The Harder They Fall Page #7

Frank took him to St. Eustace.

You're not supposed to take him

anyplace without asking me.

I figured a church was okay.

The priest asked him to come.

- What for?

- I don't know.

Maybe to give him his blessings.

- Where's Toro?

- In the vestry, talking to the Father.

I received this letter

from Father Pappelli.

He's the priest in Santa Maria,

Mr. Moreno's village.

- Do you read Spanish?

- No, you better read it to me.

Mr. Moreno's mother wants him to

come home right away.

Is she ill?

No, she's mourning the man who

was killed by her son.

He didn't kill him.

It was an accident.

A man was beaten to death. He doesn't

want to stay in this barbaric sport.

Eddie, you are my friend,

help me go home.

I'd like to help you,

but you can't go home yet.

I want to go home now, Eddie.

Right now.

Toro, do you trust me? Well, do you?

Yes, Eddie.

Come with me. I'll see what I can do.

Don't worry about him,

I'll look after him.

Gracias, Padre.

I don't know what to say.

I don't know what to say. I talk

till I'm hoarse, and we get nowhere.

A priest 6000 miles away writes a

letter and our dreams go up in smoke.

When you got off the boat I saw you

and I made a promise.

Remember what I said?

I promised a crack at the heavyweight

championship. Now, I've kept my word.

It wasn't easy. I didn't do it alone.

It took the efforts of every man here.

We worked, sweated and bled for you.

We worried about you.

You had nothing but the best.

Here, look, here's Danny.

The best trainer in the business, and

he handled you like you were his son.

George, he worked like a slave to

teach you the tricks of the game.

Leo poured money over you

like it was water.

Giving you the best protection and

comfort that a fighter could get.

Max scouted your opponents.

He gave the information to Danny and

George so you'd be prepared to win.

Vince and Frank watched over you

like you were a little baby.

Eddie.

Eddie knocked his brains out so your

name could be known around the world.

Why do you think I did all of this?

Because I wanted to make money?

No. Because I always wanted a champion.

I put all my dreams and hopes in you.

And you sit there and say you don't

want to fight. You want to go home.

Do you know what I'm saying. Do you?

Listen, Toro. Listen to me now.

If you quit, you're not only

cheating yourself...

...but you're robbing every man in

this room of what he's worked for.

How can you be so selfish?

Mr. Benko, you make me feel

like I am a bad man.

Eddie, I don't like to do this to you,

but I must do what the priest says.

Get him out of here. Come on! Out!

Get him out of here!

- You come with me, Eddie?

- No, you go ahead. I'll be along.

- Maybe Eddie ought to work on him.

- Shut up!

Talk him into the ring,

he'll listen to you.

Sure, he'll listen to me.

You said nobody gets hurt. Right?

You want the money that's clean and

easy. This is a tough business.

If you want the money, get it.

Get him in the ring.

You have him face

a guy who will murder him.

I don't care. Get him in the ring. If

you do it without him getting hurt, fine.

If you don't, fine.

But get him in. There must be a way.

Sure, there's a way. You've been lying

to him ever since you got hold of him.

Suppose I start telling him the truth.

Maybe that'll work.

Maybe.

- Where is he?

- In there.

Now, all you guys blow.

George, you stay here.

You really believe you killed Dundee,

don't you?

With this hand I killed him.

Yeah, you really believe that.

Well, let me tell you something.

You couldn't kill anybody

unless you had a gun.

- What do you mean?

- You're a fake. You never hurt anyone.

- I punch. They go boom. 26 men.

- Every one of them a fix or a pushover.

- I do not believe you.

- I don't care. It's the truth.

You're not even a 10th-rate fighter.

You're what they call a bum.

I no bum. I train hard, and I fight

hard. I do not know my own strength.

You believe all those lies I write.

Nick Benko paid me to make people

think you couldn't be hurt.

No one can hurt El Toro.

Any saloon fighter could wipe

the floor with you.

Go away, Eddie. Go away.

George.

You don't know your own strength?

I'll show you what a bum you are.

- George, how old are you?

- I'm 53, Mr. Willis.

He's 53. A broken-down old warhorse,

but he can beat your brains out.

I want you to belt him. Let him know

what it feels like to get hit.

- I can't, Mr. Willis.

- Do you like him?

- Yes.

- You'll do him a favour.

He thinks he's King Kong. He won't

believe me. Belt some sense into him.

Go away, George.

I don't want to hurt you.

Belt him, I said.

Go away, George.

I don't want to hurt you.

Watch it, big fella.

Now, let him get up by himself.

Come on, get up.

I'm sorry, but it was the only

way to prove it to you.

You never killed anybody and you

can't fight. You couldn't bust an egg.

The priest was right.

Go home before you get hurt...

...and wind up on Skid Row.

Isn't that right, George?

Mr. Willis is right, Toro.

What do I do, Eddie?

Tell me. What do I do?

Listen to me carefully.

You go home now, you go home broke.

You fight Brannen and

you wind up with money.

- The Brannen fight is fixed too?

- No, you can't fix the champ.

And I can't beat him, huh?

You might as well know the truth.

Brannen's got it in for you. He killed

Dundee and wants to prove it.

Yes, Brannen, he's a mean fighter.

He loves to pound a man to jelly.

But I can't go home broke.

Then do the match, but don't fight him.

Just stay enough so it looks good.

George will show you how

to handle yourself.

Toro, you got a long reach.

Hold him off. Don't let him get close.

Keep away from him. When he moves in,

don't fight him. Grab and hold him.

Hold him until the referee breaks you.

You do that for a couple of rounds,

make it look good.

And when he connects and you

feel hurt, go down and stay down.

Stay down till the referee counts you

out. That's the only way to fight him.

I don't know. What will people think?

Why care what a bunch of

bloodthirsty people think of you?

Did you ever see their faces? They pay

a few bucks to see a man get killed.

The hell with them. Think of yourself.

Get your money and leave this business.

Okay, Eddie, I do like you say.

And you'll fight like

George tells you?

- Yeah. I fight like George tells me.

- Good. Thanks for your help, George.

- Okay, let's go, let's go.

- Come on.

Remember, big fella,

fight like I told you, understand?

- I understand.

- Let's go.

Come on, hurry it up.

That only helps if you can fight.

Come on.

Ladies and gentlemen.

Ladies and gentlemen, let us have a

moment of silence for Gus Dundee.

A real champion who

went down fighting...

...when the Great Referee counted

him out for the last time.

You boys received instructions

at the weigh-in this afternoon.

I caution you to watch your low blows.

In a knockdown, the man on his feet

goes to the farthest corner.

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