What? He's got sunken cheeks!
What's going on?
C-Clearly he failed at weight loss.
Dark clouds are rolling into Korakuen Hall.
But we can't stop this now.
The gong for this critical match...
has just rung!
I can't gather my strength even after hearing the gong.
What now?
Takamura-san...
Takamura-san!
What are you going to do, Takamura-san?
Takamura dashes in!
He runs straight across the diagonal!
H-He's fast!
A rush from the start!
Takamura makes a sudden rush as if he's clearing away the dark clouds!
West can only defend! He can't retaliate!
I thought he wasn't in good condition?
What awesome speed!
Is this the speed of a boxer who failed at weight control?
It's hard to believe.
He's got a tight guard.
Left!
No, right!
A feint, then a right!
It connected cleanly!
Is it over now?
That was a big one!
Yeah! That was good!
He can't stay standing after that one!
Good going!
Huh?
Wow, West didn't even flinch!
He didn't move even slightly after Takamura's fierce attack!
You're tough.
Left!
Right!
What?!
He's taking punches, but he's really tough!
No, that's not it!
Takamura's punches are too light!
These are the punches of the man who has a record of 14 consecutive KOs since his debut?
They're really light.
I thought they were from a boxer two or three weight classes below me.
Wow! Takamura retreats!
I thought I'd try a quick attack, but he's already learned that I can't gather my strength.
I can't last for too long, so I still need to end this in the early rounds.
That leaves me...
Wow?
Takamura provokes West to come attack him in the middle.
Will West accept?
Will he step up and fight?
Come on.
Come on!
H-He's not!
He doesn't come out! West doesn't move!
I won't do it.
I know what you're thinking.
Since you have no strength, you have no choice but to use your opponent's power.
Crap! That West guy is smart!
He figured out Takamura-san's tactic!
He was going to use a counter after luring him out.
You won't get beaten as long as you watch out for counter punches, eh?
My punches aren't scary, huh?
Yeah?
You're full of shit!
Takamura rushes in instead!
He got impatient and charged in!
Don't snap!
Calm down!
The world is so close!
I can't trip up now!
Don't run away, dammit!
There's the gong!
That's the end of the first round.
Takamura takes the lead by points after his constant offensive moves.
However, he paid a huge price for those points!
Look at that! He's clearly exhausted.
Will Takamura Mamoru be okay?
Water!
Don't swallow.
Just rinse your mouth.
I told you not to swallow!
You'll be in trouble if you get punched in the torso!
You'll be agonizing in pain after your stomach bursts!
Shut up! Stop worrying about me!
I'll finish him in the next round!
He's arguing with his second, too.
He's nervous.
He'll die on his own.
Just keep fighting cleverly.
I'm lucky I get to fight such an easy guy to step into the world ranking.
Seconds out.
Round 2.
Takamura-san...
Please stay calm.
Whoa! Takamura charges in again!
West dodges the attacks!
Stay still, damn it!
I'll show you what'll happen if you take me lightly!
Crap! He didn't cool his head at all during the break!
H-He's got to calm down now!
Idiot! It's Takamura-san we're talking about!
He'll make it work!
Takamura-san!
West steps quickly around the ring like a matador.
Takamura can only strike air.
With West's thoroughgoing out-boxing, this is rather quiet for a junior middleweight match.
But...
But!
The outboxing worked well for him!
In the sixth round, Takamura finally lost his speed!
Come on, idiot!
You fell for the enemy's obvious tactic!
Think more while you fight!
You're not a wild boar! You can't just keep rushing in!
Use your brain!
Shut up!
I knew what he was thinking!
But, a truly great man smashes such cheap ideas without tricks!
Yes...
Just like Oh Sadaharu who hits over the fielders' heads even after they take the anti-Oh position!
But!
It didn't work.
My body has weakened more than I anticipated.
My body has never felt this heavy.
West's left!
And it's far from being a tap.
It's the first powerful punch he's thrown in this match!
He's now confident that Takamura-san has no power left!
He's gonna take the offense now!
A one-two is in!
He moves further forward!
Maurice West is clearly making a different move from earlier!
Damn! I can see them.
I can see them, but...
I'm still taking hits.
I can't move my body like I want.
Why am I losing to this guy?
Ah! Takamura's getting beaten like a sandbag next to the ropes!
This is an unbelievable sight!
The entire hall is speechless!
[The "Taka" in Takamura's name means hawk in Japanese.]
Will this Japanese hawk, about to take off to the world stage, be shot down to the ground just like this?
Damn it!
I've been plagued with misfortune since the beach.
Is this a curse too?
What are you doing?! Punch back!
Shut the hell up!
I'm too busy blocking!
Crap! His guard is down!
He'll get hit!
I'll go ahead and take the world rank.
I'll become the world champion in your place, so don't worry and go to sleep!
I was waiting for this!
A counter!
Was Takamura planning this?!
Hell yeah! He was after that!
Oh yeah!
But! It's Takamura who stumbles!
Takamura's powerful arm lost that match!
Y-You've gotta be kidding me...
I've seen Takamura-san go through a few pinches...
but I was always confident that he'd rally in the end.
Always!
But now I seriously have a really bad feeling!
You scared the shit out of me.
I'll finish you this time!
Takamura-san!
