A "mama's boy" high school basketball star befriends two boxers who are both interested in his single mother and discovers his own natural boxing talent. When "the big fight" and "the big game" are scheduled for the same day, his coaches and mom pressure him to choose, so the now defiant young athlete competes in both, risking injury and his chances at a college scholarship.

High school senior Jack Scratch is the star player for the North Providence Cougars basketball team and is seemingly on the fast track to a scholarship from Providence College (PC), and perhaps a career in the NBA. Jack rides his bike every morning through the rough streets of North Providence, Rhode Island, USA until he reaches his destination- the PC outdoor basketball court. There he works tirelessly to perfect his already superb basketball skills. During one of those early mornings, Jack also attempts to romance Mindy Kim, a Women's Volleyball player who advises Jack about campus life as a "scholarship victim.”

Jack's journey takes a detour after his protective and strong single mother Janet Trap is saved from a mugger by two boxers; Karl "Sweet Sugar" Brown, a former heavyweight contender who now trains young fighters in his own gym, and Paveli "Punch" Pangora, a Slovenian slugger who has traveled many miles to be mentored by Sweet. After Janet befriends the two boxers, Jack decides to check out "Sweet's Sweat Box Gym" himself.

Jack discovers that he has a natural ability for "the sweet science of boxing" and he finds the sport's individual nature refreshing after years of carrying his basketball teammates. Jack endures a bit of hazing from the resident bully of the gym, "Bruiser" Bobby Studd, a silent but brutal kid about his age. Jack decides to enter a local boxing tournament to test his mettle. Things go sideways when an "old buck vs. young buck" rivalry between Sweet and Punch splits the gym, as both men envision themselves filling the role of trainer to Jack and, perhaps by association, as a romantic partner to Janet.

The bruised hands and sore wrists that come from sparring upset basketball Coach "Quick" Rick Steele and Jack’s teammates, especially after the Cougars are invited to participate in an annual Hall of Fame game that always attracts college scouts, and possibly job opportunities for Steele himself.

When the Cougars' big game is scheduled to take place on the very same day as the finals of the local boxing tournament, Jack must make his choice: to Fight or Play Basketball.