Adams, Nick (Fictitious character) -- Fiction; American fiction -- 20th century; Short stories, American
“Listen—” says the referee, and he gives them the same old line. Once
Walcott interrupts him. He grabs Jack’s arm and says, “Can I hit when
he’s got me like this?”
“Keep your hands off me,” Jack says. “There ain’t no moving-pictures of
this.”
They went back to their corners. I lifted the bathrobe off Jack and he
leaned on the ropes and flexed his knees a couple of times and scuffed
his shoes in the rosin. The gong rang and Jack turned quick and went
out. Walcott came toward him and they touched gloves and as soon as
Walcott dropped his hands Jack jumped his left into his face twice.
There wasn’t anybody ever boxed better than Jack. Walcott was after him,
going forward all the time with his chin on his chest. He’s a hooker and
he carries his hands pretty low. All he knows is to get in there and
sock. But every time he gets in there close, Jack has the left hand in
his face. It’s just as though it’s automatic. Jack just raises the left
hand up and it’s in Walcott’s face. Three or four times Jack brings the
right over but Walcott gets it on the shoulder or high up on the head.
He’s just like all these hookers. The only thing he’s afraid of is
another one of the same kind. He’s covered everywhere you can hurt him.
He don’t care about a left-hand in his face.
After about four rounds Jack has him bleeding bad and his face all cut
up, but every time Walcott’s got in close he’s socked so hard he’s got
two big red patches on both sides just below Jack’s ribs. Every time he
gets in close, Jack ties him up, then gets one hand loose and uppercuts
him, but when Walcott gets his hands loose he socks Jack in the body so
they can hear it outside in the street. He’s a socker.
It goes along like that for three rounds more. They don’t talk any.
They’re working all the time. We worked over Jack plenty too, in between
the rounds. He don’t look good at all but he never does much work in the
ring. He don’t move around much and that left-hand is just automatic.
It’s just like it was connected with Walcott’s face and Jack just had to
wish it in every time. Jack is always calm in close and he doesn’t waste
any juice. He knows everything about working in close too and he’s
getting away with a lot of stuff. While they were in our corner I
watched him tie Walcott up, get his right hand loose, turn it and come
up with an uppercut that got Walcott’s nose with the heel of the glove.
Walcott was bleeding bad and leaned his nose on Jack’s shoulder so as to
give Jack some of it too, and Jack sort of lifted his shoulder sharp and
caught him against the nose, and then brought down the right hand and
did the same thing again.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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