(1975) A hard man in hard times steps off a boxcar and watches a pick-up fight with side betting inside a warehouse before introducing himself as Chaney (Charles Bronson) to Speed Weed (James Coburn), a big-grinning, loud-mouthed (he's has an unfortunate manner of expressing himself) promoter of bare-knuckles fisticuffs (with kicking, grappling, hair pulling, blows to any area of the body allowed), whose hitter just got knocked down. "We can make some money," says the drifter.

In his first match - after the other fighter taunts him: "Hey pops, you're a little old for this, ain't ya?" - he lays out his opponent with his first punch. Traveling together by coach to New Orleans in 1933, Speed introduces his new hitter to his "permanent fiancée," Gayleen Schoonover (Maggie Blye), though he also visits Lois's brothel to get his "hat blocked"; Chaney introduces himself to a girl sitting by herself at a table in a café, who answers his question: "I'm waiting for somebody to buy me another cup of coffee." Lucy Simpson (Jill Ireland) tells the stranger that she has "a husband in jail, no job, and no prospects."

After Speed grudgingly agrees to Chaney's terms, his partner informs him: "When I get enough change in my pocket, I'm going." Bet on this dramatic double-fisted Depression-era fight film from director Walter Hill, who co-wrote the screenplay with Bryan Gindoff and Bruce Henstell, though it never reveals where the pugilist ("He sure has something") learned his defensive moves and offensive grooves.

Speed takes Chaney to watch big-moneyman from high society Chick Gandil's hitter Big Jim Henry demolish an opponent: "Nobody ever beats him." Borrowing $1,000 from loan shark LeBeau, Speed introduces Chaney to Poe (Strother Martin), his hophead doctor (two years of med school), and tries to set up a fight with Gandil. But with Gandil's calling him a "hope-and-a-prayer artist" and demanding $3,000 upfront before agreeing to 3-1 odds against his hardheaded apeman, Speed needs another match.

When Pettibon refuses to pay up - Poe deplores this as a "bad example of Southern sportsmanship" - Chaney takes care of business (though the revolver he fires somehow discharges eight consecutive rounds). Afterward, Lucy ("Christ, I barely know you") tells Chaney ("But would you like to?") she wants a man who's reliable and willing to spend the night.

Realizing that Chaney's new reputation will making finding matches more difficult plus having to offer odds to attract contestants, Speed nevertheless gambles away his share of winnings, leaving him exposed to LeBeau's henchman Doty. When Gandil's offer to buy a half interest in the taciturn, hard-hitting street fighter receives a rebuff (Chaney: "We can get along without you"), Chick hires Street, a hitter from Chicago, and uses LeBeau's financial claim on Speed to strong-arm the promoter.

Saying he doesn't need any more money, Chaney tells Poe, who begs for him to save Speed from having his legs and back broken: "Me and Speed ain't related anymore."

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