Former boxing champion Billy "The Champ" Flynn (Jon Voight) works as a horse trainer in Hialeah, Florida and is raising his young son T. J. (Ricky Schroeder) after his wife Annie (Faye Dunaway) left him seven years ago. In order to give his kid a good life, Billy comes out retirement and starts working on his comeback, but things get complicated when Annie comes back into the picture, wanting to be a part of T.J.'s life again.