K-drama My Lovely Boxer: sports drama starring Lee Sang-yeob and Kim So-hye could use some time in the gym

Lead cast: Lee Sang-yeob, Kim So-hye

Latest Nielsen rating: 1.6 per cent

Sports dramas are, by their nature, pretty formulaic. But their seemingly repetitive thrills mask a careful balancing act between athletic and dramatic elements. Unfortunately for the new Korean pugilist drama My Lovely Boxer, it wobbles its way through the first round.

Kim So-hye, a former member of the K-pop outfit I.O.I., plays Lee Kwon-sook, a brilliant boxer who becomes a media sensation when she knocks out the world’s top male prizefighter – he’s compared to Muhammad Ali – during a publicity bout at the tender age of 17.

Kwon-sook goes on to win all the major amateur tourneys, including clinching a gold medal at the Olympics.

However, on the eve of her professional debut in a title match with defending champion Han A-reum (Chae Won-bin) she suddenly disappears from the public eye.

8 of the best new Korean drama series to look out for in September 2023

Tae-young scores great deals for his clients, but he lacks the personal touch; he’s the type who answers his phone when he should be offering the stars in his charge emotional support.

This applies most of all to his original client, Kim Hee-won (Choi Jae-woong). Tae-young and Hee-won were baseball buddies in their youth, but while the latter had the chops to go pro, Tae-young switched to management instead.

In the present, Hee-won is a struggling relief pitcher for a minor league team. Tae-young receives a proposition for Hee-won to fix a game and, horrified, turns it down. What he doesn’t know is that Hee-won had already agreed to it because his daughter needs expensive eye surgery.

Hee-won goes ahead without Tae-young, but can’t bring himself to cheat when he’s out on the diamond. Unfortunately, returning his pay to the gangsters does little to solve the problem – they lost a big bet on the match.

After years of ignoring his friend and client’s struggles, Tae-young finally steps up. He takes on Hee-won’s gang debt and hospital bills and now he has three months to pay back 2.5 billion won (US$1.9 million).

His plan to do so involves finding Kwon-sook and bringing her out of retirement for two matches. It’s easier said than done; Kwon-sook, who now goes by the name Lee Yoo-ri, has already moved six times to evade the public eye.

When Tae-young finds her she is working as a kindergarten teacher; apart from her morning jogs, she has left her sporting life behind.

My Lovely Boxer could be forgiven some of its clichéd trappings but it doesn’t work where it counts. It’s a boxing story that spends little to no time in the ring.

The show clearly isn’t interested in being a serious sports drama, but by ignoring the sport the lead characters suffer.

Kim does her best as Kwon-sook, but with her small build she is a tough sell as a supposedly “genius boxer”. She gets no help at all from a script that makes no effort to show why Kwon-sook likes boxing or why she is good at it. She doesn’t seem to have much interest in sport.

Things get worse when Tae-young and Kwon-sook finally meet in a scene awash in regressive stereotypes.

Kwon-sook is on a bad blind date during which her match turns out to be someone who recognised her and is looking to score bragging rights. Tae-young saves her by grabbing the man’s phone and revealing that he has a girlfriend.

Tae-young then grabs Kwon-sook by the wrist and yanks her out of the restaurant. Out in the alley he reveals himself to be no better than her bad date. He’s also recognised her and he’s also after something.

When Kwon-sook flatly turns down his proposal he grabs her wrist again. Refusing to take no for an answer, he proceeds to pester her during her runs every morning.

This isn’t the cute and persistent behaviour the show seems to think it is – he’s a stalker.

Kwon-sook will eventually make it back into the ring and, while A-reum is being set up as her sporting rival, the show’s main rivals will surely be of the romantic kind.

Those include Tae-young’s ex Jung Soo-yeon (Ha Seung-ri), another sports agent, and trust fund baby Han Jae-min (Kim Jin-woo), the vice principal of Kwon-sook’s school.

