Chapter Six Summary

It is fight time, and Peekay is amazed at how many people are at the match. He estimates that there are two thousand men in the stands, with even more people when the Africans underneath the stands are counted. He accompanies Hoppie into the tent where Jackhammer Smit and his seconds are already, along with the referee, who Peekay is surprised to see is a grown man but only his own height, a dwarf.

Smit and Hoppie again exchange a couple of verbal blows, with Smit coming out enraged once again. The inference in the previous chapter is solidified when Hoppie says that every once in a while the shots from the mouth are what will decide a fight. He also demonstrates to Peekay that part of being a great fighter is by playing to the crowd, even when it comes...