former heavyweight champ andy purcell go down to tijuana in hope of get a fight . andy son and dink and watch his father train and but andy give into his vice of gin and gambling and which constantly get him in trouble . andy win dink a race horse and which be enter in a race and where andy meet his ex wife linda ( with her current husband tony ) at the track and want to be reunite with her son ( dink ) and give him a good life outside of the one andy give him . andy get arrest and throw in jail and where he decide that dink would be best live with his mother and which devastate dink ( who idolize his father ) . andy be release from jail ( thanks to tony and linda ) and get a bout with the mexican heavyweight champ and where dink run back to his father to watch him hopefully win the fight and even though he be out of shape and not at the level of his opponent . the film be a toughing piece of cinematic brilliance and despite the static camera work ( very uncharacteristic of king vidor ) . beery and cooper work so well together and their performance be what make this film a classic . the script do not lose anything in the 70 plus year since it release . if the end doesn not make you shed tear and you have to be a robot . rating and 8 .