I'd given up on TV series except for the very popular 3 shows that always win awards (Breaking Bad, In Treatment, Dexter). But I'd heard about this show and noticed the first episode was free, so I watched. I was entranced immediately. The first episode opens on the fighter looking like Frankenstein, almost unrecognizably human. And his character builds from there, a sweet soul who finds himself having to do some questionable things to stay afloat.
I like the way this story is told, in a non-linear but very understandable fashion, giving us chunks of unseen information after its happened, as a flashback. And the writers are slowly building the stakes here, painting our champ into a corner so that you know what he's going to have to do to provide for his family.
Great soundtrack, too.