One of London’s favorite things to write about is boxing. He wrote 4 stories on the subject. This one was written during the Mexican Revolution, while London was in El Paso, Texas. A film was made from the story in 1952 as “The Fighter” starring Richard Conte and Lee J. Cobb.
Oddly enough, in 1956 the Soviet Union made a film of the story. And even Germany made a TV movie in 1984 when Germany was still the GDR. But maybe it’s not so odd. London used boxing stories to convey hardships and social inequities; a great cause that makes any sacrifice worthwhile in “The Mexican”, or the vital sociological significance of food in the poverty-stricken working-class in “A Piece of Steak”. If you’d like to hear “A Piece of Steak” it’s one of the first stories I read back in December 2017. Here: http://notyourmothersstorytime.com/podcast/a-piece-of-steak/