Donatelli's Gym is the antithesis of the mean streets. At the gym, Alfred finds a world with a practical code of ethics. Everyone has an equal chance. Alfred will receive only the benefits that he earns. Nothing is promised to him except a fair chance. To get to the gym, Alfred has to climb. The gym is on the third floor of a building, and those three flights of stairs represent a psychological as well as a physical ascent for Alfred. The staircase is not a pretty place. It smells of stale wine, antiseptic, sweat, urine, and liniment. Alfred's legs shake; a ball of ice is in his gut. Thousands of steps seem to loom before him. They are so steep that he falls to all fours sometimes, just to keep going. His teeth grind, and his throat is dry; but Alfred makes it to the top. At the gym, he learns the most important lessons of his life and prepares for the test of the fight ring.
The union hall on Long Island where Alfred has his first amateur match is about as far away from Madison Square Garden as he can get. The Garden is the ultimate in the sport of boxing. It is where the best fighters go to perform before thousands of knowledgeable fans and sometimes, through television, the eyes of the world. The union hall is just a shabby building with a sleepy old man at the door and a locker room filled with cigar smoke. Places like this are where boxers start. They represent a chance, but little more. However, the boxing ring itself is the same in all of the arenas, whether at the union hall or Madison Square Garden. The ring is where Alfred must be tested, on character even more than on ability. The lessons at the gym were Alfred's homework. His final exam is the match with Hubbard, which takes place at Parkway Gardens in Brooklyn.
