The best managers arent necessarily the most skilled or talented players in their field. The best managers recognize these qualities in others, and cultivate them. The best managers also arent afraid to take risks, and are willing to accept that it sometimes will result in failure.
Doc Louis had to know he was taking a chance on Little Mac. The kid was skinny, scrawny, and green. Hell, he was only seventeen. But Doc saw a glint in Macs black eye that told him this kid knew how to pick himself up off the mat. They began training at once.
Doc had to call in a favor from an old Nam buddy just to get Mac his first fight. The guy was pushing forty- and pushing it pretty hard- but he had experience and not an insignificant bit of spirit for an old guy, and were it not for some encouraging words and a serious pounding on Mac's shoulder between rounds one and two, they might not have pulled through. But pull through they did.
The rest is history.
