Southpaw Page #9

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how not to be a dream crusher.

You know what I'm saying?

Why stop now?

You think that you can, uh...

- beat Magic?

- No.

I can't beat him.

Not without you.

- Promise me something.

- Mmm-hmm.

Whatever happens,

you'll still keep taking care of yourself,

and you'll take care of your daughter.

Mr. Hope,

after careful review of your file,

including the assessment

from your case worker,

I'm gonna remove

the visitation restrictions,

and the reunification

can begin next week.

Your attorney will receive

notification in the mail.

Good job, Mr. Hope.

Thank you.

You have new shoes?

No, I've had these.

- Are you sure?

- Yeah.

Baby, I don't remember

those shoes. Remember...

I don't have that much food here,

baby, but I can make you an egg.

You want an egg?

No, why aren't you eating?

What's wrong, baby?

Why didn't you eat anything?

- You think I'm a baby.

- I don't think you're a baby.

Then how come you won't let me come?

Look, 'cause I told you,

I told you it wasn't up to me.

Well, it's up to you now.

Look, when Mom, when Mom was... you...

...around, you know,

she was the one who always made

all the decisions, you know?

For you, for me, and...

me, I can't make them, you know?

Not so much.

I know.

What do you know?

Mom always said

we had to take care of you.

No, baby, that's not how

it's supposed to work.

All right? I'm supposed

to take care of you.

But the truth is,

I'm hanging on by a thread here.

You sure you don't want

to eat something? Just, just...

No, Dad.

Can we go see her?

I miss you a lot, Mom.

More... more than ever.

Hey.

The guy that I'm fighting,

he's the guy from the hotel

when-when Mommy was killed.

Okay?

They're gonna say a lot of crazy things.

All right?

I have to be there.

It's gonna scare you.

Did Mommy get scared?

All the time.

Okay.

I'll wait in the dressing room.

But I have to be there.

Okay, you got a deal, baby.

You can do this.

You're stronger than that.

They say Billy Hope can't make it.

They say Billy Hope is over.

You!

You define yourself.

I want you to switch and go southpaw.

Have the foot move through with you.

Same time... it's like

it's connected by a string.

Same time that leg's

moving with that hand.

See how it's coming at the same time?

You switch, then the right foot

has to land with a hook.

Do what you gotta do,

to do what you want to do.

That's Magic.

Time, time.

I need to see the shuttle.

- Shuttle? All right.

- I need to see the pivot.

Time!

Come on!

Hello again, I'm Jim Lampley,

along with the pound-for-pound

king of the '90s, Roy Jones,

here in Las Vegas at Caesar's Palace...

as we welcome you live to our coverage

of the Light Heavyweight Title showdown

between existing

titlist Miguel Escobar...

and former champion Billy Hope.

Roy, throughout the boxing world,

there's hope...

you can't avoid saying it...

that this evening could produce

a great story

of redemption for Billy Hope,

who's been through so much,

but realistically,

what chance is there that Hope

could come back and win

against such a skilled and effective

young champion as Escobar?

The cards are stacked against Hope.

Um, his age, um,

the fact that he's been off,

and this guy is probably

the best fighter

that will ever be put in front of Hope.

Billy Hope, entering first,

with no entry music,

flanked by his new trainer, Tick Wills.

The ultimate revenge motive

for Hope tonight,

is that in his heart, he believes

he's avenging the death of his

wife in a bizarre incident

in which Escobar was involved,

an incident for which no perpetrator

has ever paid the price.

What about the choice

of walking with no music, Roy?

Anytime you've got

a crowd of this magnitude

and so much energy in one building,

really, you don't need music.

Billy Hope, in the six-week

build-up to this fight,

has kept saying,

"All business, all business.

"This isn't about all that other stuff.

"It's just about we're going to fight."

...the king of kings!

And here comes Miguel Escobar.

Escobar is a product of Colombia.

In the past, Roy Jones,

when we spoke about fighters

from Colombia,

almost always, they were big punchers.

This is a different story.

Yeah, this is a whole different story.

Not often do we talk

about Colombian fighters

and talk about the full package.

Most of them come with an astronomical

amount of punching power,

but not skills to match that.

Tonight we have a guy

who is just as good

offensively, skill-wise,

as he is powerful.

I said, more recently, Sergio Martinez,

but Carlos Melzon was a beast,

but this kid is a boxer-puncher

with great speed, great power...

something to see, Jim.

He's no champ!

And Escobar now promoted

by Jordan Mains,

the man who architected

Billy Hope's career.

You have a good fight.

I only gave him six weeks to train.

- Jon Jon?

- Yeah?

Slip it off.

You don't have to watch it

if you don't want to. You okay?

And if the defection

of Jordan Mains weren't enough,

Hope's longtime trainer,

Eli Frost, trains Escobar

against him tonight.

Okay, gentlemen, you both received

your instructions in the dressing room.

Okay, I want a good, clean fight.

Obey my commands at all times.

Above all,

protect yourself at all times.

Let's go.

Tony Weeks says

he wants a good, clean fight.

Quite a number of ring observers

expect that's the last thing we

have any chance of seeing here,

given the rising tide of emotions...

...in both corners as round one begins.

Go, Billy.

Logic tells you

that in the casting of this fight,

Escobar is the superior boxer,

Billy Hope the more physical brawler.

You have to make him miss!

Make him miss!

Come on, son!

And early on, Escobar getting

off, but Hope comes back.

There you go!

Go to body shots! Go to

the body! Go to the body!

Come on! Apply that pressure!

Put it on him now!

Escobar with the showboat. Look at him.

Trying to take Billy's confidence.

Come on, Billy, now, come on.

Escobar energetic, bouncing on his feet.

Escobar seems to be able to get

anything that he wants... he can hit him

with a straight right, he can

hit him with a left hook...

Nice slip! Nice slip!

Billy Hope already with

a mark above the left eye.

He's holding, ref! He's holding!

Let him go. I got you. Let him go.

Escobar is hitting him,

and Tony Weeks steps in, in the corner.

You didn't see that?

You didn't see that?

Let me see, let me see.

It appears that Escobar has drawn blood

right here in round one.

Well, Hope did his best

to make Escobar pay in round one.

What he wasn't able to do

was make him miss.

He's a fast motherf***er.

That's all right, that's all right.

You faster.

Don't worry about that.

Just do what we worked on.

You make him miss,

make him pay. All right?

By now, fans well aware of the

difficult passage

Hope has been through...

the loss of everything, really,

that was valuable to him,

including the loss,

for a period of time,

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