Life is often a lot like being inside a boxing ring, waiting to see if you can withstand the fight ahead or end up knocked out while trying to live.

In the Thai BL series Knockout, adapted from the novel of the same name by Dawin, that analogy isn’t just a metaphor, it’s the foundation. Starring Nice Boripat Jamsat as Keen and Gun Natsakan Chairote as Thun, the story begins with Keen’s life unraveling in real-time. In the middle of a job interview, he receives word of his father’s sudden death, a loss that not only strips him of family but also drags him into a financial nightmare. Saddled with unexpected debt from an informal loan his father left behind, Keen finds himself cornered by debt collectors with nowhere to hide. His refuge? Petchsak camp, a Muay Thai gym, where he crosses paths with Thun, a boxer known as “The Cannon Who Conquers Tigers.”

Thun is as unapproachable as he is talented, a star fighter who has sworn off the ring for reasons nobody seems to understand. His icy demeanor is a stark contrast to Keen’s desperation, yet their forced proximity begins to chip away at Thun’s defenses. What starts as survival for Keen slowly shifts into something deeper as he finds himself tangled in Thun’s emotional walls, each punch and parry revealing fragments of the person hidden beneath.

What makes Knockout intriguing is the way it throws these two wounded souls together in a setting that’s as brutal as it is raw. The boxing ring is more than just a place to fight; it’s a crucible for change. Keen finds himself trapped between his own moral compass and the desperate need to dig himself out of the pit his father left him in, all while unknowingly pressing Thun back toward a career he’s been fighting to avoid. There’s a tension there, one that builds with each glance, each punch thrown, and each secret revealed.

And yet, here’s the thing: neither Thun nor Keen is particularly likable at first glance. Thun is cold, insolent, locked up tight in his own pain. Keen, for all his struggle, is pitiful to watch as he flounders under the weight of his father’s mistakes. Worse still, his insistence on pushing Thun back into the ring borders on frustrating. But maybe that’s the magic of it. Sometimes, the most compelling characters are the ones you don’t want to root for. At least not right away.

What Knockout does well is lean into that imperfection. It lets us sit with it, lets us see their worst moments, their lowest points. And then it does something interesting: it gives them room to grow. Because the beauty of starting at rock bottom is that there’s nowhere to go but up. And it’s not just about individual growth; it’s about finding that strength in each other, in the corners of a boxing ring and the quiet moments in between.

Knockout is a lot like its name, a blow that lands hard right from the beginning, shaking its characters and its viewers with raw emotion and heavy stakes. It’s rough around the edges, sure, but there’s promise in that, too. A potential to build from the ground up, to fight for something better.

If you’re ready to step into the ring with them, Knockout is currently streaming on WeTV/Tencent Video. It’s a story that isn’t just about fighting in the ring, it’s about fighting for each other, for redemption, and maybe, for love.

Rating- 4 out of 5