Posing as a down-and-out fighter, "Dutch" Grady (Greg McClure) is hired as a sparring boxer for heavyweight-champion Joe Palooka (Joe Kirkwood Jr.and knocks him out in a training bout. Sports reporter Tom Conway (David Bruce), starts a jeering series on his radio program and in the press for Grady to get a title match with the champion. Knobby Walsh (Leon Errol), Palooka`s manager, refuses to make the match until Grady beats other contenders first. But after much criticism affects Palooka`s box-office receipts, Knobby agrees to the Palooka-Grady fight for the championship. But, on the eve of the bout, Grady`s manager Talmadge (Lou Lubin), Conway and Doctor Benson (Taylor Holmes)have Joe drugged, and the Boxing Commissioner vacates his title. Maxine (Lina Romay), a beauty-contest winner, agrees to reveal for $5,000 how Joe was framed. Joe finds her knifed to death when he goes to meet her, and the police think he is the killer.