David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

under attack. Walker liked to call
himself a pragmatist. He was once
attacked by a “mountain of a man”—six
foot six, 260 pounds—when he was
standing in front of a courthouse in North
Carolina. Walker didn’t embrace his
assailant. He got up and came back at
him, and each time the man’s blows sent
Walker tumbling down the courthouse
steps, he picked himself up and came
back for more. The third time, Walker
recalled later, “he caught me good,
knocked me almost senseless. And I
went back up a fourth time. By this time,
you know, if I’d had my razor I’d have
cut him.”
One famous night, the three of them—
Walker, King, and Shuttlesworth—were