Can't Miss Contender is a terrific story, following the adventures of yet another graduate from Father Tim's orphanage. Billy Flood is a young boxer who can't stay out of trouble and, despite his best intentions,

keeps doing time behind the walls. It's a classic story of a good guy who wants to settle down with a girl in a small town and pursue the welterweight title. But, his past keeps coming back to haunt him. Yes, plot wise, it's a Saturday afternoon tearjerker, but this book is filled with some of the best play by play fight action you'll find anywhere, beginning with a prison yard fight against Tommy Knuckles, a guy whose stare burned a hole in your chest even before he threw a punch and whose hands were the size of Buicks.
I liked everything about this book. It really captured the era and the 1940s boxing genre. ( )