Poor girl, she's surrounded only by manipulators who want something from her.

I really hope Tae-young will be on her side very soon and will stop his little games.

Let her spend the rest of her life eating donuts!

I really thought Jae-min had had a revelation and become better only to find out he just sees Kwon-sook as a stepping stone. Ugh. In contrast, the violent, abusive dad turned out to be far more interesting, maybe even likeable.

Really liked this week's episodes. The dynamic between Tae-young and Kwon-sook is great. But it was quite a reality check to see the epilogue and wonder exactly how manipulative Tae-young is.

How about it is calculating And sincere? Is calming the athlete before her game, one of an agent's job desk? He studies his work by watching the video. And I meant he even folds her underwear laundry 🙃 I like how Tae-young and her boxing coach treat her like their little sister/junior especially when they look from above her when she comes out for a date. They don't strongly against her dating, but not 100% agree either. This feels like Jerry Maguire movie.

I like this show a lot, and don't find Tae-young to be either hard to read or emotionally manipulative to Kwon-sook. She's not under any illusion here that Tae-young is her agent only because he believes in her as an athlete and wants to see her succeed; instead, she knows that he wants her to lose because Tae-young needs money. The only thing she doesn't know is what he needs that money *for,* and as such, she assumes he's just greedy. It's interesting to me that when the truth comes out, it might make him more sympathetic and not less, which is a nice twist on the way this kind of withholding truth trope traditionally works.

It's true that Tae-young is controlling Kwon-sook's life, but that is his job and Kwon-sook is annoyed but not victimized by it. I actually really like the way the writer set this up in that both have something to gain by Kwon-sook throwing a match: he gets out of debt and saves his friend, and she gets to live the boxing-free life and eat all the donuts she wants.

To that end, I think it's clear that Tae-young is starting to genuinely care for Kwon-sook as a person and not a mark. Yes, he still needs her to perform in a certain way, and that is what leads to him getting annoyed with her being distracted during training or non-compliant because she's caught up in her relationship with the VP. (Frankly, that VP is the only one I suspect of pretending to feel one way about her when he just wants something for himself, but we'll see.) At the same time, I thought it was obvious that Tae-young is starting to find her charming as a person and, perhaps, as a woman, too. We saw that in the way he kept staring at Kwon-sook's smiling face when she was swooning over the VP's texts, and again when he overreacted to her meeting with the VP after curfew.

But what was more obvious to me is that he's intrigued with her as a person, and that's what I took away from that final scene. His smile at the end was not calculating to me, or at least, not solely calculating. He's learning about Kwon-sook and seems to sincerely like and be fascinated by what he's seeing in those videos. When he drew from that knowledge and laid his hands on her hands the show did perhaps troll us a bit into thinking his romantic feelings are farther along than they are.

But the reveal of him watching the video where her father did the same thing didn't completely undermine his genuine emotional response to her in that moment, and when she confided that she's scared of boxing. I think he's been portrayed as a decent human being who genuinely cares for his athletes and Kwon-sook is no different. The romantic element at this point is subtle, but it's there, imo. In fact, the worry I have is not that Tae-young is manipulating her, but that he might have a history of falling for the athletes in his care when they are at the height of their powers, but once they're done competing, he's no longer infatuated and moves on to the next one.

I think FL's father felt that brutal behavior towards his daughter in the ring was necessary for her to win. He was ready for it for boxing, but at the same time he seems like a father who understands her behavior outside of boxing and knew how to calm her nerves. So it's a complicated, ambiguous relationship.
From the beginning of their acquaintance, ML and FL do not treat each other as people with an age difference. They learn important things about each other, they are next to each other in important moments and there will probably be even more. This naturally builds a bond between them. Even if they don't want it, they become important because they open up emotionally to each other during everyday life. Even if he thinks it's a deal and thinks he hasn't revealed the truth about himself and FL thinks she's in love with someone else and ML is just a nuisance. What is going on between them can easily cause the transition from the type of relationship they have now to a love relationship.

After EP1-2, I wasn’t loving this show and it was in danger of getting dropped. The toxic super manipulative ML of Tae Young felt irritating me and the 2nd ML of Jae Min felt really shallow.
After EP3-4, I’m starting to love this show. While there is no change in Tae Young’s manipulation, a softer and more authentic side is starting to show and it’s working better than the overly long flashback of his baseball days.

It’s also becoming clear that my early annoyance with Jae Min was intentional as his shell is starting to crack and his true nature is coming out. I hope he gets punched - again.

Kwon Sook is carrying the show. She’s selling the boxing aspect well despite not looking like an athlete. I love her complex character. I love how she loves donuts and candy. It’s a serious show but the donut episodes are funnier than the Butt Touch show.

I’m getting flashbacks to Twenty Five Twenty One with two specific moments.
The first is with a determined and confident Kwon Sook saying that she won’t loose- just like Na Hee-Do right before the Asian Games. Guuurll- go slay.
The second is with that old couple that always hands out candy during Kwon Sook’s morning runs. Specifically the old unnamed man. He’s the same guy who recognized and comforted Na Hee-Do at a restaurant after she wanted to go anywhere but home and was hiding from the public. He does the same thing here with well timed words of encouragement. I need someone like him in my life.

Congrats My Lovely Boxer - you finally won me over.

The idol from Winner who plays Jae Min is doing pretty well I say, and damn him trying to use her for his goals, I like Tae-Yang a lot, always liked this actor

Tae-young is definitely my favoured type of male lead. He is grey, multifaceted, and manipulative but wickedly charming. Just to be clear, I only love watching these types of characters on small screens. And yes, I hope I will never meet one in my life.

With that said, I am officially jumping ship from My Lovely Liar to My Lovely Boxer. Dramas with many interesting and likeable characters are always a winner for me.

I’m enjoying this drama and I really like our FL.. I totally can relate to her sugar habit. Who wants to give up donuts and lollipops lol. I feel like her character os one that the moment she stopped boxing, she stiffer her face with everything she couldn’t eat while training

Really loving this. I'm really impressed by these characters, they are interesting, original and very well written. Looking forward to see how their relationship will evolve.

“Apparently, I’ve been conditioned by popular media to believe that all sports dramas feature underdog athletes fighting to overcome obstacles and win big championships, so I initially assumed that’s where this drama was going”

Me too! That’s why i like this story, it keeps trumping all my expectations. Dad is surprisingly protective, the gangster guy didn’t beat TY, the other lady agent is not a con. Turns out the con is the SML and i’m so sorry for Kwon Sook.

The director describes it as a sports-romance drama not a dark noir, so i’m holding on to his words that this will have a happy ending - not necessarily for the leads to be a couple but for both of them to come out of the deal safe, happy and in a good relationship with each other.

I tried looking for the original novel but I couldn’t find it, if anyone knows where i can find the translated version please share.

After reading the recaps and other beanies comments, I'm sure I'm not reading well these characters, so maybe this drama is not for me.
I thought the SML was sincerely interested in Kwon-sook (even in love with her).
I thought the father was a horrible person and I can't see him any other way, so imo the show has failed to make me understand why he was like that in the past. One scene he is brutal, the next one we see him he is a concerned father? Something is missing.

About my favorite character, the ML (Tae-young), I don't know if he will start feeling something romantic for the "lovely boxer" in the future, but that's not happened yet (Episode 4). He is more like a big brother or an uncle... And she is head over heels for the SML (this reminds me of the first episodes of Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo, btw).