The Boxer Who Left the Ring After ‘Crying Fist’: Ahn Bo-hyun in Sacred Jewel

Featured photo: Ahn Bo-hyun at the press conference for “Flex X Cop 2” in August 2026. Photo: K-POPIT, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.

Ahn Bo-hyun’s charm is the plain, stubborn honesty he learned in the ring. A boy who trained four or five times a day on the boxing team at Busan Physical Education High School and won a gold medal at a national tournament watched the film “Crying Fist” and decided to become an actor. Eleven years after his debut, on the 2025 Blue Dragon Film Awards stage, he told that story himself (Sports Chosun, Star News). On December 5, that man heads into his first lead role in a period drama, guarding the last hope of the Goryeo kingdom.

Where to watch: Netflix Korea (JustWatch, checked November 7, 2026; no U.S. streaming option listed).

I’ll be honest: when he gave the award to his family that night, saying “today is my father’s birthday,” I teared up right along with him as a fan. Down to his last words, “I’ll be the actor Ahn Bo-hyun who never loses his first heart,” he pushed even his acceptance speech forward the honest way, with his whole body (Wikitree).

December 5, 2026: Convoy captain Baek Gyeol in “Sacred Jewel”

JTBC’s “Sacred Jewel” is set in Goryeo in 1258, when the war with the Mongols had dragged on for nearly 30 years. It follows a convoy that charges into the battlefield to find the Gwaneum Bodhisattva jewel, a holy relic meant to protect the nation, and the princess who sets out to save them. Jung Dae-yoon directs and Jung Hyun-min writes (The Fact, TenAsia).

• The emperor’s bodyguard. Ahn plays Baek Gyeol, a former member of the Gyeollyong guard who protected the emperor, now the special commander leading the convoy.
• Action on horseback. “I’m practicing horseback riding,” he said. “It’s a series with a lot of action, so I’m practicing even harder.” He added that he studied his vocal delivery and tone from scratch (The Fact).
• Two Blue Dragon winners, now comrades in arms. Choi Gu, the commander of the Yabyeolcho elite unit who must protect Baek Gyeol, is played by Lee Sung-min. At the 2025 Blue Dragon Film Awards, Korea’s top film awards, the two won Best New Actor and Best Supporting Actor side by side (Xports News). This year’s Blue Dragon race is already heating up, as in Parasite’s housekeeper Lee Jung-eun’s Best Actress nomination.
• The faces around him. Claudia Kim (Princess Wang Hui), Ha Yoon-kyung (the guide Geol-seung) and Yoon Kyun-sang (Wang Mu) surround the convoy’s journey.
• Release. The first episode airs Saturday, December 5, at 10:40 p.m. Korea time on JTBC and streams worldwide on Amazon Prime Video (8:40 a.m. the same day on the U.S. East Coast).

Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video worldwide (JTBC live broadcast in Korea). The series page isn’t up yet, so here is a Prime Video search link (checked November 7, 2026).

Filmography: from villain to sweetheart, faces built the honest way

• 2020, “Itaewon Class.” He was Jang Geun-won, the chaebol heir who tormented Park Sae-ro-yi to the very end. The more viewers hated him, the more they remembered him, and that year he was nominated for Best New Actor (TV) at the Baeksang Arts Awards (Wikipedia).

Where to watch: Netflix (U.S. and Korea, JustWatch, checked November 7, 2026).

• 2021, “My Name.” At Han So-hee’s side, he became Jeon Pil-do, a narcotics detective. For this and “Yumi’s Cells,” he won an Excellence Award at the 2022 APAN Star Awards (Wikipedia).

Where to watch: Netflix (JustWatch, checked November 7, 2026).

• 2021, “Yumi’s Cells.” He was Gu Woong, Kim Go-eun’s first boyfriend. Gruff, clumsy and utterly lovable, the devoted boyfriend wiped away Jang Geun-won’s shadow in one stroke.

Where to watch: Rakuten Viki in the U.S., TVING in Korea (JustWatch, checked November 7, 2026).

• 2022, “Military Prosecutor Doberman.” As Do Bae-man, who became a military prosecutor for the money, he turned the army’s injustices upside down with Jo Bo-ah.

Where to watch: Netflix (U.S. and Korea, JustWatch, checked November 7, 2026).

• 2023, “See You in My 19th Life.” He was Moon Seo-ha, who meets Shin Hye-sun, a woman who comes looking for him in her 19th life.

Where to watch: Netflix (U.S. and Korea, JustWatch, checked November 7, 2026).

• 2024, “Flex X Cop.” He was Jin Yi-soo, a spoiled third-generation chaebol heir who becomes a detective. He came back for Season 2 in August 2026 (Sports World).

Season 2 brought him back to the same badge with Jung Eun-chae.

Where to watch: Disney+, and Hulu in the U.S. (Season 1, JustWatch, checked November 7, 2026).

• 2025, “Pretty Crazy.” He set his tough face aside to become Gil-gu, a timid young man without a job, opposite Im Yoon-ah. The role won him Best New Actor at the Blue Dragon Film Awards (Sports Chosun).

Where to watch: Rakuten Viki in the U.S., Netflix Korea (JustWatch, checked November 7, 2026).

• 2026, “Spring Fever.” In this tvN romantic comedy with Lee Joo-bin, he became Seon Jae-gyu, the head of an energy company (Wikipedia).

Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video in the U.S., TVING in Korea (JustWatch, checked November 7, 2026).

The hands that once held up a gold medal in the ring now grip a horse’s reins and a sword hilt. On the night of December 5, I’m counting down to the moment Baek Gyeol takes his first step at the head of the convoy.