Nave appears dazed. The two embrace at the end. It is, after all, only a sport, nothing personal. Applause sprinkles throughout the theater. Not thundering, but more than you'd expect.
TV crews step into the ring.
Haugen tells them he keeps on fighting because he needs to support his kids, and then disappears. The exhausted Nave continues to give interviews, his trainer holding him firmly by the waist. Behind him, promoter Howes positions ring girls for the cameras. Nave's career isn't over by any means, but when he steps out into the cool Marin night, headed for what was supposed to be his victory party, the glitzy video show that opened the evening will seem eerily like a posthumous tribute to a boxer whose days are numbered. All rights reserved.