-Got any family, boss? -What?
You been spending all this time with me, I didn't know if you had any.
No.
Well, I've got a daughter, Katy.
That's family.
We're not exactly close.
How much she weigh?
What?
Trouble in my family comes by the pound.
Yeah.
Not very big.
Used to be real athletic. Don't know if she kept it up.
So, what do you think?
I ready for a fight?
Hey, Sally.
Come here for a minute, will you?
Frankie, I need to see you in the back for a minute, okay?
-Can I see you a minute? -Sally here's a real good manager.
Has a couple of Golden GIove boys. Looking for a girl, Sally?
I'm Iooking for a good one.
Well, see, there you go.
Nice working with you, girlie.
-What'd you want? -Nothing. It's nothing.
I ain't Iying, I've been watching you work. You got a hell of a Ieft.
Thank you.
So you wanna give this a try? See if it's a fit?
-Yeah, sure. -Good.
Because I think you're ready for a fight.
Break.
What am I doing wrong, Sally? Every time I get inside, she's on me.
You're doing great. You're wearing her down. Keep punching.
-I ain't doing great, I'm Iosing. -You're wearing her down.
You okay, honey? Can you see okay?
-Come on. -Do it.
Come on, Iet's do this!
That's it!
Nice night, eh?
Jesus Christ.
That's Lonnie Washington's girl.
Hell of a fighter.
1 1 -0.
Your Ieft. Keep your Ieft up.
Lonnie's got a Iot of good fighters.
He's got Joey Adagio, Iightweight champ?
Yeah.
Your Ieft, damn it.
Wouldn't have been my choice for her first fight, but Sally's a good manager.
-He must think she can take her. -Jesus H.
Your Ieft. Keep your Ieft up.
You think she can hear you from back here?
Of course, if Maggie Ioses, it wouldn't mean anything to Sally.
Might even help him.
Lonnie's girl gets another win...
...Lonnie might Iet Sally's Iightweight fight Joey Adagio for the title.
Sally's trying to set a fight with Adagio?
Hey, what do I know?
I just come because I enjoy the fights.
Mother of God.
Okay, break.
Hey. Come here, come here.
Hey. Get over here.
You're dropping your Ieft hand. Quit dropping your Ieft hand.
Hey, Frankie, you mind if I talk to my fighter?
You're doing a hell of a job. Is this the way you advise your Iightweight?
Dunn.
-What are you doing? -I'm talking. What are you doing?
-Is this your fighter? -It's my fighter.
It ain't fitting real well, Sally.
Fine, you take her. She can't fight worth a shit anyway.
-Somebody tell me what's going on. -I was Iate. Sally was just subbing for me.
You telling me this is your fighter?
Yeah, this is my fighter.
Then you got 1 0 seconds.
I keep holding my Ieft up, then I throw a punch and it keeps dropping.
-Well, Iet it drop. -That'd be a Iot easier.
She thinks she knows you.
Every time you drop it, she comes right over the top.
So you just wait for her, see? That's all she's thinking about.
-When she cocks that right hand-- You hear? -I hear you, boss.
When she does, step to the side and come with a good-night hook.
-Got one? -Got it right here.
-Okay. -Fight, or I'm calling it.
-Go give it to her. -The body knows what fighters don 't.
How to protect itself.
A neck can only twist so far.
Twist it just a hair more, and the body says:
"Hey, I'll take it from here because you obviously don 't know what you're doing. "
Neutral corner.
-See the way she did that? -Yeah.
Sugar Ray would do that. Girl ' s got sugar.
"Lie down, now, rest, and we'll talk about this when you regain your senses. "
It's called the knockout mechanism.
Don't get all carried away, now. You did good.
Thanks, boss.
You.... You forgot the rule.
-Now, what is the rule? -Keep my Ieft up?
It's to protect yourself at all times.
Now, what is the rule?
-Protect myself at all times. -Good, good.
You gave me away. How was that protecting me?
It wasn't.
It's okay.
-I'II work on my Ieft, boss. -Drink your water.
Other than that, how'd I do?
Fine. You did fine.
You gonna Ieave me again?
Never.
That place you work, do they have homemade Iemon meringue pie there?
-Sure. -Not the kind with the canned-filling crap?
Oh, big can, yay size. Says "homemade" on the Iabel.
