Fall 8 times, get up 9

Eugène, the boxing champion of France, arrives at the front in March 1915. There, a bullet hits him straight in the face. When the young man, nicknamed “Angel Face”, wakes up  from the brink of death, he is now a “broken face.” After months of rehabilitation, he recovers. Once the war is over, he decides to resume boxing. “The bullet that didn’t kill him may have made him stronger”: now known as “Iron Jaw,” he bulks up, competes frequently, sometimes loses but often wins. Until June 2, 1923, in New York, where his impressive opponent struggles to get up. Eugène Criqui is the world champion!

SPIRIT OF THE BOOK

Following “The Chess Player”, Frédéric Marais once again draws inspiration from a real character and trajectory to tell a powerful story and evoke the barely believable springs that lie deep within each of us. If Eugène returned to the ring “to everyone’s surprise,” he knew perfectly well what he had to accomplish, especially in a life slipping away from him. A superb lesson of dignity, full of modesty and elegance.