The first novel in the crime saga of the famous St. Petersburg writer and screenwriter Sergei Mayorov about the fate of Konstantin Ordynsky, nicknamed Champion, who was used to looking his opponent straight in the eye - after all, he had been practicing sambo all his life. However, after a false accusation of murder and a series of betrayals, he realizes that a fair fight is impossible in life. But you can’t break a real athlete; prison only hardened him. Now his sports career is broken, but he must somehow move on. Ordynsky gathers a “brigade” of strong guys around himself and completely trusts his friends. He believes that their time has come - the time of real Fighters.