The Contender

The Contender is a 1967 novel by American writer and sports journalist Robert Lipsyte. It follows black teenager Alfred Brooks, who lives with his Aunt Pearl and her three daughters in the Harlem borough of New York City. After dropping out of high school, Brooks trains at a boxing gym as a means of escape from New York’s epidemic of drugs and gang violence. When Brooks’s friend, James, is arrested for robbing the grocery store where Brooks is employed, Brooks confronts a local gang leader, Major, who has enabled the drug addiction that fueled his friend’s crime. Brooks gradually learns that though it is impossible to win every battle, it is imperative for every person to strive toward a moral life.

As the novel begins, Brooks faces a dilemma when he meets up with James and his friends, Hollis and Major, who are planning to break into the grocery store owned by the Epsteins’, where Brooks works. Brooks decides not to go with them but forgets to warn them that the Epsteins have recently installed a burglary alarm. The trio triggers the alarm, and the police show up. Hollis and Major escape, but James is arrested and taken to jail. Hollis and Major find Brooks and assault him, believing that he intentionally sent them into a trap. Brooks’s neighbor, Henry, notices that he is in bad shape and takes him home. Henry refers him to his place of work, a boxing gym known for its famous clientele, owned by Mr. Donatelli. Brooks visits the gym and proclaims that he wants to be a boxing champion. In response, Mr. Donatelli says that first, he must train a lot to be in the running for greatness – a contender.

Henry and Mr. Donatelli, along with boxers Jelly Belly and Spoon, bring Brooks to a boxing tournament at Madison Square Garden to see Willie Streeter, Mr. Donatelli’s best fighter. Streeter is injured during his match, and Mr. Donatelli forfeits the match on his behalf. Streeter berates him for cutting him off, but Spoon suggests that Mr. Donatelli knows when to end a match better than anyone else does. The event convinces Brooks to start training as a boxer.



Brooks follows Mr. Donatelli’s training instructions exactly for the first six weeks of training. After coming so far, he begins to lose hope in his ability, because he has yet to fight in a real match. One day, feeling especially down about himself, he decides to attend one of Major’s many parties, having heard that James would show up. When he arrives, he is bombarded with pressures to consume alcohol and drugs, and eventually gives in. James arrives at the party, but largely ignores Brooks, seemingly interested only in doing heroin.

Still disillusioned about his future and the fate of his friends, Brooks travels to Coney Island with Major. They are nearly waylaid by police and avoid being arrested for driving in Major’s stolen car. Brooks stays at home for a few days, sinking further into depression, then travels to the gym to retrieve his possessions. Before he leaves, he asks Mr. Donatelli if he ever believed he was a contender. Mr. Donatelli tells him that the only way to find out is to observe how one responds to being hurt. Feeling unable to quit before he knows the answer to that question, Brooks continues his training.

Over the next few weeks, Brooks improves rapidly. He discovers that Mr. Epstein was once a professional boxer, and they repair their relationship that was damaged from his friends’ robbery. Brooks prepares for his first fight, ignoring the objections of Aunt Pearl. He wins his first-ever match. That night, Aunt Pearl asks him if he enjoyed winning; he answers that he did not, but he feels he is not ready to back down.



In Brooks’s second fight, he knocks his opponent unconscious. Disgusted by his violence, he becomes sick. Mr. Epstein applauds Brooks for his achievement and offers to pay for his future boxing lessons. Meanwhile, Spoon tries to convince Brooks to attend night school to finish his high school degree; after several attempts, he gets through to him. After Brooks’s third match, Mr. Donatelli approaches Brooks and tells him that his instincts are not brutal enough to be a champion boxer. Brooks responds that he still cannot quit until he understands how he responds to getting hurt.

Mr. Donatelli is convinced to let Brooks fight one more time. In this match, he faces a much more capable opponent. He endures an intense beating, lasting to the very end without giving up, but ultimately loses in the judges’ vote. Nevertheless, he finally feels proud of his effort and is satisfied to retire from boxing. The same night, Brooks is devastated to hear that James has hurt himself while trying to rob the Epsteins’ grocery store again. Aunt Pearl tells him that James is on the run, leaving a trail of blood, and will likely be arrested soon. Brooks rushes to his friends’ old meeting place in Central Park. He motivates James to get medical treatment, promising that he will not give up on his friend. The Contender demonstrates that effort is more important than achievement, whether in sport or in one’s moral life.