Synopsis
Ed Sheeran plays a lonely boxer who meets a confident female fighter at a gritty Seattle gym. Their flirtation develops through training sessions, dates, and increasingly intense workouts, with the pair becoming emotionally close. When she leaves to pursue a major fight, Sheeran spirals into frustration and isolation. Determined to prove himself, he enters the ring, only to discover that his opponent is a massive sumo wrestler. The video ends on a comic note, turning its Rocky-inspired romantic drama into an unexpected physical gag.
Factoids & Trivia
- The official music video was released on January 30, 2017, several weeks after the song first appeared as a single.
- The video was filmed in Seattle and uses a dark boxing gym, industrial settings, and a training montage to give the story a gritty sports-film atmosphere.
- Jennie Pegouskie, a dancer and model, plays Sheeran's boxing partner and romantic interest.
- The climactic opponent is Yamamotoyama Ryuta, a retired professional sumo wrestler who is credited in the video as "Yama."
- The video deliberately draws on the visual language of the Rocky films, especially through its underdog training narrative and final fight.
- Sheeran's comic appearance in an inflatable sumo costume provides the video's main twist and sharply changes the tone of the preceding romance and boxing drama.
- The video helped establish a more playful, visually driven style for the promotional campaign surrounding Sheeran's 2017 album "Divide."