AllMovie

Inspired by a true story, this drama from Thailand tells the story of Nong Toom (Asanee Suwan), who was born in a small community where his family struggled with poverty, and Nong Toom himself was the target of bullies who made fun of his delicate nature. From his early childhood, Nong Toom felt more like a girl than a boy, and when he encounters a transsexual for the first time, he comes to the realization that he also is a woman trapped in a man's body. While Nong Toom is not by his nature aggressive, one day he is forced to fight a bully to defend one of his friends, and he discovers he has a natural talent for kickboxing. Nong Toom begins training with a skilled kickboxing coach, Pi Chart (Sorapong Chatri), but despite the best efforts of Nong Toom and his best friend Pi Bua (Natcha Bootsri), the secret of his unorthodox sexuality leaks out. To his surprise, Pi Chart accepts Nong Toom as he is, and boxing promoter Pi Mo (Somsak Tuangmukda) embraces his lifestyle as a marketable gimmick, as the fighter now battles his opponents while wearing makeup -- and wins more often than not; however, Nong Toom begins to alienate his new following when he declares that his embrace of women's clothing and makeup is not a joke and that he's saving his prize money to one day have a sex-change operation. While Beautiful Boxer was based on the life story of Thai kickboxing champ Nong Toom Prinya Charoenphol, the fighter himself did not actively participate in the making of the film.