Kamogawa Boxing Gym
'Sup!
Aoki-san!
Good to see you again!
What the hell were you doing all week?
About time you came here, dumbass.
Are you all healed up?
Aww, you guys are making me blush.
I appreciate the warm welcome, but...
But... what?
Don't say it...
I get it. Retiring, huh?
Thank you for everything.
Good job.
That was my original plan, anyway.
Good evening.
N-Nice to meet you all.
No one can hear you! Speak up!
W-We were deeply moved by Aoki-sensei's fight!
We've decided to dedicate ourselves
to following Aoki-sensei's teachings!
S-Sensei?
They say I'm their hero. I'm just too damn charismatic.
I've given them hope. I've given them dreams.
With the two of them relying on me, there's no way...
...I can retire yet.
So basically, we've got more lackeys, huh?
Perfect timing.
Go buy me a juice.
No.
W-We're on Team Aoki.
Yup.
Do it.
Yes, sir!
They only take orders from Aoki-san?
They totally ignored Takamura-san...
Cheese Champion
Sen-dou! Sen-dou!
Wh-What a loud chant...
Sen-dou! Sen-dou!
Well, this is Sendou-san's comeback fight...
Sen-dou! Sen-dou!
And he's down! The ref doesn't even count!
It's all over!
Not even a hint of ring rust in his first match back!
Sendou Takeshi, the Naniwa Tiger, is back!
Sendou Takeshi Locker Room
Here it is.
He should be in a good mood after such an awesome win.
The hell was that?!
Don't go picking apart my fights!
Wow, he sounds really mad.
Oh, Makunouchi-kun!
G-Good evening!
It's a little crowded in here, but...
Hey, Sendou, Makunouchi-kun's here.
Makunouchi, you made it!
Congratulations! That was incredible!
I know, right?!
Mind telling him that?
Telling who?
This is my sparring partner, Sawamura. He's from Nagoya.
Sawamura from Nagoya...
He's ranked third in the Japanese featherweight division.
Sawamura Ryuuhei.
I thought the first time we'd meet would be in the ring
for my title match, champ.
H-Hello.
Umm...
I'll pass on the handshake.
I'd rather not get friendly with the guy I'm going to beat for the title.
O-Oh?
I guess that makes sense...
Later.
Yeah, yeah, get outta here!
Real wise-ass, isn't he?
Makes you wanna beat him silly, right?
N-Not really...
Hey, champ, I need to ask a favor.
Yes?
It's about your Dempsey Roll.
I'd prefer you didn't use it when we fight.
Clumsy techniques tend to fall apart in the ugliest ways.
Clumsy?
I hate to admit it, but he walks the walk, too.
He's mopped the floor with me plenty of times during spars.
Even now, he was in here griping about the way I fought.
He said I had poor timing.
Timing...
So you realize it, too.
The Dempsey Roll's vulnerable to counters.
Watch yourself, Makunouchi.
The guy's a brilliant counter-puncher,
maybe even better than Miyata Ichirou.
Than Miyata-kun? No...
Put another way...
He's the Dempsey Roll's natural enemy!
He called the Dempsey Roll "clumsy."
It's a bit frustrating.
Sawamura Ryuuhei-san, huh?
Now I want to beat him with the Dempsey Roll.
WBC Junior Middleweight World Title Match Press Conference
Let's have a word from the fighters.
We'll start with the challenger, Larry Bernard.
Go ahead.
I'm not a boxer who can pull off fancy tricks.
I'm a purebred fighter!
My only wish is that the champ will take me on without turning tail,
so I can give the world the greatest brawl it'll ever see!
He's got guts.
He wants to go toe-to-toe with Takamura?
Now we'll hear from the champion.
I've got an important announcement to make.
I'm done with the Junior Middleweight division.
It's time to relinquish the belt.
I'm going to win the Middleweight title, the Super Middleweight title,
all the way up to the Heavyweight title.
I will conquer all six weight classes!
Now, we all know talk is cheap.
So to prove my point, I'm gonna start by obliterating this chump.
He won't even hit me once.
My victory will be flawless!
You sure about this, Takamura-san?
You really pissed the challenger off.
He said he'd nail you if it's the last thing he does.
Don't worry about your king, peasants.
I have a secret weapon.
The following contest is for the
WBC Junior Middleweight World Championship Title!
What do you think his secret weapon is?
Dunno. We'll just have to watch.
It smells...
It smells good...
What smells?
It's heavy in the air.
The delicious scent of an easy win.
He's gonna regret insulting me.
When I get through with him, he'll never be able
to open that big mouth again!
If I'm gonna conquer six weight classes, I can't waste my time here.
I'll get this over with quick!
You're dead!
Box!
There's the bell.
Both men meet in the center of the ring to touch gloves...
Oh, the challenger brushes him aside!
No pleasantries to start out this fight!
...kill you!
You damn nobody.
I know exactly what you're going for!
Eat this!
Th-The Look-Away!
My move!
At this point, I'm just copying Aoki,
but I'm way beyond his level.
Now for the next level!
Behold!
The champion turns his whole body away!
What is he thinking?
Well, cueball?
You're falling for it.
You're dying to know what I'm looking at.
Eyes forward, you fool!
Takamura-kun, in front!
It's only supposed to be a glance!
You don't stare off to the side!
Turn around!
The pre-fight prediction is shattered with one punch!
And it's a devastating one!
He's seeing stars!
Snap out of it!
Open your eyes!
Takamura-kun!
He's coming straight at you!
Whoa!
Why?!
I fell for that move every time!
Why didn't he look away?!
The color's drained from the champ's face. He took a hard shot.
Now the challenger's trying to capitalize on it!
