Triumphant underdog stories are irresistable, especially when they're about boxers. This week, TBS presents a two-hour dramatization of the life of Daisuke Naito, the current WBC flyweight champion, in "Naito Daisuke Monogatari: Ijimerarekko no Champion Belt (The Daisuke Naito Story: Champion Belt for a Bullied Child)" (Monday, 9 p.m.).
Naito (Atsushi Ito) grew up in Hokkaido, where he was bullied all through school. Bitter and lonely, he sits around the house after graduation, refusing to look for a job. His mother (Kayako Kishino) tires of this attitude and kicks him out. With no place to go Naito makes his way to Tokyo and moves in with his older brother.
He tries to pull his life together, and one day he runs into Naoya, one of the boys who tormented him back in Hokkaido. He realizes he will never be able to move past that trauma until he first confronts it head-on, so he starts hanging out at the Miyata Gym.
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