-I want you to take the weekend off. -It's only Thursday.
-You gonna argue with me? -Know better than to do that, boss.
Well, good.
All fighters are pigheaded some way or other.
Some part of them always thinks they know better than you about something.
Can you spare a few minutes for the Immaculate Conception?
Truth is, even if they're wrong...
...even if that one thing is gonna be the ruin of them...
...if you can beat that last bit out of them, then they ain 't fighters at all.
-Thought I said I'd see you Monday. -You sure did, boss.
That was Iast night.
You said not to argue with you.
Damn woman won't do a thing I tell her.
You want my advice?
What?
Where are your shoes?
I'm airing out my feet.
You got big holes in your socks.
Oh, they're not that big.
Didn't I give you money for some new ones?
These are my sleeping socks.
My feet Iike a Iittle air at night.
How come you're wearing them in the daytime, then?
Because my daytime socks got too many holes in them.
Well, if I give you some more money, you buy some new socks.
PIease?
Well, I'd be tempted, but I couldn't say for sure.
Might find its way to the track.
It's over. It's over.
Didn't take Maggie long to hit her stride.
I got the breathing thing down.
No, you ain't breathing because you're knocking them out in the first round.
-Thought that was the point. -The point is to get good.
Can't get good if you keep knocking them out first round.
How am I gonna get you fights?
Nobody wants to see their fighter embarrassed, now.
Why am I still doing four-rounders, boss?
Because you haven't got the Iungs for six rounds.
I do if I keep knocking them out in the first round.
Frankie made her fight one more four-rounder...
...just to let her know who was boss.
Three, four, five...
...six, seven....
Sorry, boss.
Maggie left no doubt about it.
AII right, Iet's do it.
Her first six-rounder didn 't go quite as smooth.
Get up!
To your corner.
-Three, four, five... -Get up.
-...six, seven... -Get up.
-...eight, nine, ten. It's over. -You can do this.
Maggie didn 't knock her out till the end of the first round.
After that, no manager wanted to put his fighter in with Maggie.
Frankie had to go into his pocket to get her decent fights...
...sweetening the purse by paying managers on the side.
That only worked for so long.
Then Frankie did something he hated doing.
He took a chance.
Box.
He moved her up in class.
That could've been a mistake.
Watch the right!
Watch it. Watch it.
Break, break. Step back. Break. Time.
Damn, damn, damn.
Give us two seconds, will you?
-Okay. -Just two seconds.
-Your nose is broke. -Oh, damn.
-Fix it. -I can't, I can't.
-You can fix it. -I can't. I've gotta call it.
I've seen what you can do. Fix it.
I can snap it back into place, but I can't stop the bleeding.
The ring doctor's gonna call it.
PIease, Frankie, if you can stop the blood, I can beat her.
Bite down on this.
-Inhale. -What?
Breathe in.
-Okay, huh? -Yeah, it's okay.
AII right, you got 20 seconds before this turns into a geyser...
...and it's gonna spray all over the front row.
Twenty seconds, that's all you've got.
Now get going.
Go to your corner.
Three, four, five...
-Come on, breathe. Breathe. -...six, seven, eight...
...nine, ten.
Mo cuishle.
-AII right! -Yeah!
Right.
What you reading?
What's she saying?
Wants to know what you're reading.
It's Yeats. Keep your head back.
Why don't you talk a Iittle Yeats to her.
Show her what a treat that is.
When the hell they gonna get to her?
I'm okay, Frankie.
-What'd you Iearn tonight? -AIways protect myself.
-What's the rule? -AIways protect myself.
-Margaret Fitzgerald? -Here.
I'II be right here.
-How you doing? -Me?
-Yeah, you. -I'm not the one who's hurt.
Broken nose don't hurt that much.
Why are you telling me that?
No reason.
But some wounds are too deep or too close to the bone.
And no matter how hard you work at it, you just can 't stop the bleeding.
-Did you write your daughter? -Every week.
I've no idea why you come to church.
After her 1 2th straight knockout, Frankie got a couple of real good offers.
The first was to fight Billie "The Blue Bear" Osterman...
...for the WBA welterweight title.
Billie "The BIue Bear."
Billie was a former prostitute out of East Berlin.
Had a reputation for being the dirtiest fighter in the ranks.
Didn 't seem to matter to her...
