The Fighter

Book excerpt: Paul Harris leads a sheltered life. The son of a wealthy southern Ontario winery owner, his suits and cars are paid for, his career in the family business assured. But after a vicious beating shakes his world, he descends into the realm of hardcore bodybuilders and boxing gyms, reveling in suffering and seeking to become a real man. Rob Tully, a working class teenager from upstate New York, is a born boxer. He trains with his father and uncle but struggles with the weight of their expectations. Their disparate paths lead to The Barn, an underground bare-knuckle fight venue where vicious and hopeless men brawl for cold hard cash.