you're dreaming.

And your grandmother.

At the same time.

Teeth in or teeth out?

Take them out.

Then you're dead.

You're down, you're gone.

No chance.

$250?

Get your programs here!

Programs here! 25 cents!

I mean, for Christ's sake,

you never been knocked out.

Who the hell goes

and sells his gear?

How soon they forget!

I'm so sorry.

Borrowed gear, borrowed robe.

Knock yourself out.

Joe.

I might as well get an Aooga horn

and chase him around the ring.

That's good.

You been drinking?

Are you trying to

hurt my feelings?

You're just too loose. You're

spooking me. Sharpen up.

Come on, Joe, we both

know what this is, right?

I get to put a little more distance

between my kids and the street...

and I get to say good-bye

at the Garden.

Full house,

night of a big fight.

Thank you very much.

Right. Come on, hurry up.

Let's get the lead

out of here.

What the hell was that?

They ran out of soup

on the line this morning.

Ran out of soup

on the line this morning.

How the hell are you supposed

to fight on an empty stomach?

Good evening.

Welcome to tonight's broadcast of

the Primo Carnera/Max Baer fight...

for the heavyweight

championship of the world!

Hash is all they had, okay?

Eat, quick.

You got a spoon? For

Christ's sake, it's not there?

Come on, we gotta go anyway.

One bite, Joe.

I'll eat it with my fingers.

Whoa, hey!

I don't have time

to re-tape you.

Just sit tight,

and I'll find you a spoon.

For Christ's sake.

Is that a ghost I'm seeing?

An apparition?

Or is that James J. Braddock,

the Bulldog of Bergen?

How you feeling, Jimmy?

How's that right hand?

Braddock, you're up!

Sporty Lewis, how you doing?

How you doing?

July 18, 1929.

New York Herald.

"Proving he was too young

and too green...

"and rushed to the top...

"Loughran wiped the ring

with the Bulldog's career.

"A sad and somber funeral...

with the body

still breathing. "

I don't fight the fights, Jimmy,

I just write about them, see?

Sporty, save the crap

for the customers.

Who's Jim Braddock?

Go get your pencil out, kid.

I got your lead line for you.

Go ahead, I'm not kidding,

write this down.

"The walk from the locker room

to the ring...

was the only time tonight

old Jim Braddock... "

Looking good, Jimmy!

"... was seen on his feet. "

You got that?

Before tonight's championship

battle, we'll bring you...

a special bout featuring

Charlie Harvey's soldier boy...

Corn Griffin.

Griffin is the fella

that ran rings...

around the champion Carnera

in training.

And who's his opponent?

Looks like they dug old Jim

Braddock out of retirement...

at least for one more fight.

Hey, Mike! Griffin

is up in the ring now.

Braddock? Isn't that your

buddy? Look at the size of him!

In this corner...

the sensational

heavyweight slugger...

from Fort Benning, Georgia...

who is punching a path

to the top of the division.

John "Corn" Griffin!

His opponent:

The popular battler...

who has never been KO'ed in more

than 80 professional bouts...

Quincy, beer. We got a fight!

...the power-punching

veteran...

from North Bergen,

New Jersey...

James J. Braddock!

The skinny from

the reporters at ringside...

is that Braddock

won't last two rounds.

Griffin is a five-to-one

favorite to do just that.

But Joe Gould claims

Braddock's right hand is fine.

Jimmy will need

two good hands tonight.

Griffin storms out

of his corner!

Things are uptempo right away.

Come on, Braddock,

make a fight of it!

Get out of it! Get out, Jimmy!

Braddock takes a left

to the body

and a hard right to the head!

Braddock's giving ground now.

A hard right!

Pins him in

the neutral corner.

Get outta there, Jim! Get out!

Griffin's all over him!

Braddock taking hard jabs.

And Braddock is down.

Shut up! I wanna hear this!

Shut up!

Jim? You're fine.

Stay down.

One. Two.

Stay down! What's the hurry?

Three. Four.

Hey! Listen.

I liked the left. Try two lefts. Five.

Give him two lefts!

Six.

Pop, pop! Double it up.

Seven.

How 'bout it? Up, up.

Eight.

What the hell are you doing?

Let's go.

Nine.

Yeah, come on, Jimmy!

On your feet, come on!

The referee waving Griffin in.

Move in on that.

Nice move!

Bring him in!

Snaps a stiff jab! Another!

Welcome to New York.

Beautiful!

That's more like it!

Let me see that cut.

You look great!

It sure as hell beats working

on the docks!

Say, the two jabs look

sensational! They look sweet!

Now, he's loading up on you.

You see that?

He opens up after you jab him. You

gotta come in there with a right.

Real quick.

But you gotta stop

some of those left hands.

You see any

getting past my head?

Keep moving!

Griffin still winging

big shots.

He wants to be the first

to stop Braddock.

Braddock gets in

another big right hand!

Snapped Griffin's head back

with that one.

Come on!

Griffin loading up.

Move out!

Give him the slip, Jimmy!

Another big flurry by Griffin!

Braddock hanging tough but,

folks, he is taking a beating!

That's two rounds more than

I thought he was gonna go.

He's a half a step behind you.

Do you feel it?

Stick with it.

Busy, busy.

Six minutes of fury so far.

Braddock has the look of a man

trying to hold back an avalanche.

Griffin hits him with a left.

And Braddock is stepping

in post holes.

Keep him in front of you!

Lure him in, Jim.

Jimmy's finally

moving his head.

Pick your spot!

And Griffin is down!

Where the hell have you been,

Jimmy Braddock?

One. Two. Three.

He's up at three.

The referee wipes his gloves.

That's it!

No daylight!

Take it to him!

Another big right by Braddock!

Finish him, Jimmy!

Knock him back

to the goddamn Ozarks!

Griffin is ready to go!

Be careful.

Get back.

Get back there.

Get back in your corner.

Jimmy!

This fight is over!

This is incredible!

Corn Griffin, the number two

contender in the world...

has just been knocked out by

Jim Braddock in the third round!

What an upset!

You son of a b*tch!

It's pandemonium here

in the Garden!

That's it, man, he did it!

I don't believe it!

You beautiful bastard!

Settle down,

for Christ's sake!

Jesus H. Christ!

Jesus, Mary and Joseph,

Mary Magdalene...

all the saints and martyrs

and Jesus!

Did I say "Jesus"?

Where the hell did

that come from?

I don't know.

When my hand was broke...

I had to work down on the

docks and I had to use my left.

So, what?

No, that and luck.

Luck?

Sheer dumb-ass Irish luck.

Don't give me that

luck-of-the-Irish crap. No, sir.

Lucky? That's something you ain't

been in a long time, brother.

Everybody's due.

Due or not, I'll take it.

You had the left.

The left. But you were bouncy.

You were bouncing.

Unbelievable. Sliding,

slipping. You were like a cat.

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