Former welterweight boxer Charlie "Champion" Plate , now an armed security guard, rescues a youth nicknamed Ant wounded during a drive-by shooting. In order to keep Ant from seeking revenge, Plate steers him toward the sport of boxing. Plate also gets between "the Troubles" of his two fellow guards, an embittered ex-Irish "freedom fighter" and a British woman who falls in love with Plate. Difficulties, turbulance and hardships plague Plate and those around him. Their sense of self-worth is challenged during the bloody 1992 Los Angele riots.