I agree with others that the story is not terribly new and that it's a variation on GOLDEN BOY through HUMORESQUE through BODY AND SOUL. The cast has also done these types of roles before--Alan Hale as the trainer, Alexis Smith as the outspoken, tough-minded, idealized object of the hero's affections, Eve Arden as a wise cracking friend/secretary/whatever, and Zachary Scott as the villain. But, given these, I have always liked the inventiveness of the writers--the undercurrent of impotence and SPOILER how Zachary Scott's wheelchair leads to his demise. and how even he performs a random act of kindness to a punch-drunk ex-fighter that he could just as easily have humiliated.
Review of Whiplash
