After all, wasn’t that the reason he was here?

‘Stay with it, Alfie,’ he told himself. ‘If you don’t win this one, you might as well give up now!’

The big day dawned and Alfie was ready.

In the stadium, the atmosphere was tense and exciting.

Now, as Alfie walked into the arena, he kept his eyes straight ahead. He felt the thumps of encouragement on his back as he made his way through the crowds, and the buzz as he climbed into the ring. Suddenly, the spotlight fell on him, cheers and boos rang out and the crowd went wild.

The bell sounded and there was no one else in that ring but him and his opponent, a mountain of a man, black as coal and mean as they come. ‘Go on, son,’ Gus’s voice echoed in his ears. ‘He ain’t as dangerous as he’d have you believe.’

The fight was on. The crowd roared with every punch, and twice Alfie went down. ‘GET UP, DAMN YOU!’ Gus kept him on his toes.

Round one was easy-paced, with each man assessing the other’s strength.

Round two was fast and furious.

In round three, Arnie Wild took a hard blow to the jaw and stayed down for the count of four. Seconds later, it was Alfie’s turn, only he was back on his feet in two.

After round four, they returned to their corners, where Gus had some advice. ‘Keep low,’ he suggested. ‘Go up to him, son. The jaw… go for the jaw! It’s his weakest point.’

At the end of round five, both men came off bloodied and bone-tired, the sweat pouring down their bodies. ‘You’ve got him on the run!’ Gus was sure of it. ‘Keep at him. Don’t let him crowd you.’

But Arnie did crowd him. For a time in round six, it looked as though the black boxer had the fight in the palm of his hand. Clever and quick on his feet, he sensed victory. Then he made a mistake.

Just when he thought the fight was in the bag, Alfie swung a right hook and caught his opponent on the jaw. He went down – hard.

With the crowd baying for blood, Arnie stayed down for the count, and then the whole stadium was on its feet, the noise deafening.

Alfie was declared the winner, and it was all over. ‘You did it, son!’ Gus was trembling with excitement. ‘I knew you were a champion the minute I set eyes on you.’

In the dressing room, they treated Alfie’s cut eye and people crowded in to congratulate him. ‘You’ll go far,’ they said, and drank to his health. When the chips were down, they wanted a winner and they got one.

After the furore abated, Alfie was ready to leave. His first port of call was to see Arnie Wild. ‘You almost took the fight in three,’ Alfie said. ‘You’re a formidable opponent.’ They shook hands. ‘I’m sure we’ll meet up again.’