Max’s Boxing Tactics

1. Use your brain. Success lies in out-thinking the opposition 2. Never underestimate your opponent, but watch their responses and look for his or her weakness

Fred

Fred is an old ally and mentor of Max (for old friends don’t call each other by their surname) who, despite the ferocity and speed of his punching, is much more than just a fighter. Composed in the face of aggression and wise in the ways of the world, Fred enables Max to keep going, even when the weight of the murders and the world start to feel too much.

Smithfield ABC

There was a sign at Fred's, and as the gym emptied near closing time I stood up looking at it. It was placed between a posed black and white photograph of Sonny Liston and a picture of a dozen Cuban kids sparring in a ring with ropes like snapped elastic.

Chapter 8

'See that sign?' On the walls of Smithfield ABC gym there were framed photographs of boxers. They were a certain kind of boxer - natural-born fighters, all grit and glory, the kind of boxers Fred loved. Jack Dempsey. Jake la Motta. Joe Frazier. Marvin Hagler. The hard men of sport. And there were other framed photographs - pictures of kids boxing in Cuba, a dozen of them in the ring at a time, shirtless and skinny and sparring with gloves that looked as though they had just been dug up. And above them all there was a sign.