...that something like that could kill a person.
And the crowds loved her.
He turned it down without even telling her.
The next was to fight the British champ...
-...a Jamaican girl Billie just beat. -Hello?
Not interested.
He turned that down too.
That' s a Iot of money, boss.
Yeah, you ' re making money. What are you still working here for?
It's a title match, right?
Are you British? It's a title you can't take away.
She's got nothing to Iose, you got nothing to win.
Might still be a good fight.
Yeah, I just-- I just brought you up to welterweight.
Too good to fight these contenders, you'd rather fight some bullshit champ?
Didn't notice I was fighting any contenders.
Well, you can get yourself another manager any time you want.
In fact, if you'd Iearn to protect your face a Iittle better...
...I wouldn't have to turn down this money.
My face is out there so much it's a miracle I haven't been knocked out yet.
No, you can't work here anymore tonight.
I made us a reservation.
You might wanna shower.
Here you go.
What's this?
Well, it ain't no big secret what you're wishing for.
Go on and blow.
Thank you.
Thirty-three ain't so old.
I was still fighting at 39.
Fought for 23 years.
How's it going, Scrap?
Doing good, Mickey.
Doing good.
-What'II you have? -Coffee.
You two not speaking?
Don't hardly know him.
I met Frankie right after my 37th birthday.
He was picking up cut work.
He used to patch me up when I thought it was impossible.
Good man to have in your corner.
Yes, he is.
He stayed with me through my Iast fight in San Berdu.
My manager was off getting drunk somewhere...
...and it was just Frankie and me.
I was taking a hellacious beating.
Everybody's got a particular number of fights in him.
Nobody tells you what that number is.
Mine was 1 09.
I just didn't want to admit it.
Fourth round, this...
...cut opens up.
BIood starts pouring into my eye.
They should've stopped the fight, but, hell, I was a black man in San Berdu.
BIood was what I was there for.
Round after round, I kept getting Frankie to patch me up.
He's talking about throwing in the towel...
...but he ain't my manager, he can't throw in nothing.
Round after round...
...he's arguing with me.
And I'm almost Iaughing because, hell, it's getting more to him than to me.
I go 1 5 rounds...
...Iose by decision.
Next morning, I Iose the eye.
In 23 years, he's never said a thing about it.
Doesn't have to. I can see it in his face every time he Iooks at me.
Somehow...
...Frankie thinks he should've stopped that fight...
...should've saved my eye.
Spends his Iife wishing he could take back that 1 09th fight.
I wanted to go to 1 1 0.
Thing is...
...if you wanna get to the title...
...maybe he's not the one to take you there.
You tell Mr. Mack we'd be here tonight?
You go on, eat your cupcake.
No, I got it.
It's the rule.
Always protect yourself.
People never take their own advice.
If she was gonna leave Frankie, better she did it to him then.
Mr. Mickey Mack?
I'm Maggie Fitzgerald.
I hear you're a real good manager, doing good things for Big Willie.
But I thought you should know I ain't never Ieaving Mr. Dunn...
...so you don't need to make any more excuses to bump into me.
Sorry for interrupting your dinner.
Maggie always did like taking them out in the first round.
The letters always came back marked the same way:
"Return to sender. "
I ' II make you some coffee.
What are you doing with your money?
-Saving it. -Good girl.
You know, you save enough of it, you ought to get yourself a Iittle house.
Cash, no mortgage.
Gonna be a while before I can do that.
Yeah, well, it might be a stretch...
...but you gotta get yourself a place of your own.
Go around wasting it on things that don't matter and what do you got?
You understand?
Pretty soon, you wait Iong enough, you got nothing.
Okay, soon as I get the money.
I made a Iot of mistakes in my Iife. I'm just trying to keep you from doing the same.
I know, boss.
-I'm not gonna Iive forever. -What is it?
It's a tape on that girl in England you're gonna fight.
If you're gonna go for the title, we got some moves to-- Hey.
Hey, get the hell down. You know how old I am?
-Thank you, boss. Thank you so much. -Yeah.
You're welcome, darling. Here, just-- Here, Iet me put this in the machine.
What machine?
Don't have a TV, huh?
No.
Yeah!
AII right. Okay.
-Ten minutes, Iove. -Thank you.
Man says he Ioves me.
He's probably not the first one to say that.
First since my daddy.
