During the flight, the hero of the film, the boxing champion, recalls his life's journey. The hero’s childhood was in the first post-war years. He grew up without a father, his mother was busy with work, his older brother was in prison, the relationship with the new stepfather did not work out, and the boy was brought up on the street. There he learned to fight, and this led him to the boxing ring. Over time, the stubborn street boy became the champion of Europe.

Lyudmila Gurchenko
as Lyuba, Viktor's mother

Nikolai Rybnikov
as Fyodor Ivanovich

Oleg Borisov
as Stepan Yegorovich

Aleksandr Kharashkevich
as Viktor Krokhin at 9 years old

Viktor Poluektov
as Viktor Krokhin at 13 years old

Mikhail Terentyev
as Viktor Krokhin at 25 years old

Lev Lemke
as Igor Vasilyevich

Antonina Bogdanova
as Viktor's grandmother

Aleksandr Pashutin
as Sergei Andreyevich

Vladimir Zamanskiy
as Stanislav Aleksandrovich