My Lovely Boxer is streaming on Viu.

Lead cast: Lee Sang-yeob, Kim So-hye

Latest Nielsen rating: 1.6 per cent

Sports dramas are, by their nature, pretty formulaic. But their seemingly repetitive thrills mask a careful balancing act between athletic and dramatic elements. Unfortunately for the new Korean pugilist drama My Lovely Boxer, it wobbles its way through the first round.

Kim So-hye, a former member of the K-pop outfit I.O.I., plays Lee Kwon-sook, a brilliant boxer who becomes a media sensation when she knocks out the world’s top male prizefighter – he’s compared to Muhammad Ali – during a publicity bout at the tender age of 17.

Kwon-sook goes on to win all the major amateur tourneys, including clinching a gold medal at the Olympics.

However, on the eve of her professional debut in a title match with defending champion Han A-reum (Chae Won-bin) she suddenly disappears from the public eye.

8 of the best new Korean drama series to look out for in September 2023

Tae-young scores great deals for his clients, but he lacks the personal touch; he’s the type who answers his phone when he should be offering the stars in his charge emotional support.

This applies most of all to his original client, Kim Hee-won (Choi Jae-woong). Tae-young and Hee-won were baseball buddies in their youth, but while the latter had the chops to go pro, Tae-young switched to management instead.

In the present, Hee-won is a struggling relief pitcher for a minor league team. Tae-young receives a proposition for Hee-won to fix a game and, horrified, turns it down. What he doesn’t know is that Hee-won had already agreed to it because his daughter needs expensive eye surgery.

Hee-won goes ahead without Tae-young, but can’t bring himself to cheat when he’s out on the diamond. Unfortunately, returning his pay to the gangsters does little to solve the problem – they lost a big bet on the match.

After years of ignoring his friend and client’s struggles, Tae-young finally steps up. He takes on Hee-won’s gang debt and hospital bills and now he has three months to pay back 2.5 billion won (US$1.9 million).

His plan to do so involves finding Kwon-sook and bringing her out of retirement for two matches. It’s easier said than done; Kwon-sook, who now goes by the name Lee Yoo-ri, has already moved six times to evade the public eye.

When Tae-young finds her she is working as a kindergarten teacher; apart from her morning jogs, she has left her sporting life behind.

My Lovely Boxer could be forgiven some of its clichéd trappings but it doesn’t work where it counts. It’s a boxing story that spends little to no time in the ring.

The show clearly isn’t interested in being a serious sports drama, but by ignoring the sport the lead characters suffer.

Kim does her best as Kwon-sook, but with her small build she is a tough sell as a supposedly “genius boxer”. She gets no help at all from a script that makes no effort to show why Kwon-sook likes boxing or why she is good at it. She doesn’t seem to have much interest in sport.

Things get worse when Tae-young and Kwon-sook finally meet in a scene awash in regressive stereotypes.

Kwon-sook is on a bad blind date during which her match turns out to be someone who recognised her and is looking to score bragging rights. Tae-young saves her by grabbing the man’s phone and revealing that he has a girlfriend.

Tae-young then grabs Kwon-sook by the wrist and yanks her out of the restaurant. Out in the alley he reveals himself to be no better than her bad date. He’s also recognised her and he’s also after something.

When Kwon-sook flatly turns down his proposal he grabs her wrist again. Refusing to take no for an answer, he proceeds to pester her during her runs every morning.

This isn’t the cute and persistent behaviour the show seems to think it is – he’s a stalker.

Kwon-sook will eventually make it back into the ring and, while A-reum is being set up as her sporting rival, the show’s main rivals will surely be of the romantic kind.

Those include Tae-young’s ex Jung Soo-yeon (Ha Seung-ri), another sports agent, and trust fund baby Han Jae-min (Kim Jin-woo), the vice principal of Kwon-sook’s school.

My Lovely Boxer is streaming on Viu.