In May 1986, at the Mount Scott Boxing Club in Portland, Oregon, junior lightweight boxer Andy Minsker trains a dozen youngsters from age ten to sixteen. A barber trims the boys’ hair. One of them imitates Andy giving a boxer pointers and correcting behavior. Andy is a three-time National Golden Gloves champion whose bedroom is filled with trophies going back to November 1970, when he won his first tournament. He has other trophies stored in boxes. On an ESPN television clip from Las Vegas, Nevada, a younger Andy Minsker wins a fight. He drives a blue 1957 Chevrolet around town, talking about his girl friend, Tassie, and his roommate, Marty, who betrayed him by putting the “moves” on her. A little kid talks about his first fight in Spokane, Washington. When he won, Andy told him not to brag. Andy says he is “hooked” on working with young boys, who trust and look up to him, and claims he could never back out now. Ringside, he shouts pointers to his novice boxers. Andy Minsker began boxing at age eight. His father, Hugh Minsker, was an amateur boxer and an Olympic alternate in 1954, thirty years before Andy trained as an alternate for the 1984 Olympics, but admits that Andy exceeded his career. They discuss Olympic and U.S. Amateur Boxing Federation politics, and Andy laments that being white was a factor in his not being picked to fight in the Olympics. He was only allowed to spar with other boxers, and could not use his own trainer. Consequently, he lost his one match in the “box-offs.” Hugh wishes he could have spent more time with Andy, but he had to make a living. However, Hugh’s friend, Ed Milberger, was Andy’s trainer from the beginning. Andy was so dedicated to Ed that he could not bring himself to hire a more experienced trainer as he rose in the boxing ranks. His dad thinks another trainer could have made Andy a million-dollar champion. Andy and one of his “kids,” Damion “The Snake” Jasmer, have lunch at the Drum Lounge with Ed Milberger and wife Dorothy Milberger. The waitress, Armida, remembers seeing Andy fight at the 1984 Olympic trials and asks for his autograph, and then a kiss. Ed recalls not being sure at first if Andy had the stature to be a boxer. However, he was impressed with Andy’s fast reflexes and indominable spirit. Andy attends a party at the home of his father and stepmother, Marian Minsker. He plays with his infant nephew, Charles Henry Drew, as Marian recounts how she and Hugh Minsker gained custody of Andy and his siblings after “Protective Services” pulled them out of their mother's home because their stepfather, Henry Dehen, beat them. That was around the time Andy started boxing. Despite the abuse, the kids remained close to their mother, Vivian Dehen, and stepfather. As Andy talks to them, Vivian complains that Andy did not say, “Hi, Mom,” while being interviewed after his boxing bout on EPSN, and reminds him more than once that she carried him for nine months. Andy credits his stepfather for disciplining him, and claims he is now stern with his students because they “come from the streets.” Andy takes his boxers jogging in Portland. Standing in a rose garden, he reads a passage from Shakespeare’s Richard II about the mortality of kings. He takes his boxers swimming at a lake and engages in “horseplay.” Afterward, as the boys lay on the shore, one of them, age fourteen, asks when Andy first had sex with a girl. Andy admits he was thirteen, then tells the boys a dirty joke that they are too young to understand. Asked why he was a champion boxer, Andy credits his desire to win and hatred of losing. He assures his students that adulation from friends and family will be a great reward for all the training. One of the older boys claims he wants to be like Andy. Later, the team travels to a boxing meet to compete with others their age. Asked to sum up their experience training with Andy Minsker, the boys express mixed feelings, but are certain they will never forget him.