“Come on now Jim. Lets be reasonable here. How exactly do you expect me to get you out of the fight? I mean the fight is tomorrow.” Joe Gould was lost for words this time, a rare occurrence for Joe.

Never before had Jimmy Braddock walked from a fight, he had even fought with broken hands. Today Jim tells him he isn’t going to fight.

“I know you have worked hard on my behalf Joe. I do appreciate it. But there is no way I am going to make the fight tomorrow. If you want me to call Max myself I will. I’ll even talk to Mr. Johnston, tell him I’m retiring. But I am going to be on the plane back to Australia in 5 hours.”

Joe was drenched in panicked sweat. “ Now let’s not go getting crazy. There is no reason to talk about retiring, not yet. I’ll figure something out. You won’t have to fight Schmeling tomorrow and you won’t have to retire. I’m sure Johnston is going to chew me out for this one But I’ll figure it out.”

Watching Jim get into a car bound for the airport Gould racked his brains for an angle. “His hands….I’ll get him out on a medical…”