Crying Fist (2005)

Round One: Tae-shik was once a silver medallist in the Asian Games. Gambling debts and a factory fire have consumed everything he ever owned, leaving him no choice but to work as a street boxer in order to make ends meet. All he has left is his wife and son—and his wife demands a divorce. His son Seo-jin, the only light in his life, will go with her. With his back against the wall and nothing left to lose, an amateur-league bout offers the only hope for the battered boxer. Round Two: Teenager Sang-hwan’s routine of gang fights and muggings is interrupted by a pressing debt. To make the money, he robs a wealthy neighbour—and promptly ends up in a juvenile detention centre. A fight on his first day lands him in solitary confinement. A guard wisely suggests that he direct his violent aggression into boxing, something that gives him, for the first time in his life hope and a sense of direction. But during his sentence, his father dies and his grandmother has a stroke. To overcome his grief, Sang-hwan enters an amateur-league boxing match. Round Three: The preliminaries for the amateur championship begin, and so too does the inevitable clash of Tae-shik and Sang-hwan. Tae-shik’s old skills gradually return as he beats boxer after boxer, while Sang-hwan knocks out every opponent. The two men finally meet at the final match, and they are equally matched. Tae-shik has no place left to go while Sang-hwan is fighting for someone else for the first time in his life. The fight of a lifetime has begun! Cast: Choi Min-sik as Gang Tae-shik, Ryoo Seung-beom as Yoo Sang-hwan, and more.