For many of us, 2020 was a year of hardship. For professional boxer Gaku Takahashi, it became the year his life imploded. In filmmaker Taige Shi’s short documentary, Gaku: One Last Round, we witness the aftermath of a tragedy that cut short the once-prosperous career of the Japanese boxer during a time when racism against the Asian community was at an all-time high. The 12-minute film made its World Premiere in May at the 2025 LA Asian Pacific Film Festival.

A Professional Boxer, Sidelined

Before 2020, Gaku’s future looked bright as he trained with some of Los Angeles’s most in-demand boxing trainers. However, a road rage incident and violent anti-Asian hate crime left Gaku with devastating chronic pain and emotional distress. Gaku fell victim not just to his attacker, but also to the U.S. justice system that showed him no empathy or respect. America may have been sold to Gaku as the place where dreams come true, but the actual reality was that his dream was now dead.

Gaku: One Last Round follows Gaku post-injury, as he continues down the road of recovery. In true cinéma vérité style, the camera acts as a fly on the wall as we watch Gaku attempt to reach the FBI to report his incident, only to be met with ambivalent ignorance from law enforcement. Impactful editing and clever sound design portray Gaku’s overwhelming sense of dread and sadness. Despite having to give up his boxing career, Gaku’s conviction to return to the ring one day acts as a beacon of hope. He is a true hero, both inside the ring and out.

Resilience is Met With an Unforgiving Reality

Director Taige Shi captures these intimate and vulnerable moments with dignity and grace. The tone of the film is quite somber. It’s discouraging to focus on how cold-hearted the system often is toward immigrants. But Taige’s intent isn’t to shame the system. Rather, his ultimate goal is to inspire viewers to stand in solidarity with the Asian community.

Takeaway

It says a lot about his character that Gaku, a professional boxer, did not fight back. Even though he was well within his rights to protect himself against physical abuse and racist slurs, his restraint showed his character as the bigger person. Gaku: One Last Round acts not only as Gaku’s statement, but his rallying cry and his anthem.