Still, Alfred fights back. He manages to throw some combinations. In the second round, he is better, sticking and moving. Unfortunately, Hubbard catches him in a corner, slamming Alfred against the post. The ex-Marine's fists are sledgehammers. Alfred is down for the third time. Somehow he is up again, telling the referee that he is fine. He survives the second round, and Henry succeeds in convincing Donatelli to allow a third.
Alfred is seriously hurt. His vision is blurred. The crowd is insane. He faces a bigger, better, meaner fighter. He cannot win. And he doesn't care. He stands toe-to-toe with Hubbard. He will not back off. He is "gonna stand here all day and all night, . . . gonna climb, man, gonna keep climbing, you can't knock me out, nobody ever gonna knock me out, you wanna stop me you better kill me." Alfred goes the distance. Lipsyte foreshadows that Alfred will always go the distance; it just won't be in a boxing ring.
