On the Chin

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The first thing that impressed me about Fritzy was his collection of boxing maxims, which he deployed continuously and without regard to their relevance: 'Ya don't play boxing', 'Don't hook with a hooker', 'Kill the body and the head'll die', 'Move ya head or the other guy'll move it for ya.'Fritzy was Jake's trainer. I had got his mobile number from Jake, but put off dialling it for two days, afraid my voice would betray me as soft, privileged and generally unsuitable for instruction. When I did finally work up the nerve to call, I half-hoped nobody would pick up. But on the fifth ring, a voice, broad and rasping, answered: 'Fritzy here.''G'day,' I said, affecting the same kind of matey, flat-vowelled intonation my dad uses when talking to his mechanic. 'I was calling about getting some boxing lessons for me and a mate?'The sport of boxing provokes love, loathing and sometimes lust with equal intensity. It's a ticket out of poverty, a...