Haid Shelton is his small-town church's song leader as a teen and dreams of becoming a rock singer. His enduring gifts are in his tenor voice and success as a Golden Gloves boxer. Hoping to evade Vietnam, Haid joins the Marine reserves, gets into serious trouble, and is sentenced to four years in the brig. There he's recruited as the sparring partner of future heavyweight champion Ken Norton. Haid's knockout by his new friend Kenny gets him routed to the war as an infantry grunt in 1968. Back home, bitter, with a disabled hand and a Purple Heart, he's surprised and signed to a recording contract by the rock star Leon Russell. He rejoins his friendship with Norton on the eve of Kenny's famous upset of Muhammad Ali, who's an important character along with George Foreman, Joe Frazier, and Mike Weaver. Later their lives are brought together by a horrendous accident and by Kenny's guardian angel Virginie Nalula, a child refugee from eastern Congo. The tale embraces themes of race relations, friendship, and the American culture of violence.