First we're expected to believe that a thug with a penchant for not defending his face in the ring has become the world heavyweight boxing champion. This is outright stupid, and relies on (and reinforces) the public perception that boxing is a stupid sport for stupid thugs.

Then through being stupid his wife gets killed and then you have to wait patiently while the perfunctory script walks you through a set of inevitable and predictable scenes where he reforms himself. His character isn't particularly likable so it's hard to care.

There's some heart-wrenchy stuff about a kid training in the gym that doesn't work. He dies but it seems really off-topic, like 'meh'.

When they do the 'learning to box' montage, it kind of defies belief. Forest Whitaker teaches him to move his head out of the way of oncoming punches - BECAUSE HE NEVER LEARNED TO DO THAT BEFORE..

SPOILER ALERT: He wins in the end. If you couldn't see that coming you should try boxing. As this film would have it, you probably have a chance of becoming world champion.