The champ's trapped in the corner!
Watch it!
He's gonna get you!
Get your hands up!
The punches keep coming... b-but wait...
He's dodging all of them.
Don't get smart...
...with me!
The challenger smashes into the mat with a sickening thud!
The ref rushes in. The count...
...is skipped! The fight is over! We have our winner!
See?
That's how it's done!
Screw you! You got hit!
You jackass!
A reminder to our spectators:
Don't get people worked up for nothing!
Please don't throw objects into the ring.
Six weight classes, my ass!
Please don't throw objects into the ring!
I looked like a fool out there, and it's all your fault!
Run! Run for your lives!
Some by-blow he took.
And Aoki-san's not even to blame at all.
Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic!
Why can't you be professional?!
You're the world champion, for god's sake!
Give me a break; I won!
Anyway, I'm through with the junior middleweights!
Get ready to take on the next weight class!
I'm not through with you yet!
If he stayed in this division,
he could rake in tons of cash defending the belt.
I know the weight management's tough,
but he shouldn't have rushed into giving up the title.
Rushed? You think Takamura-san rushed?
I never thought about it like that.
The guy's addicted to being the center of attention.
As long as he can show off his strength, he's happy.
He's not in it for the money.
Look.
Who the hell would forget to take that with him?
It is like him.
Yeah, it's just like him to forget the belt,
and to shoot for conquering six weight classes.
Forget Japan. Soon he'll be a household name worldwide!
It won't be long... I just know it!
Kamogawa Boxing Gym
How many times have you defended your title so far?
F-Four times.
Four defenses makes you a very respectable champion.
Normally, it'd be time to start thinking about the next step.
Yet...
Challenge
Why the hell do you think you have so many challengers?
F-Four?
Does everyone really think I'm that easy to beat?
You're a cheese champion.
Cheese?
It means you're full of holes, like cheese.
S-Sounds tasty...
This is proof that people look down on you.
You won't be ready to move up until you have no opponents left in Japan.
Pick one.
Pick a challenger from among these.
I get to pick?
This feels weird...
If possible...
I'd like to face him.
Nagoya Oniyaritome Boxing Gym Sawamura Ryuuhei
Sawamura Ryuuhei?
Let me fight him.
Please.
You're sure about putting him up against Sawamura Ryuuhei?
Did you see the look on his face?
He looked unusually driven.
He's not a prideful man by any means,
but it was clear he meant business.
I want to show that spirit the respect it deserves.
I have faith that, even if he loses, he'll learn from it
and come back stronger than ever.
Even if he loses?
Is the challenger that strong?
Stronger.
Makunouchi Fishing Boat
The kid's probably turning green watching the tapes right about now.
N-No way...
Those counters... How...
I'm sorry to call everyone over here.
So this is a tape of Ippo's next opponent,
but I'm not good at analyzing small fry.
That's why we called you all over.
He's treating Shimabukuro like a sandbag.
So his one loss came from Sawamura, huh?
Wait... he got destroyed and it still went to a decision?
Shimabukuro-san looks so frustrated...
He could've beaten him whenever he wanted, but he didn't...
He knocked him down in the third and fourth rounds,
but never went in for the kill.
Look at him. He's having a blast.
He wanted to humiliate him.
There's no denying his talent, though.
Look.
Normally, you'd throw a counter as your opponent finished punching,
but Sawamura's hitting him right as he starts.
It's a combination of incredible intuition
and lightning-fast hand speed.
Yes. It's nothing like Miyata-kun's style.
He's completely different.
Miyata-kun meets his opponent's punch with his whole body.
When he throws a counter,
he radiates this light, like fine art, as if his very soul is behind it.
Y-Yeah...
Sawamura's counters just feel evil.
Like he's surrounded by darkness.
I'm getting creeped out.
You got any fights where he gets hit?
Something to cleanse the palate?
Just a little, in this one...
Ooh, an elbow!
Nice! Eat that!
Don't apologize, you loser!
It wasn't on purpose! Keep fighting!
Whoa...
No way.
He was disqualified immediately.
When we interviewed him in his locker room afterwards,
he just calmly said, "I was only getting him back for elbowing me first."
Fujii-san. Iimura-san.
Takamura-san called me up.
So we're analyzing Sawamura, huh?
Wh-What's he like?
Sawamura Ryuuhei...
Eleven fights, nine wins, four KOs.
His two losses were both DQs.
As you noted, he doesn't have many KOs because he'd rather toy with people.
It doesn't stop in the ring, either.
Train stations, street corners, back alleys...
He's beaten up people who've bumped into him
or just rubbed him the wrong way.
The gym's warned him numerous times,
but thus far he's avoided being kicked out.
He's a pro boxer and he still fights people on the street?
Takamura-san, what do you think?
You haven't said a word.
I felt I should probably say this eventually...
It's too freaking crowded! How many of you idiots are in here?!
P-Please, stop!
What'd we do to you?!
Nothing.
I just don't like the looks of you.
W-We know you're a pro boxer!
Leave us alone or we'll call the cops, and they'll take your boxing license!
I mean it! We'll sue—
Sue?
Go for it, if you can still speak.
Nagoya Oniyaritome Boxing Gym
Sawamura, what happened to your hand?!
It better not be from another street fight!
Coach, I'm not stupid.
S-So it wasn't...
Let's have a look. Remember, a boxer's fists are his life.
Th-These are teeth marks!
Did you send the challenge to Makunouchi?
Yeah... We should hear from them soon.
But, what are these teeth marks?
I can't wait for my title match.
I'm no fool.
If anyone gives me trouble...
I'll take care of them personally.
The Mad Dog and The Red Wolf