Date Eiji (Japan)
Ricardo Martinez (Mexico)
Current WBA World Featherweight Class Champion
62 matches, 62 wins, 58 KOs, no losses
This is the end!
Now!
The very last bit of energy I have left!
My best shot!
Go!
It's been blocked!
The Bloody Cross is coming!
Damn! He can't evade that!
It's hopeless now!
He pushed me back!
It's not just with his arm!
He put all of his weight into it!
H—
He's down!
The Steps Toward the World
He's down!
It was a fierce blow!
His trump card is back! He smashed the champion down on the mat!
Go to a neutral corner!
Good job!
Catch your breath! Relax and wait in the corner!
One!
Two!
Three!
Four!
To hell with breathing.
I can't raise my arms.
My legs don't move either.
I really can't fight any longer.
Don't you get up!
The champion isn't budging. Will he stay down to the count of ten?!
Five!
Six!
Don't get up! Stay down right there!
Yeah! Stay down!
I can't stop trembling.
That was an incredible blow.
It was a cross-counter with the weight of his entire body on it.
One mistake and he would most certainly get knocked out.
He used it without hesitation.
He couldn't have done that with a normal level of clear judgement and decisiveness.
It was truly a shot he wagered his soul on.
Very... Very well done.
A jolt counter!
The jolt, a punch that you put your entire weight into, is the only punch that could stand against the Bloody Cross!
Ichiro put everything he had into that punch.
He can't get up!
Seven!
Wow! The champion raised his torso!
Eight!
Can he get up now?
N-No way!
Not after a jolt counter!
That was my best shot.
I put all the energy I had left into it!
He can't get up!
There's no way!
H-He's up!
Miyata Ichiro looks dumbfounded!
Can the champion take a fighting pose?
Wow!
The champion...
fell to the canvas like a marionette that lost its support!
The match is over!
This signals the championship title will now change hands!
At one minute thirty-four seconds into the fourth round!
The match-turning cross-counter!
Man, that was a white-knuckler.
There's now a new champion for the OPBF!
His name is Miyata Ichiro!
What a shame!
This is how it ends after you talk big?
My plan's all ruined!
Get out of my sight.
Ichiro!
Ichiro-kun!
Ichiro!
Well? Did you see that, Dad?
Yes, I certainly did.
That was great.
Ichiro-kun! Take the belt!
Here!
Let go of my body.
It doesn't look good for the champion.
The belt is now being put on the new champion.
Even for this prodigy, the road to a champion was a tough one.
After a long detour, he finally has the title!
I got hit so much.
I've been beaten to a pulp. I'm not in praise-worthy shape.
But this belt has a huge value for me.
This victory is very meaningful to me.
I can finally...
be proud.
Look at that showy victory pose.
But he actually looks good doing that.
He's not the type who expresses his emotions,
so this shows how emotional this victory is for him.
Stop gawking!
B-But he's too cool!
How do you feel, Japanese Champ?
Your rival's now way ahead of you.
He's not really my rival!
I'll be gone until I catch up!
He didn't just catch up,
he also took a giant leap in front of me.
Yeah, Miyata-kun was always in the distance, as my goal.
And that goal took a definite shape today.
The OPBF title!
Looks like he's finally getting fired up.
I can finally fight with pride.
Come any time, Makunouchi Ippo!
That was a great counter at the end.
How do you feel now that you have the title?
What's your next goal?
Any plans for the world?
Slow down!
He's tired from the match.
We'll schedule an interview at the gym on a later date.
That's all!
Can I make one comment?
Fujii-san.
Mr. Sakaguchi, Arnie's manager, left the building alone.
Alone?
I guess he left Arnie, having lost the value of his merchandise.
He abandoned Arnie?
That's too cold-hearted.
He was a slimy guy from the start.
How...
How could you stay up?
My punches aren't weak.
What kept you up, even after you were beaten to a pulp?
I can't go home like this, having my confidence shattered.
I need a clear answer from you.
I don't know if this will be a satisfactory answer for you.
Just a strong will.
A strong will?
That's the only thing that kept you up?
Then there's nobody who's more stubborn than you.
Maybe.
That's such a simple answer that actually makes sense.
When I get home, I'll tell everyone that the Japanese are all stubborn.
Be careful, Ichiro Miyata.
Mr. Sakaguchi will send in more fighters to vent his anger.
And they'll all be tough.
I won't lose.
I won't give up the belt I took from you,
no matter who comes.
Goodbye, Champ.
Goodbye.
It was a long road to get here.
I'm finally at the same level as he is.
Until the day I'm ready for the battle with him is here,
I will not give the title to anyone.
I will face the champion of Japan as the champion of the OPBF!
Miyata really is something, coming back from that situation!
I really loved that counter!
I'm so glad I got to see it live!
Yeah! It gets me all pumped up too!
