The next morning, when his comrades find Barney and Spike, they are taken to safety but Barney, who was himself wounded, has contracted malaria. One rainy night, Barney heroically fights off enemy soldiers, carries his severely wounded friend Spike McAvoy on his back and saves them both. At thirty-three, Barney is called "Pop" by his fellow marines fighting at Guadalcanal. There they reconcile and marry before Barney is shipped out to the South Pacific. When he tells her of his happiness and new resolve, she agrees to see him again in San Diego. Some time later, Cathy begins to receive letters from Barney, who has joined the marines. That same day, Big Ralph forces Barney out of the bar in payment for his gambling loses. Although she still loves Barney, Cathy is repelled by his continual gambling, which she considers an incurable disease, and leaves him. Some time later, Barney is running a successful bar with financial backing from Big Ralph, to whom he owes thousands of dollars. Realizing that he will no longer be a champion, Barney tells Cathy and his mother that he is quitting the ring, just as they have wanted. Afterward, Barney confesses to Sam that he bet his entire purse on himself, but refuses Sam and Art's offer of their fees for the fight. On the night of his big fight with Henry Armstrong, Barney loses his title but impresses Cathy with his courage when he refuses to let Sam throw in the towel and completes the brutal, fifteen-round bout. His gambling continues, though, worrying Cathy as well as Sam. His relationship with Cathy and Noreen grows, at the same time that his boxing career brings him more money and fame. Although she has a six-year-old daughter, Noreen, when Cathy reveals that she no longer has a husband, Barney begins to court her. Sometime later, when Barney and Cathy run into each other again in a park, he remembers how attractive he found her. Instead of being angry, Barney has flowers sent to her. After Barney wins the fight, he, Sam and trainer Art Winch and their girl friends go to a nightclub, where chorus girl Cathy accidentally kicks Barney during the floorshow. Barney is a heavy gambler and a big spender, which worries his manager, Sam Pian. After former boxer Barney Ross enters a federal hospital in Lexington, Kentucky to overcome his addiction to morphine, he thinks back over his life: In mid-1930s Chicago, Barney cheerfully looks forward to regaining his title from Jimmy McLarnin, in a match he is sure he will win, and bets $10,000 on himself with bookie Big Ralph.
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