Ali is a young 8-year-old Kurdish boy who has lost his family in the now infamous operation desert storm led by US military forces in Iraq. He is the only survivor found in the rubble and is miraculously rescued by Anca, a foreign medical rescue officer working in war zones. Anca decides to take Ali to Stockholm as she has seen the plight of the children growing up in the warzone, the children getting succumbed into dark black holes of war, also it was her last assignment in Iraq.

Ali’s life takes a turn when he meets Ferhad in Stockholm, Ferhad along with his son are waiting for their papers to immigrate to the USA. Unimagined events lead them to take a maiden journey to America, where life will test, mold and surprise them at every stage. Ali gets an early taste of life when Ferhad is taken away by the FBI officers without any charges after September 11, 2001, attacks on the world trade center. The unscrupulous situations introduce him to boxing. It becomes Ali’s first love and lifeline, he is coached and mentored by a fallen boxing hero Victor, a Cuban-American immigrant who came to the USA with his parents, illegally.

Boxing teaches him to pursue happiness in life and fills the void left behind by his dead family, his missing sister and his life in Iraq. He goes on to become one of the gifted boxers, a perfect example of the American dream till he is knocked out by the cold politics in the world of boxing and narrowly missing out on his opportunity to prove himself and his detractors in the world of sports. Life never goes easy on Ali, he gets caught in the power turbulence happening at the Association of international boxing games organization, the struggle for power led by a real estate business tycoon Ming Phu and a boxing official Ted Shaw who will go to any lengths to reach the helm of the organization. Ming Phu and Ted weave a game of political chess using money, women and espionage to crawl their way to the top, changing the face of the sport as we know today.

Life throws a curve-ball at Ali, he gets wrongly implicated in a doping scandal in Russia, leading to his suspension from boxing, virtually ending his world games medal dream. Having lost all hope, Ali embarks on a pilgrimage back home, to reconnect with his roots and find his little sister Sara, whose body was never found. The journey's experiences and discoveries, lead Ali to start his life afresh at home with his people and relive his boxing dream.

This is a story of two disparate worlds, connected through boxing.