That kind of match really gets us going!
It's so hard to just sit still now!
You can sit still if you have no matches coming up.
Takamura-san?
It's my turn next!
Monthly Boxing Fan
Boxing fever is rising.
Makunouchi Ippo's first title-defense victory after a close battle.
Miyata Ichiro took over the OPBF.
And...
The ten round match against the second-place boxer of the world,
with everyone calling it "The Match" before the world title.
After he smashed down the second-place boxer in three rounds,
Takamura Mamoru took his first step toward the world.
The Japanese boxing scene is really heating up.
And I can only see that it'll continue to do so.
The best example of that...
is the WBA World Featherweight Class title match:
The champion, Ricardo Martinez, versus Date Eiji.
The man who leads the Japanese boxing scene is finally challenging the world.
Kamogawa Boxing Gym
So the date is finally set for Date-san!
What do you think, Ippo-kun?
The only man whom you ever lost to is now challenging the world. How do you feel?
I'm sure he'll win no matter who he faces,
because he's so strong!
Your punches are light.
My punches... Are light?
I don't mean to be cocky,
but in the last ten matches, I don't think I've fought against boxers that I could beat with light punches.
The meaning of light and heavy punches is different here.
The meaning?
The title "champion" comes with so much weight:
People who have high hopes for you.
People who wager their dreams on you.
People who make you their goal.
All of their feelings weigh on the champion's punches.
Feelings...
The champion's punches carry that kind of weight without any exceptions.
That man's punches look especially heavy.
We are now commencing the ten round featherweight title match as a part of the Champion Carnival.
In the red corner, from Nakadai Gym, weighing in at 125 and 1/4 lbs,
the champion of the Japan featherweight class,
Date Eiji!
In the blue corner, from Kamogawa Gym, weighing in at 124 and 1/2 lbs,
first place in the Japan featherweight class,
Makunouchi Ippo!
It's the start of the Featherweight Class title match, highly anticipated in this year's Champion Carnival.
Who is the strongest man in Japan? Date or Makunouchi?
Right!
Date's head is knocked far back!
It landed lightly?
H-He's twisting his neck
to weaken the power of my punches!
The champion's left!
The champion's Heart Break shot!
The challenger is stunned!
This is the end!
Stop!
The match is over!
The champion, Date Eiji, comes out as the victor for the Featherweight Class title match!
He has now defended the title ten times in total!
Nobody in this country can match him anymore!
The world is finally in sight!
It's okay. Date-san will definitely win.
Can you still say the same thing even after you learn whom he is going against?
WBA World Featherweight Class Champion,
Ricardo Martinez...
62 matches, 62 wins, 58 KOs?!
No losses?!
Why that's... that's a perfect record!
He's a hero in Mexico.
Everyone knows him, even though they don't know who their own president is.
And one of those sixty-two wins includes a match against Date-san.
Right. Date-san lost once against this champion.
It's worrisome, knowing how good Date-san is.
Yeah, since he's going against the super-champ who's already defended the world title seventeen times.
He will win! Date-san will definitely win!
...isn't that what you were gonna say again?
I-I want to, but...
Date-san is strong, and it's hard to imagine him losing.
But you can't imagine this champion losing either?
No.
The world titles that Japan recognizes are the WBC and the WBA.
The chances of winning would be better if he avoids Ricardo and goes for the WBC title,
but that geezer daringly challenged the champion to whom he once lost against.
Actually, he may have been obsessing about this for seven years, ever since he lost to him.
Obsessing...
Date-san is thirty years old, so this will probably be his last chance.
That's so cool, challenging the only man who beat him.
Yeah, that's so like Date-san.
He's at a disadvantage.
But I have a feeling that
that man is confident.
Confident?
He's gotten stronger since the match against you.
He's building his body and confidence up.
That's why he dared to challenge Ricardo.
R-Right.
He's taking this challenge because he's confident.
If Date-san wins...
he'll be the world champion...
Th-That's really incredible!
That's so cool!
The man who beat me will be the world champion!
It's the man who beat me!
That's a weird way of bragging.
The world champion is the strongest man in the world.
The strongest man in the world...
I wonder what it's like. I can't even imagine it!
Do you want to experience that for yourself?
Coach?
Experience it for myself?
What do you mean?
The strongest man in the world, Ricardo Martinez, is coming to Japan in the coming days.
And he's named his sparring partner.
Right...
He named the Japan featherweight class champion.
Japan's champion...
M-Me?!
Me against the world champion?
I know you'll be no match against him.
I'm not asking for a good match,
but it's an excellent opportunity to see what the world is like.
What do you think? Are you up to it?
Me against the world champion...
Me...
I'll do it.
Let me do it!
I will give them our acceptance.
Thank you!
Maybe I can find a weakness for Date-san, like his habits or something.
I also want to test how I can fare against him...
With everything I've got!