Lights Out has made regular appearances in Moments of Joy all season, even though it was usually the most depressing thing on TV. It introduced us to former heavyweight champ, Patrick “Lights” Leary. Like many retired boxers in real life, Lights had blown through his money, and he and his family were living on borrowed time. Worse, he’d been diagnosed with pugilistic dementia, which made any further blows to the head potentially disastrous. When the series started, we saw a desperate Lights run an errand for a local hood, and then his life fell apart.
Most of the series focuses on Lights’ attempt at a comeback – a fight with Death Row Reynolds, the guy who took the belt from him in a split decision. And through it all, the one thing that’s been absolutely clear to the characters, the viewers, and everybody except Lights is that he didn’t have a chance in hell. Death Row was younger, stronger, faster, and didn’t get accidentally stabbed by his brother a month before the fight.
Dukes!