Resurrecting The Champ Page #4

---

Merry Christmas

to all you boys and some girls.

This is Erik "The Wow Man"Kernan

speaking of pugilism...

where tonight, wow...

the art of the sport was reduced

to something less than that...

when one Thomas Kincaid entered the ring

with one Bernard Summerville.

As I sat watching the battle from my humble

perch beneath them, one thing became clear.

Mr. Kincaid is no longer worthy

to carry the title ofheir apparent...

in a world once inhabited

by the greats, by the giants...

by the Dempseys,

by the Walcotts, by the Lewises.

This is Erik "The Wow Man"Kernan.

And we'll be right back

after these words.

Nice article.

- Yep. Thanks.

- You're welcome.

Erik Kernan, Denver Times.

Hey, Ken, what's up?

Uh, I gotta call you back, all right?

Just a second. See ya.

- Hey, Ralph.

- Morning. Nice piece.

Yeah? Thanks.

Normally, I'd cut the whole

reading of the eyes bit.

But I don't know.

It smelled authentic.

I'm glad you liked it.

- Aren't you glad you didn't go to that bullshit basketball game?

- Yeah.

- Champ.

- Hey!

- Weren't we supposed to meet?

- Is that right?

Last night. We said we were gonna meet

at the park about an hour ago?

W- Well, here we are.

That's our piece. Page one.

How about that?

There's spicky boy on his ass.

How 'bout that?

Hey, uh-uh-uh-

How 'bout I buy you lunch?

Yeah.

- Always this many people here, Champ?

- Mm-hmm.

- Food always this good?

- Oh, yeah, most times.

They do make a fish soup some days,

but you don't want to touch that.

Aren't you afraid someone's

gonna steal your cart?

No. We got this kind of homeless

code of honor, you know?

It's all right.

Nobody's gonna bother it.

You know what would be good

for the story?

If I could look at some of the stuff in

your cart, see what you lug around every day.

I think it'd be really interesting

for the article.

All right, we can do that...

as soon as you take me to your house and

let me go through all your personal stuff.

Oh, you know, I listened to my

father's tape. Christmas, 1953.

- Mmm.

- And he didn't mention you.

He didn't talk about you

till about a week later.

Well, maybe I got Christmas

and New Year's confused.

Is your daddy still alive?

No, he-Throat cancer.

Throat cancer.

Wow. That's, um-That's, uh-

Ironic.

Irony is when something seems like

it's going a certain way, and then-

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I know-

I know what irony is, kid.

You know, I-I've had a lot

of experience with irony.

Sorry.

So, you have much formal education?

No, no. Didn't have much schooling.

I was always boxing.

I never dreamed, though,

I'd be heavyweight champ.

But I always thought that if I got

that shot, I would like to think that-

that if I got that shot,

that I would win it.

Get that respect.

But you didn't get the chance.

No. No, no. Never did.

I had this fight with Ezzard Charles.

He was makin' a comeback.

If-If I beat him, then I could go

from number three to number one.

Then I could get that title.

Get a shot at that belt.

But he caught me and somehow

knocked me flat on my back.

Out cold.

That was a- How you say?

It was a-

That was a big humiliation for me.

I had a couple more fights after that.

But I was only about 30%.

Wasn't no need in me carryin' on.

I moved to Sioux City, see?

Up and left my family.

On account of the humiliation?

Yeah, yeah, exactly right.

I worked in the horse stables, uh-

One of the owners, he-he-he found out

who I was, and he had this idea, see?

I told you before.

You can't be standing still.

You can't fight his fight!

You have to fight your own fight!

He boxed me in the West

and the-and-and-and the Midwest...

where nobody knew nothin'

about boxing.

Wasn't no real competition.

These were, how you say,

uh-uh-uh, non-sanctioned.

But, hell, I could be a winner.

So, I fought and fought.

Must've been, like, every other week.

Knocked all of'em out.

And in this corner,

weighing a lean, mean 185 pounds...

from Chicago, Illinois,

Battlin' Bob Satterfield!

But maybe I-I-I- How-How you say-

Boxed-Boxed too much.

One day I was just plain exhausted

and beat to sh*t.

Some huge boy

knocked me down hard.

Knocked me in the eye.

And messed up my vision real bad.

Then I-I-I-I-I just- I just couldn't

fight no more after that.

And that-That son of a b*tch owner,

he kept all the money.

He said, uh, I had messed up

the merchandise.

So, then I hitched my way down here.

I remember fighting out here once.

Air was clean.

Been out here

for, ooh, 40-somethin' years.

Jesus Christ.

This is all I could find on your guy.

I'll keep looking,

but there's not a lot out there.

- Thank you.

- Sorry.

Did you find the contact information

on Satterfield Jr?

There are no listings in Ohio,

where he's from.

But I'll try New York, and then

Pennsylvania. And we'll go from there.

- Thanks.

- I did also find this.

What's that?

Did you get that press release

from the mayor's office?

I'll call you back. Come right on in.

What's this?

That... is Battlin' Bob Satterfield.

Fightin'Joe Blow.

Joe Blow.

You don't know who he's fighting?

- I'm questioning those investigative skills there.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

We got this off a collector.

It's the only one we could find.

Beautiful.

To be a reporter back then.

Can you imagine?

You really are only as good

as the athletes you cover.

Which one's Satterfield?

He's, uh, this one here.

- See the scar on his back?

- Mm-hmm.

His dad gave him that when he was

nine years old. Can you believe that?

Perfect. Perfect.

Champ, how's it goin', man?

Champ. What's up?

Jesus Christ, man,

what happened to your eye?

Those kids do that?

- You probably need a drink, huh?

- I need a drink bad.

These guys are gonna give you a drink

if you sweep up?

Yeah. But they said the wind

done already done it.

But sometime they change their mind.

Champ, I'm gonna get you a drink.

But then I gotta show you something, okay?

It's gonna blow your mind.

Hey.

I really appreciate it.

- So it's just two minutes long?

- Yeah, yeah. If that.

Hey, Champ. Champ.

Who's that you're fightin' there,

Champ?

Satterfield versus Kincaid.

Tommy Kincaid.

Never had it in him to hurt a man.

That was his problem.

He had skills though.

He had a hammer!

Where'd you get this?

Well, Champ, I'm a world-class

investigative journalist.

This is what I do.

Is that the same guy?

- Who? The guy on the tape?

- Yeah.

- I can't tell.

- How y'all doin'?

Hey, can I get that back?

Could I- Quickly, actually.

Hey, Champ. Champ!

Hey, you all right?

I thought- I'm sorry.

I thought you'd like that.

You got kids?

Yeah, I got a six-year-old.

Boy. His name's Teddy.

Well, I hope that one day, God willing...

your son does for you

what you just done for me in there.

Hey, wait, where you goin'?

I thought that'd be a good line

to exit on.

L- I still need more for my story.

There's the-That-There.

That house right there.

- Don't stop. Keep goin'.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes