The Champ went into production in August 1931 and finished shooting in October. It was ready for theatres by November.

The racetrack scenes were shot on the MGM back lot, with a few establishing shots taken at Agua Caliente in Baja California, Mexico. The film also includes some location shots taken in Tijuana.

Although the Champ was a great role for Beery, he was none too thrilled to be working with Jackie Cooper, sharing most adult actors' distrust of child stars. Cooper would later accuse the star of trying to upstage him and treating him like "an unkempt dog," behavior he ascribed to jealousy. (Cooper, quoted by Mark Thise in Hollywood Winners & Losers A to Z)

The film did fine at its first preview until the last reel. As originally written, Beery loses his comeback boxing match, then dies as his son weeps. After going along with the sentimental story until that moment, audiences felt cheated by the downbeat ending. As a result, production chief Irving G. Thalberg ordered the final scene reshot so that Beery won the match. At the next preview, the audience cheered at the end.

MGM advertised the film as "The knockout picture of the year!" They also used the line "Don't fail to get a ringside seat!"

By Frank Miller