![]() ![]() Now shake hands and come out fighting.”īoth the fighters touched the gloves and nodded. At the center of the ring, the referee gave instructions. He prayed for victory through a quick clean knockout in the first round the Golden Gloves. His amigo brother Felix was not going to be Felix in the ring. He did some fancy dance steps to drive away his negative thinking. But he soon controlled his negative thoughts. How will the fight tomorrow affect his relations with Felix? Friendship had nothing to do with the fight. ![]() He went straight back to bed.Īntonio was passing some heavy time on the rooftop. There he saw only a few boys wearing gang colours. He stopped watching the film and began to walk on the street. He imagined himself in the ring, blasting Antonio against the ropes. The film was The Champion’, acted by Kirk Douglas. He would knock out Felix early and quickly so that he does not get hurt by a long fight.įelix decided to watch a movie in an effort to keep Antonio’s face away from his mind and fists. The evening before the big fight, Antonio made his way to the roof of his building. The amigo brothers hugged each other tightly. They will fight and after that they will get together again as if nothing had happened. Felix laughed and said he was not worried. But Felix said he wanted to be free as he wanted to think alone. Antonio wanted Felix to run with him a little more. Felix sealed the deal by slapping on the open palm. Antonio agreed and he held out his hand, palm upwards making a deal. He will stay with his Aunt Lucy, in the Bronx. They won’t see each other until the day of the ght. They have to fight it out.įelix then makes a suggestion. They will be like two strangers who want the same thing but only one can have it. When they get into the ring it has to be as if they had never met. Antonio replied by saying that in the ring the better man wins. ![]() There are no draws in the eliminations.įelix tapped Antonio gently and told him he wanted to win. Both are fighters and they both want to win. He said that it is natural they thought about the fight. Felix said that since he came to know the fight was between them, he kept awake at night pulling punches on Antonio, trying not to hurt him. Felix suddenly stopped and told Antonio that they must speak to each other.Īntonio knew it was about their fight. He was practising some leg movements and hitting an imaginary jaw. Antonio glanced at Felix who kept his eyes straight ahead. One morning, less than a week before their bout, they met as usual for their workout. But even when joking with each other, they both sensed a wall rising between them. The winner would represent the koy’s Club in the Golden Gloves Championship Tournament. ![]() They also had some, cuppings of their own.Īfter a series of elimination bouts, they were told that they were to meet each other in the division finals scheduled for the 7th of August. They also kept the torn tickets of all the boxing matches they had gone to see. They had a collection of Fight magazines. While some youngsters were into street doing wrong things, Antonio and Felix slept and had positive dreams. They would run every day morning, wearing sweat shirts and short towels around their necks. Whenever they got a chance they exercised, sometimes at the Boy’s Club and sometimes at the gym. They both had a dream – becoming a light-weight champion of the world. Felix wore his black hair in an Afro style. Antonio’s hair was always falling over his eyes. They grew up in the same building on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.Īntonio was fair, lean and lanky. They had known each other from childhood. They were so together in friendship that they felt like brothers. Antonio Cruz and Felix Vargas were both 17. ![]()
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