My Lovely Boxer (2023) Episode 9

Episode 9 of My Lovely Boxer begins with Tae-young cutting ties with Kwon-sook and confessing to her father, Chul-yong, about the fixed title match. Kwon-sook will intentionally lose the match. Chul-yong tells him that Kwon-sook will regret losing the match for the rest of her life. Tae-young asks him to be there for Kwon-sook in whatever decision she might make about the match. 

Chul-yong finds Kwon-sook outside their family house and invites her in. She thinks her father is the one who interfered and made Tae-young. Elsewhere, Jae-min goes looking for Kwon-sook but finds Tae-young instead. He has been calling her, but she is not answering his calls. He wants to apologise to Kwon-sook, but Tae-young tells him to go home. 

The next morning, Chul-yong and Kwon-sook argue when Chul-yong asks her to go for a run together instead of checking up on how she is doing. Kwon-sook is angry that he only cares about boxing. She tells him she will stop by the gym and then go to a hotel and asks that he does not follow her. She remembers her mother’s garden on the rooftop, which she thought would be destroyed, but it is still in place, and her father takes care of it.

He says he does not want her mother to scold him after he dies. He requests her to stay over until the match is over. She thinks he wants to make her box again, but he says she can quit boxing if she wants to; he will never interfere with that again. He wants her to stay with him, given he regrets making her life miserable.

Kwon-sook goes searching for Tae-young in his house. He has changed the passcode, so she cannot get in. She knocks on the door, but he does not answer. Ho-hoong, Jo A-ra, and Kwon-sook go for a meal at Chul-yong’s restaurant and later to his boxing gym. He now trains kids in boxing, and Kwon-sook does not believe that he isn’t trying to train another monster like her.

Kwon-sook worries about Tae-young. She tries to get information from Ho-hoong on why he cut ties with her. Ho-hoong says he has no idea. All he knows is that Tae-young asked them to keep training. 

Tae-young meets with reporter Park, who tells him he is working on a three-part article on the truth behind professional match-fixing. The first part will cover Kim Hee-won. Tae-young wants Park to look into Sky Sports and the general manager Kim O-bok.

O-bok is the head of the illegal gambling ring and works for Nam Hyun-ki. Tae-young hands in his resignation to Lee Young-ae, but she refuses, telling him to bring her a new star, and then she can decide whether or not to let him go. 

Kwon-sook asks to see Tae-young at Sports & Passion. She is confused about her feelings. She is angry that he betrayed her trust by suggesting the US debut, but she is more hurt by the fact that he left her alone. She feels betrayed, and she even considers the idea of going to the US with Tae-young. She is also confused about the title match. Tae-young asks her to inform him when she has made up her mind. He will terminate the contract and forgive the penalty if she decides not to fight. Later, she picks up her stuff from Tae-young’s apartment and stays with her father, Chul-yong. 

Reporter Park looks into Kim O-bok but does not find anything incriminating. However, Nam Hyun-ki was arrested back in 2015 for running an illegal gambling site in the Philippines. He was released after paying the bail and returned to Korea two years ago, but no one knows what he is up to nowadays. Reporter Park thinks he has been running an illegal gambling site under the radar. Tae-young asks reporter Park to help him catch them, and he will provide him with his evidence on them. 

The kindergarten teachers and Jae-min visit Kwon-sook at her father’s restaurant. Jae-min tries to apologize to Kwon-sook. He says his feelings were genuine, and he fell in love with Kwon-sook, the boxer, and not Yu-ri, the kindergarten teacher. He got upset when he learned she was quitting boxing and said those hurtful things. She says she is okay and has forgotten everything. He asks that she forget only the bad things. 

Later, she, A-ra, and Ho-hoong go out for drinks at the bar where A-reum works. She accidentally realizes that A-reum is injured. A-reum is still angry at her, and she asks her to apologize through actions for Tae-young’s rude behaviour and for running away from the ring three years back. She wants to fight her in the ring.

Coach Yang Man-hee sends Tae-young the URL to the new gambling site Mr. Kim of Sky Sports created. At the same time, Kwon-sook texts him, saying she has decided to continue training and fighting in the match even if he is not her agent any more; she no longer wants to run and ruin someone else’s life.

Even if she hated boxing, she wanted to be responsible. She is, however, not sure she still wants to lose the match intentionally and will tell him when he makes up her mind.

A-reum’s team finds out that she is suffering a rotator cuff tear. A-reum says it is not a new injury but something she always had and, therefore, will not be a problem. Soo-yeon worries since it could lead to a severe injury and wants to take her to the hospital, but she says she will handle it after the competition. Soo-yeon tries to talk to Tae-young to push the match forward by a month, but he says Kwon-sook’s contract will have expired.

However, he suggests that if they need to push the match, he can find another opponent, not necessarily Kwon-sook. A-reum will not have to give up the title match. Soo-yeon wants A-reum to reschedule the match, but she does not want to. 

Ye-Joon undergoes eye surgery, and Tae-young finds out about the person who introduced Hee-won’s wife to the hospital. He introduced himself as Kim Hee-won but was a member of Sky Sports. He even offered to lend her money for the second surgery. Interestingly, she even signed a promissory note. 

Tae-young visits Samsam restaurant, where he had met earlier with Mr. Kim. He meets the man Mr. Kim had earlier introduced as his father, but he seems not to remember that he has a son because he has many. He tells the older man to tell Mr. Kim that he urgently needs some money and wants to be his friend. The man invites him for a drink. 

The next morning is Baobab Day when Tae-young promised to take Kwon-sook to the botanical garden. Tae-young visits Coach Yang’s granddaughter but arrives before he can tell her anything.

Tae-young wants to know who the second Kim Hee-won is. Coach Yang is a match-fixing broker who knows the athlete they will use to replace Hee-won. He secretly records Coach Yang and says he will delete his recording after he gives the name of the next athlete they will use for match-fixing. Mr. Kim gets back to Tae-young, and at the end of the episode, both Tae-young and Kwon-sook are approached by unknown people. 

The Episode Review

Kwon-sook’s character went through some significant development in this episode. She seems to be following her heart and feels more connected to Tae-young. Anxious to know what she decides to do during the title match. Will she lose intentionally or fight? What will happen if she decides not to lose? 

On the other hand, Reporter Park is looking into Sky Sports and Mr Kim. Will he be able to help Tae-young?