Determined to prove his worth, a half-Paiute, half-Irish ranch hand who was abandoned by his parents leaves his aging guardians to become a champion boxer before matches organized in Mexico and Las Vegas lead to his realization that he cannot change his identity or outrun his destiny. Horace Hopper is ashamed of his half-Paiute, half-Irish heritage. He's spent most of his life on a Nevada sheep ranch after the Reeses took him in. They've treated him like a son, intending to leave the ranch in his hands. Determined to prove his worth as a championship boxer, Horaces changes the way he eats, trains, and thinks. Reinventing himself as Hector Hildago, a scrappy Mexican boxer, he heads to Tucson and begins training and entering fights. But he can't change who he is... or outrun his destiny.