- In a stroke of luck, Peekay gets his first fight when he is still nine years old, because Snotnose Bronkhorst is sick. Lieutenant Smit is sure that he'll lose, but Geel Piet takes special care of preparing Peekay for the fight.
- Peekay goes to ask his mother about the boxing match, because he still hasn't told her that his morning piano lessons are preceded by boxing practice. She already knows, though, because Lieutenant Smit has been by to ask her.
- She agrees to let him fight, and Peekay is thrilled.
- Peekay gets his uniform with his name on it at boxing practice the day before the fight, and during his piano lesson Geel Piet sneaks over to give him a gift from the prisoners, a new pair of beautiful leather boxing boots. He tells him that it is for Onoshobishobi Ingelosi, the Tadpole Angel, from the People.
- At that a new guard, Sergeant Borman, comes in to tell Doc that the kommandant wants to see him. He gives Geel Piet trouble for fraternizing with the white prisoner and Peekay, and makes him say that the black prisoners eat each other's feces.
- Doc has been given special permission to attend the fight in exchange for playing a concert for the prison inspector, who would be coming the next month.
- The ref is concerned that Peekay is much smaller than his opponent, Du Toit. He threatens to call off the fight if it looks like Peekay is getting hurt.
- Klipkop and Lieutenant Smit are nervous, too, and coach Peekay on staying out of trouble. He boxes better than Du Toit, even though he does take a few hits. The crowd is on the underdog's side and cheers for Peekay.
- Du Toit starts to get tired of chasing Peekay around, and the crowd laughs at him by the end of the second round.
- The coaches tell Peekay that he only has to stay out of trouble to win on points, and that he doesn't even have to punch Du Toit. He just manages to avoid getting knocked down, which would have been an automatic loss, and wins the match.
- Doc cries because he is so happy, and the rest of the team does really well in the tournament. For his second-round fight, Peekay is matched against another tough kid named Geldenhuis, and it's a harder fight than the previous one.
- Because Peekay has good manners, the ref nicknames him Gentleman Peekay, and he wins again to make it to the finals.
- His last fight is against a guy called Killer Kroon, a very big Boer who won both of his first two fights on knockouts. He weighs about thirty or forty pounds more than Peekay, and the ref is worried about letting them fight.
- Lieutenant Smit promises to throw in the towel if he thinks Peekay is getting hurt, and begs to let Peekay fight for never missing a training session in three years.
- The ref gives them one round, and Peekay feels like Hoppie must have in that fight in the railroad town.
- Because Peekay is quick, he manages to mostly stay out of trouble in the first round and even gets in a good punch, as well as working on a sore spot under Kroon's heart.
- In the second Peekay stays after Kroon's sore spot and starts to tire him out.
- In the third round, Kroon is mad, but also looks really tired. When Peekay avoids a punch, he gets knocked down by the inside of Kroon's arm, and since a knockdown ends a fight, thinks he has lost. But the ref doesn't count it since it wasn't a punch, and the boys box on.
- Kroon is exhausted, and traps Peekay in a clinch, and Peekay's shorts fall down. He hits Kroon with his naked bum hanging out to the crowd, but finally trips over his shorts and falls down again. The ref doesn't count it as a knockdown, and helps him pull up his pants.
- Finally, a very tired Kroon's team throws in the towel, and Gentleman Peekay wins. It turns out that Kroon had an asthma attack, probably from all the hits under the heart and chasing Peekay around.
- Doc won five shillings betting on Peekay, and takes him for a soda to celebrate.