Jerry Ferro's 40th birthday has brought his life into sharp relief and it's not a pretty picture. A once-promising amateur boxer--who quit so he wouldn't risk his perfect record of underachievement--Jerry has been knocking around from one construction job to another and spinning his wheels in an unsatisfying relationship, all the while with an eye toward eventually getting his act together. When venerable boxing coach Eddie Bell asks Jerry if he'd like to spar a couple of rounds with an up-and-coming pro, Jerry reluctantly steps into the ring and begins a hilarious fish-out-water quest for Olympic gold.