The career of middleweight champion John McArdle is short-lived when he sustains injuries in a motor accident that prevent him from fighting, and he becomes known as Honest John McArdle, owner of a billiard parlor. Although John is in love with Janie Roberts, Steve, her father, opposes her marrying a man in the fighting profession. John is offered a referee job in a big fight; and in the course of the fight, he realizes that it is "fixed" and orders both fighters from the ring. Consequently, Steve changes his mind about McArdle's character and consents to his marriage with Janie.—AFI