I win, you think he'II propose?
You win, I'II propose.
Look, I got you a gift here.
I think they gave you somebody else's.
No, no, this is it.
What's it mean?
I don't know. Just something in Gaelic.
-It's beautiful. -Yeah, I thought so.
-Yeah. -Real silk thread.
From the United States of America, the challenger...
...Maggie Fitzgerald.
Mo cuishle. Did you see what was on her robe?
-Mo cuishle. Mo cuishle. -Mo cuishle.
She wasn 't the main attraction.
She was on the undercard of a middleweight title fight.
But ask someone who was there...
...they couldn 't tell you who else fought that night.
Box.
-Come on! -Mo cuishle!
Mo cuishle! Mo cuishle! Mo cuishle!
Mo cuishle!
Mo cuishle! Mo cuishle! Mo cuishle!
She's tough.
I can't get inside. I can't get close enough to hit her.
-You know why that is? -Why?
She's a better fighter than you are.
She's younger, she's stronger, and she's more experienced. Now...
...what are you gonna do about it?
Get in there.
Box.
Three, four, five, six...
...seven, eight, nine, ten.
Mo cuishle! Mo cuishle! Mo cuishle!
-Mo cuishle! -Mo cuishle!
I could ask someone, you know?
Good.
You find out, you Iet me know.
Whatever it meant, the name stuck.
Maggie fought in Edinburgh and Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.
It was always mo cuishle.
Seems there are Irish people everywhere...
...or people who wanna be.
By the time they came back to the States...
...Maggie was in a whole new league.
Mo cuishle! Mo cuishle! Mo cuishle!
After that they got another offer to fight for the title.
What's the split?
-Sixty-forty. -Good.
We'II take 60 and you take 40, being as that Maggie's the draw.
That Iittle girl?
You think I'm wrong, really? You think people are saying...
...that they wanna see some scabby Kraut beat up on Iittle Miss What's-Her-Name?
You find someone who says that, and we'II take the 40.
There you go.
They're at 60-40, but they'II come up to 50-50.
How's that girl doing?
Well, she's got a concussion and a broken eardrum.
She be all right?
-And if she isn't? -Maybe I should send her something.
Well, you could send her your check if you'd Iike. I'm sure she'd take it.
Boss?
That Iittle house we talked about?
I bought it.
Well, smart girl.
For my mama. It's only about a mile from where she Iives now.
No mortgage, just Iike you said.
You're a good daughter.
She don't know about it yet.
I was hoping maybe we could stay an extra day, drive over there?
I know she wants to meet you.
Yeah, we could do that.
Oh, my God. Mama, come on out here.
Mary M.'s here.
-This is the Johnsons' old house. -Not anymore.
It's all yours, Mama. For you and Mardell and the kids.
-Mary M., you bought this for me? -Yeah, all yours, free and clear.
Darling....
There's no fridge. No stove neither.
They'II be here before you move in.
-How much money did this cost you? -Never mind that.
-You shouldn't have done this. -You need a decent place.
You shouldn't have done it. You should've asked me first.
Government's gonna find out about this, they're gonna stop my welfare.
-Mama, no, they ain't. -They are. You're fine, you're working...
...but I can't Iive without my welfare.
Mama, I'II send you money.
What about my medicine? Medicaid gonna cut me off.
-How am I supposed to get my medicine? -I'II send you more money.
I hope you don't expect J.D. to move in with us.
He's getting out, you know.
Why didn't you just give me the money?
Why'd you have to buy me a house?
I didn't have to, Mama, but it's yours.
You want the money, sell it.
I don't--
I know you didn't mean nothing hurtful...
...but sometimes you just don't think things through.
-That's true, Mama. -I'II try and keep the house.
I'm just worried about all those expenses.
I'II send you some more money.
That man hitting you?
It's from the fight.
I'm a fighter, Mama.
Find a man, Mary M.
Live proper.
People hear about what you're doing and they Iaugh.
Hurts me to tell you, but they Iaugh at you.
Hi.
You ever own a dog?
Nope.
CIosest I ever came was a middleweight from Barstow.
My daddy had a German shepherd, Axel.
Axel's hindquarters were so bad...
...he had to drag himself room to room by his front Iegs.
Me and Mardell would bust up Iaughing...
...watching him scoot across the kitchen floor.