''Gloves Come Off'' is a

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

action drama produced by

TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and TVB ...

under executive producer Marco Law, starring

Kevin Cheng Kevin Cheng Ka-wing (born 15 August 1969) is a Hong Kong American actor and singer who is currently under the management of the Hong Kong television network Television Broadcasts Limited, TVB. Cheng rose to fame in late 2004 after playing his fir ...

, Raymond Wong Ho-yin, Selena Lee and

Natalie Tong Natalie Tong Sze-wing (born 3 May 1981) is a Hong Kong actress and model previously contracted to TVB. Career Before becoming an actress, Natalie Tong was a full-time model. She once studied in Methodist College. Tong gained popularity after ...

as the main leads. A costume fitting was held on 29 March 2011 at

Tseung Kwan O Tseung Kwan O New Town is one of the nine new towns in Hong Kong, built mainly on reclaimed land in the northern half of Junk Bay (known as Tseung Kwan O in Chinese/Cantonese language) in southeastern New Territories, after which it is named. ...

TVB City TVB City (), is the headquarters of Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) developed by Sun Hung Kai Properties located at 77 Chun Choi Street in the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate, Tseung Kwan O, Kowloon. The HK$2.2 billion facility officially o ...

Studio One at 12:30PM. A worship ceremony was then held on 28 April 2011 at Tseung Kwan O TVB City Studio 12 at 2:00PM where filming began. Filming ended in July. The first episode was aired on April 16, 2012 on the

TVB Jade TVB Jade (), or simply Jade, is a Hong Kong Cantonese-language free-to-air television channel owned and operated by Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) as its flagship service, alongside its sister network, the English-language TVB Pearl. Bro ...

channel, simultaneously with TVB's overseas partners and affiliates.

Synopsis

Tong Shap Yat (

) was a devoted adherent of

Muay Thai Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...

, wishing to prove himself against the best practitioners of the art, he fought in underground matches in Thailand, and out of a desire to win accidentally kills an opponent. Jailed for manslaughter for 7 years, Tong returns to Hong Kong 11 years later a changed man. During his time in prison his wife died of an untreated illness leaving Tong a lone parent and sole provider for his son. A remorseful Tong attempts to wash his hands of Muay Thai and seeks to lead a peaceful and peaceable life. Ko Wai Ting (Kenny Wong) is Tong Shap Yat's friend, and they were students together in the same Muay Thai gym, in the intervening years Ko has built a successful Muay Thai boxercise business, based on his own success and the success of his stable of fighters in competition. With his stable depleted by injuries and defections, leaving him weak in some weight classes, Ko attempts to convince Tong to return to the ring. The promised purse being enough to lift Tong from his hand-to-mouth existence as a security guard and odd-job man and allow him to better provide for his son. But Ka Shing ( Raymond Wong Ho-yin), although athletic and fit, is a newcomer to Muay Thai, saved by Ko Wai Ting from a beating by muggers, Pat joins Ko's gym to learn enough to protect himself, but initially has no wish to fight in competition. A natural at the sport, Pat is persuaded to fight and falls in love with the experience; Muay Thai giving him a purpose and direction in life that he had previously lacked. While each gains from being in the ring, be it money, glory or self-esteem, they each come to desire to know just how good they are and which of them is the true "King of the ring".

Cast

The Tong family

The Pat family

The Yam family

"Tang Lung" Muay Thai Gym

"The Champ" Muay Thai Gym (later Disbanded)

The Ko family

The Leung family

Other cast

Awards and nominations

*Nominated: My AOD Favorites for My Favorite Drama *Nominated: My AOD Favorites for My Favorite On Screen Couple (Raymond Wong and Natalie Tong) *Nominated: My AOD Favorites for My Favorite Actors in a Leading Role (Kevin Cheng and Raymond Wong) *Won: My AOD Favorites for My Favorite Actress in a Supporting Role (Nancy Wu) *Nominated: TVB Anniversary Awards for Best Drama *Nominated: TVB Anniversary Awards for Best Actor (Kevin Cheng) *Nominated: TVB Anniversary Awards for Best Actor (Raymond Wong) *Nominated: TVB Anniversary Awards for Best Actress (Natalie Tong) *Nominated: TVB Anniversary Awards for Most Improved Male Artiste (Edwin Siu) *Nominated: TVB Anniversary Awards for Most Improved Female Artiste (Katy Kung) *Won: TVB Anniversary Awards for Best Supporting Actress (Nancy Wu)

Viewership ratings

International broadcast

* - NTV7 (Malaysia)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gloves Come Off TVB dramas Martial arts television series Hong Kong action television series 2012 Hong Kong television series debuts 2012 Hong Kong television series endings Kickboxing television series