A prize fighter, The Walloping Kid, is forced to give up boxing because of interference from his wealthy father and travels west to run his father's ranch. A case of mistaken identity at the train station by the shady foreman, who is using the ranch for nefarious purposes, leads to a stranger posing as the son. The Walloping Kid is more than happy to let the misunderstanding continue so that he can take on the identity of a wanted outlaw and be free to investigate what's really going on at the ranch... and maybe also romance a young woman named Sally who is in the area with her prospector dad who has found gold. The stranger who is posing as the son turns out to be the wanted outlaw. He tries to collect "rent" from Sally. She fights him off twice. On the second occasion, The Walloping Kid rides onto the scene and chases after the stranger/real outlaw leading to a fight on the railroad tracks with an oncoming locomotive. Both survive but the outlaw flees. The Walloping Kid and Sally sport a pair of fun hats while attending a large fiesta celebrating California's statehood. There's a $500 challenge to defeat Wild-Cat McGee in a boxing match. Wild-Cat makes short work of the local talent until The Walloping Kid enters the ring. Afterwards, The Walloping Kid learns one of the men on the ranch is an undercover detective sent by his father. While The Walloping Kid presumably presents evidence of the foreman's rustling to the sheriff (it isn't shown on screen), the detective follows the outlaw who follows the prospector to his mine. But the outlaw kills the detective and tricks the prospector into thinking he did it. The outlaw immediately blackmails the prospector for half the gold and blackmails Sally into accepting his marriage proposal. The Walloping Kid sees the outlaw and Sally kissing and, to protect her father, she's unable to tell him the truth. The prospector confesses the killing to the sheriff and The Walloping Kid but forensics proves it wasn't his gun. The Walloping Kid lassos and ties up the outlaw before he can escape and ends the movie on a high note smooching with Sallly.