Pound for Pound

by F. X. Toole

  Earl could still hear the mounting chorus of boos that started in the second round.

  “Sykes just couldn’t think what way to go. Wanted to get in shots to the head. Chicky didn’t let him land but two. You want to get to the body, well, you got to go to the head first, get the other guy to get his hands up, Sykes figures. That way he can use his gangbanger shit. But he never got no chance. When Chicky went lefty, Sykes look like he gonna shit in his pants. It was jus’ kick ass all the way. Chicky gave Sykes three rounds. First two, he took him apart. Piece by piece. Sykes get tired out real fast. Like they say, you can’t run, you can’t fight. Then round three and he put Sykes down for good.”

  “What do you mean, ‘for good’?” Dan flashed back to the terrible injuries he had sustained in the fight with Eloy.

  “I mean for good, pardner. A clean KO. Ain’t no way Sykes is going to have the balls to get into the ring again with anyone for a long time. Maybe ever. He’s history. I reckon our boy is set up for the next shot at the championship.”

  “You sure?” Dan was no longer on oxygen. His color looked good and his eyes were clear, and shining with happiness. And pride.

  “Yeah, right after the fight, I got a call from a promoter talkin about a fight with Pizzaro. Chicky’s ready. All we gotta do now is cut the deal. So you betta get out of this place pretty quick.”

  Dan looked over at the bedside table. He could still see the image of Father Joe’s instruments of salvation sitting on it, the candles unlit, the holy oil untouched.

  “Book it! I’ll be there. You can count on it,” Dan said.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  We, the children of F. X. Toole, would like to express our deepest gratitude to Nat Sobel and James Wade, who made the publishing of this book possible. Their work was done in honor of and to pay tribute to a writer, our father, whose last words were, “Doc, get me just a little more time, I gotta finish my book.” They have accomplished this endeavor, and we are forever thankful.

  About the Author

  F. X. TOOLE was born in 1930. Having worked as a bullfighter, professional boxing “cut man,” taxi driver, and saloon keeper, Toole published his first book of fiction at age seventy. He died in 2002, before seeing his short story “Million Dollar Baby” become an Academy Award–winning film.

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  ALSO BY F. X. TOOLE

  Rope Burns

  (reissued as Million Dollar Baby)

  Copyright

  POUND FOR POUND. Copyright © 2006 by F. X. Toole Productions, LLC.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  Epub Edition © APRIL 2011 ISBN: 978-0-061-86027-0

  FIRST EDITION

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Toole, F. X., 1930–2002

  Pound for pound : a novel / F.X. Toole.—1st ed.

  p. cm.

  ISBN -13: 978-0-06-088133-7

  ISBN -10: 0-06-088133-X

  1. African Americans—Fiction. 2. Grandfathers—Fiction. 3. Grandsons—Fiction. 4. Domestic fiction. I. Title.

  PS3570.O438P68 2006

  813’.54—dc22 2005049508

  06 07 08 09 10 WBC/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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