 Hal Donovan (Bruce Bennett as Herman Brix) gets into a fight with ex-heavyweight champion Slug Cassidy (Guinn Williams) at a lumber camp in the north woods. Slug takes a bad beating and he and his trainer, Spider (Fuzzy Knight), urge Hal to become a professional boxer. Soon, "Chopper" Hal proves to be a natural and is beating all comers. He meets Kay Conrad (Jeanne Martel), who is struggling to support her father (John Elliott), an ex-fighter invalided for life in the ring, and her young brother Dickie (Dickie Jones.) Kay hates everything connected to the sport, and Hal keeps her ignorant of his profession. But Slug and Spider tell the Conrads of Hal s identity as "Chopper" Hal, and Kay breaks off the engagement while Hal takes to the open road. Hal, now a tramp, picks up odd jobs where he can find them and one of them leads him to a training camp where he meets Slug and Spider with their new fighter Lion Lee (Jimmy Baker). He also meets Kay and learns that her father is in desperate need of money. He accepts Spider s offer to fight Lee, on the condition that he take a dive in the third round. Kay learns of this and begs Hal to fight an honest fight if he is determined to fight. He tells Spider that he ll fight Lee on honest terms and the match is on.