Scrappy Michael "Midge" Kelly (Kirk Douglas), on the run from a shotgun marriage and needing to help support his handicapped brother, Connie (Arthur Kennedy), angles his way into a short-term job as a boxer. His life of hard knocks has given Midge a fiery temper and a will to win that quickly makes him one of the most popular fighters on the circuit. But when he gets instructed to take a dive in a championship bout, his bosses learn that no one tells Midge Kelly what to do.