Requiem for a Heavyweight

Another hard jolt by Clay...

and once again the cut over Mountain Rivera's left eye opens up.

Mountain moves away, giving ground, but Clay lands another left.

Follows it with a slicing right.

A sudden hook by Mountain drives Clay against the ropes.

He follows it up with a series of staggering rights and lefts.

The old pro won't quit, even though his blood's splattered all over Clay.

Now Rivera's left eye is completely closed as he leans on Clay, barely hanging on.

With time running out in Round 7...

Rivera tries desperately to get his bloodied eyes in focus.

Get away from him! Get away!

Go back!

Three... four...

five... six...

seven... eight...

nine...

ten.

Doctor.

Come on.

Ladies and gentlemen ...

Take him to the dressing room. Dr. Gilbert will look him over.

...and 13 seconds of the seventh round...

winner by a knockout, Cassius Clay.

Great fight, kid. You were great.

Cassius, when did you really know you had him?

A guy like Mountain can explode anytime.

I rocked him in the second, and I figured I had him from then on.

Help me with him, will you? Thanks a lot, Charlie.

Maish, hang on to him.

Mountain, listen, you ' re all right, you understand?

Pretty cute, Maish.

Mountain, be careful. Be careful, Mountain.

Mountain, listen, you ' re okay.

You ' re okay, Mountain.

Yes, boss.

Get out of here.

Sit down.

Mountain, can you hear me?

Mountain, where are you?

I ' m in Pittsburgh and it ' s raining.

You ' re in New York, St. Christopher ' s Arena.

New York.

Yeah, that ' s right. I ' m in New York.

Maish...

this boy ' s fast, man.

It ' s okay, pal. It ' s all over.

Gotta stop him!

Stop it!

He ' ll be all right.

He ' ll be all right.

He ' ll come out of it all right. Now put him on the table.

Gently.

You had no business in there, Maish.

- You hungry or something? - What do you mean, hungry?

In 1952, he was number five.

1952?

When was that, Maish? Last Thursday?

You take a look at the eye.

Now look at this eye.

You see the pupil? You see the tissue?

That ' s known as sclerotic damage.

The inner structure shows it could lead to a detached retina.

A couple of good rights to that eye...

you can buy him a tin cup and some pencils.

Or maybe it doesn ' t have to happen that way, Maish.

Maybe some day he ' ll bang his head on a bathroom door and bleed to death.

Either way, Maish. It could happen either way.

No more. This is it.

- What are you talking about, no more? - No more.

That ' ll be my recommendation to the Commission.

I got nothing scheduled for him. He can rest.

He can rest up the rest of his life.

What ' s the matter with you? He ' s 17 years in this business.

Suddenly he gets a cut and I gotta put him out to pasture?

It isn ' t one cut and it isn ' t suddenly. It ' s 17 years of cuts.

- How long do you expect him to go on? - He looks good in the ring.

He ' s sharp. Sometimes he ' s plenty sharp. He ' s a pro.

That ' s probably what kept him alive.

Hey, Doc, you got any of those ammonia things?

You apply some strips to his upper lid.

You let me know if there ' s any change in his condition.

You got any more big, fat suggestions?

Tell him to buy a scrapbook.

Don ' t fight!

I know, I know, but don ' t fight!

You okay? Come on now.

Come on now.

Take a good deep breath.

That ' s right. Inhale.

He stopped me good.

Forget it.

You were beautiful. He just happened to throw a lucky punch.

Your boy caught it tonight, Maish.

That ' s very interesting! My eye feels funny.

Mountain!

He must have caught me good.

You all right now? Come on, let me see.

What ' s the matter with my eye? My eye feels funny.

No, don ' t touch it!

- It ' s deep? - Deep enough.

I got a nice clear view into your head.

Go take a shower. You ' ll feel better.

Take a deep breath.

- I ' m gonna go straight in. - No slipping.

There ' s something wrong, ain ' t there?

Something wrong? What ' s going on?

Where were you when the lights went out? I lost a boy tonight. Get with it.

- Besides that. - " Besides that " nothing.

- I saw Greeny giving you the eye. - I told you to forget it.

All I got to do is go hunting and pecking and find myself another boy.

- Maybe I ' ll try a lightweight this time. - Another boy? What about him, Maish?

Let him do what you did, become a cut man or something.

Maybe he ' s lucky at that. At least he walks away with his brains.

That ' s more than most.

That ' s very funny.

Seventeen years. At least he ' s lucky if he walks away with his brains.

It ' s a great sport.

Sport? Are you kidding?

If there was headroom, they ' d hold these things in sewers.

- Come in here. Could you get me a shirt? - Yeah.

I feel better after the shower.

My eye feels kind of funny, though.

Sit down.

What did he catch me with?

- He caught you with an uppercut. - Uppercut.

Sucker punch.

That kid, a couple of years ago ...

My legs get tired lately.

But I can take that kid.

Maish, I want to fight that kid again.

I want you to get me a rematch.

I got something to tell you.

The doc was in here.

He says you got to quit. No more fights.

What do you mean, I got to quit?

He feels you ' ve had it.

What are you talking about?

You got to quit, Mountain. You can ' t fight anymore.

Why? Because I got knocked out?

Don ' t everybody get knocked out? Louis, even Patterson?

That ' s crazy!

All right, maybe I think it ' s crazy, but that ' s what the doc says.

Go fight the Commission.

So you ' re gonna take some lousy horse doctor ' s word?

Listen...

the doc said if you take a couple more bangs on that left eye...

you ' ll end up selling pencils.

You got sclerotic damage.

So what do I do now?

A guy ' s got to do something.

All right, so you do something. Do something you like.

All I know how to do is fight. I ' ve been with you guys for 17 years.

Why don ' t you go back home to New Mexico or something?

Why, what ' s back there?

I wouldn ' t remember nobody and nobody would remember me.

Maish, maybe we can try in some other state?

If you don ' t pass muster in New York State...

you don ' t pass muster anyplace else. You know that.

What about some club fights, tank towns, unofficial?

You got to face up to it, Mountain. You can ' t fight anymore.

Come on, let ' s get out of here.

Maish...

I ' m sorry about tonight.

I ' m sorry I lost.

You don ' t have to feel sorry.

As far as I ' m concerned, you were number one.

That ' s what you were.

Don ' t give it another thought.

I took a bath tonight, Maish.

I don ' t want this complicated.

Don ' t make no long speech, just tell me...

didn ' t you phone me and say your boy wouldn ' t last...

more than four rounds?

Didn ' t you make a personal guarantee?

He was up against Clay.

Two rounds, three rounds, at the outside, four...

but never seven rounds, Ma. Never seven.

Last question, Maishy.

Didn ' t you have us put up a bet for you of $1,500?

And then on your word, we put up a bundle of our own?

Aren ' t you gonna pay us back now, Maish?

Certainly, I ' m going to pay you.

I ' ll give you the $1,500. I just need a couple of months.

This was a bet, not a bank loan.

The bundle, and in cash, by the first of the month.

Cash for your $1,500, cash for our bundle.

And Maishy...

you had better be ready.

Just one little last reminder, so Mr. Rennick don ' t forget.

Wait a minute. Wait...

Yeah?

Hey, Maish. What ...

You know, he was worried about you, you know?

Okay.

I ' ll tell him.

Okay. All right . ' Bye.

Mountain, that was Maish on the phone.

- Is he all right? - He ' s fine.

He hung one on last night. He ' s got a head like a balloon.

I was worried.