The year is 1993. Tim “Doughboy” Tomashek is a chubby, out-of-shape boxer, spending his birthday downing hot dogs and beers in the nosebleeds of Kansas City's Kemper Arena, awaiting the heavyweight championship match between Tommy Morrison and “Mercury” Mike Williams. Tim has spent ten grueling years as a second-rate boxer, not known for his fighting prowess, but beloved for his childlike goofiness and spouting jargon like “jeepers” and “noice” with his Midwestern impish charm. Anticipating the start of the fight, Tim is unexpectedly plucked from his seat by two mysterious men in black suits and led out of the arena.
It all began in 1973 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Tim is in the third grade and getting beaten up by a girl. Bloodied and bewildered, he refuses to fight back as his classmates tease him. Then, unexpectedly, Tim wets his pants. The "pee incident" becomes town lore and Tim’s destiny; he muses, “Most people wanna be great because of a crappy childhood, eh. For me… it was pee!”
Growing up, Tim finds himself at the losing end of fights. Playing on his high school basketball team, he gets into another fistfight, this time coming out on top. Tim has an epiphany. He is determined to become a professional boxer, “To fight dudes, not third-grade Punchy Brewster,” he proclaims.
With the love and support of his tight-knit family, knuckleheaded friends, and steadfast trainer, Tim doggedly pursues his dream. He achieves moderate success as an amateur boxer, winning a bronze medal at the 1986 Olympic Festival, “The Coors Light Olympics for average schmucks like me,” he concedes. Tim ultimately turns pro and learns the definition of hunger and struggle. He fights for food, beer, and pocket money in run-down venues from Indianapolis to Bismarck to dung-filled cow pastures, never achieving his childhood dream of boxing greatness.
By 1993, Tim is despondent and ready to hang up his gloves when the unbelievable happens! Flabby and full of beer, Tim is thrust into the ring as a last-minute replacement fighter against Tommy Morrison for the World Heavyweight Championship. Tim shocks the sellout crowd, going blow-for-blow with Morrison. In typical Doughboy goofiness, he even delivers a noogie to the reigning champion's head. The crowd cheers and adores Tim. Drunk and absorbing considerable punishment, Tim goes down in the fourth round as the referee calls the fight.
Tim's extraordinary journey did not end that night; he recollects, “My fifteen minutes of fame weren't over. I still had one more round” A whirlwind of fame and fanfare follows. Tim appears on the David Letterman Show and delights the nation with his favorite expression: “Jeepers!” Rejuvenated, Tim continues boxing, but questions his future after a fellow boxer suffers a brain injury; "It broke his brain and blew my mind," he declares. In his final fight, Tim gets knocked out violently and experiences a second “pee incident,” realizing he needs to quit boxing for good. Tim retires in 1996 with a respectable 53-12 record.
In the present day, Tim Tomashek is content with a simple life in Green Bay, surrounded by family and friends; he contemplates, “Wins, losses, even the low blows; family and friends, that’s what it’s all about, eh.” The film ends with Tim in his apartment watching a VHS of his Morrison fight and reminiscing. He cracks open a beer, takes a swig, and proclaims; “And beer! Can’t forget about beer. Noice.”
