while johnny's hand is being examined at the hospital, pat looks for her friend, rick gavery (dick powell), a hard-drinking sports reporter who has been following johnny's career. pat eventually finds rick in jail, where she has found him on many previous occasions. when johnny's physician, dr. george esmond, tells him that his hand is now vulnerable to permanent injury, johnny asks the doctor to keep his condition a secret. after telling pat and some reporters that his hand is merely bruised, johnny returns to his training camp.