As a youth, Alan Darcy (Bob Hoskins) avoided getting sucked into violent gang life in Nottingham by taking out his aggression at a boxing club. Years later, the same grim temptations of crime and drugs from his upbringing threaten to lure a new generation of young public housing residents into a downward spiral. With financial help from gangster Ronnie Marsh (Frank Harper), Alan reopens the gym he went to in his youth and begins training his troubled recruits for a public boxing match.