"If there's magic in boxing, it's the magic of fighting battles beyond endurance, beyond cracked ribs, ruptured kidneys and detached retinas. It's the magic of risking everything for a dream that nobody sees but you."

"I'm 32, Mr. Dunn, and I'm here celebrating the fact that I spent another year scraping dishes and waitressing which is what I've been doing since 13, and according to you, I'll be 37 before I can even throw a decent punch."

"My brother's in prison, my sister cheats on welfare by pretending one of her babies is still alive, my daddy's dead, and my momma weighs 312lbs. If I was thinking straight, I'd go back home, find a used trailer, buy a deep fryer and some oreos. Problem is, this the only thing I ever felt good doing."

"If I'm too old for this, then I got nothing. That enough truth to suit you?"

"I don't train girls."

"You forgot the rule. Now, what is the rule?"

"Keep my left up?"

"Is to protect yourself at all times. Now, what is the rule?"

"Protect myself at all times."

"Good. Good."

"Mo cuishle means my darling. My blood."

"I think someone should count to 10."

"They took my leg, boss."

"It's gonna be all right, you hear?"

"I always hear your voice, boss."

"You're gonna leave me again?"

"Never."

"Frankie likes to say that boxing is an unnatural act, that everything in boxing is backwards: sometimes the best way to deliver a punch is to step back... But step back too far and you ain't fighting at all."

"What's confusing you this week?"

"Oh, it's the same old 'one God-three God' thing."

"Frankie, most people figure out by kindergarten it's about faith."

"Is it sort of like Snap Crackle and Pop, all rolled into one big box?"

"You're standing outside my church, comparing God to Rice Krispies?"

"You wouldn't start training to be a ballerina at 31 now, would you?"

"Already been workin' it for three years."

"And you can't hit a speed bag? What kind of training is that?"

"I never had any, boss."

"Well, I hate to say it, but it shows."

"We're flying?"

"Would you rather drive?"

"You're askin' me?"

"Would you rather fly or would you rather drive?"

"So, I finally get to decide something?"

"That's what I'm saying."

"Fine. Fly there, drive back."

"That's the stupidest thing I ever heard of. How the hell we gonna do that?"

"You said it was up to me."

"Yeah right, you're the smart one. You're the one learning Greek."

"It's Gaelic."

"Well you just protected yourself out of a championship fight! How do you say that in Gaelic?"

"The body knows what fighters don't: how to protect itself. A neck can only twist so far. Twist it just a hair more and the body says, 'Hey, I'll take it from here because you obviously don't know what you're doing...'"

"Boxing is an unnatural act. Cos everything in it is backwards. You wanna move to the left, you don't step left, you push on the right toe. To move right, you use your left toe."

"Instead of running from the pain - like a sane person would do, you step into it."

"All fighters are pig-headed some way or another: some part of them always thinks they know better than you about something."

"Truth is: even if they're wrong, even if that one thing is going to be the ruin of them, if you can beat that last bit out of them... they ain't fighters at all."

"Anyone can lose one fight."

"You ever own a dog?"

"No. Closest I ever came was a middleweight from Barstow."

"Don't call me Boss. I'm not your boss and don't you be calling me that."

"If I stop callin' you Boss, will you train me?"

"No."

"Then I might as well just keep callin you it."

"So is Jesus a Demigod?"

"There are no Demigods, you fucking Pagan."

"You don't have to hang around all day."

"I like it here. I don't mind. In fact, if you weren't here, I'd come here anyway to read my books."

"Ten minutes, luv."

"Man says he loves me."

"Well, he's probably not the first one to say that."

"First since my daddy."

"Hm."

"I win, you think he'll propose?"

"You win, I'll propose."

"I saw your last fight, Shawrelle. Spent so much time face down I thought the canvas had titties."

"How many times do I got to tell you that bleach is bleach. Why can't you just buy the cheap stuff, you always have to buy the expensive stuff."

"It smells better, Frankie."

"Bleach smells like bleach."

"Damndest thing. So, What's the plan? I know you got one, so you might as well tell me what it is."

"It's your fault. Yeah, it's your fault she's lying in there like that. You kept after me until I trained her. I knew I shouldn't have done it, her being a girl and all. Everything kept telling me not to. Everything but you."

"She came from southwest Missoura, the hills outside the scratchy-ass Ozark town of Theodosia, set in the cedars and oak trees, somewhere between nowhere and goodbye."

"You got any family, boss?"

"What?"

"You're spending so much time with me. I didn't know if you had any."

"Well, I've got a daughter, Katie."

"Well that's family."

"We're not exactly close."

"How much she weigh?"

"What?"

"Trouble in my family comes by the pound."

"To make a fighter you gotta strip them down to bare wood: you can't just tell 'em to forget everything you know, you gotta make 'em forget even their bones."

"Make 'em so tired they only listen to you, only hear your voice, only do what you say and nothing else."

"Show 'em how to keep their balance and take it away from the other guy."

"Then you gotta show 'em all over again. Over and over and over... till they think they're born that way."

"How many eyes do you need to finish this fight?"

"One's enough."

"She's tough, I can't go inside, I can't get close enough to hit her."

"You know why that is?"

"Why?"

"Cause she's a better fighter than you are, that's why. She's younger, she's stronger, and she's more experienced. Now, what are you gonna do about it?"

"Working the bag, boss."

"I'm not your boss and that bag's working you."

"I've got nobody but you, Frankie."

"Then you've got me."

"I want you to jab, right in the tits, until they turn blue and fall off."

"Girlie, tough ain't enough."

"The only man who comes to church that much is the kind that can't forgive himself for something."

"You bought me a house with all the money you made fightin'? You stupid whore!"

"Frankie doesn't say much, but when he does, you'd be wise to listen."

"I'll be damned. The old man finally came through."

"I told her I'd take her, but I didn't. I took her to the fights, but not all the way. I didn't take her all the way."