A clinch!
Takamura escapes the attack by hugging his opponent!
Takamura is...
clinching!
I've never seen him do it.
That really got me good.
I can't keep myself up without support.
How much longer is this round?
A minute thirty?!
Takamura, let go!
No way. Is that board lying?
Takamura!
What?!
Break it, Takamura!
Step away, Takamura-kun!
He'll deduct points if you don't!
Is he...
Takamura!
Huh? What is Takamura-san looking at?
He's looking at something in the audience.
Around the ring-side seats on the west side...
What's standing out is a foreigner with...
That is...!
Hey!
That guy!
No mistake about it!
That's WBC world junior middleweight class champion,
Bryan Hawk!
What is he doing here?
Why...
Takamura! Break it!
...is he here of all places?!
Takamura!
Break it!
Box!
Stop looking away from me!
Takamura! Look in front of you!
He's caught by the ropes!
West rushes!
Crap! He attacked while I was focused on something else!
You cheater!
Takamura has no strength left.
I even won the simultaneous punch.
Even his counter is nothing to be scared of now.
I'll knock him out and go take on the world!
Takamura's in a dire pinch!
Is he going to trip right before the world?!
Come on, Takamura!
Don't trip now!
Dodge them, Takamura-san!
Get away from the ropes!
These punches are too annoying and I can't move.
But why is he in Japan?
Did he come to scout me out?
Atta boy.
But...
what's with your attitude?
You got chicks in both arms...
you lack seriousness!
And that grin.
Is he laughing at me having a difficult time?
You piss me off!
A clean hit!
Was that a bad one?
Takamura-san!
Takamura-kun!
Takamura!
The world is waiting! Finish him, West!
Got it!
What, damn it?
Sneering at me...
You piss me off!
What?
Even you're making a happy face.
You piss me off!
You all piss me off!
Stop thinking you won!
It's simultaneous!
It's a desperate counter!
Simultaneous is no good! You'll lose again!
No, look!
The opponent is staggering?
It's good!
The world is so close already!
I can't give up so easily!
You all are damn pissing me off!
He's still got power!
But he should be on his last breath.
Who the hell do you think I am?!
It's simultaneous again!
That's too scary, Takamura!
Come on! Be more careful!
Come on, West! This is the critical spot!
It's an exchanges of blows!
It's a battle of junior heavyweight counter blows!
Both of their heads are blown back!
It's a super-powerful fight in the middle of the ring!
H-Huh? In the middle?
I thought Takamura was against the ropes...
H-He's pushing...
I am...
Takamura Mamoru: the greatest!
Wow! West is finally against the ropes!
He got pushed to the other side with simultaneous punches!
Watch this, you bastard!
I'm going to take on the world!
H-He knocked West out of the ring!
The referee breaks in to stop the match! The match is over!
What a forceful KO!
What a spectacular end!
The winner is Takamura!
He comes out victorious in this run-up match before the world title match!
Oh? He's not raising his arm.
That's not like him.
What is he looking at?
H-Hey, that's...
He's really the one!
WBC world junior middleweight class champion,
Bryan Hawk!
That's Takamura's enemy!
He was spying on him?
He's huge!
The audience noticed him too.
The people at Korakuen Hall are knowledgeable.
S-She's gonna hand him the mic.
Takamura!
Give us some good words!
The fans are eager to hear what you have to say.
I have no words for a man who forgot an item.
Send him home to go get it.
Forgot an item?
This thing.
I have no business with the man without a belt.
That's just cool!
Awesome!
This is gonna be good!
I can't wait for December!
Please win the belt, Takamura!
He left rather quietly.
Maybe he's exhausted.
But what a relief.
He'd cause nothing but trouble once he started talking.
You were clearly in poor condition. How did you win?
Did you get any feel for the world?
What're your thoughts after seeing the world champion?
Don't ask me all at once.
Get in line.
I hate to admit it, but he's good.
He pulled off a victory in that condition.
He's incredible!
His condition too, but even after taking quite a bit of damage from all those hits,
he still countered each blow accurately.
I saw how good he is technically, too.
It's all because of his spirit.
His expression clearly changed once he found the champion.
He snapped after seeing how Hawk wasn't taking the match seriously, with chicks at his side.
I've been with him for a long time, but this is the first time I saw him truly pissed off.
That was something else.
Never have I felt so strongly that I should never piss him off.
He was so enraged that even they've never it seen before...
Punching a man out of the ring is almost humanly impossible.
I'll be careful never to piss him off too.
Forcing him out?
Yeah, it was intentional.
Because damn Hawk was playing with chicks.
It felt great when the chicks were shocked and jumped away.
Intentional?
That's amazing.
Open a path.
We have a guest.
A guest?
B
Bryan Hawk!
It's Hawk!
What's the champion doing here?
Somebody translate!
What's the purpose of your visit to Japan?
To study your opponent?
Give us the outlook for the title match in December!
What did you think about the match today?
Well...
First of all, he's asking for a hand shake with Mr. Takamura.
He would like to pay tribute to Mr. Takamura's bravery and power.
Also, since Takamura was clearly not in his best condition, this match gave him no viable information.
He is sure that Takamura will arrive in perfect condition for the match with him.
You know it.
Fine, I'll shake hands.
His attitude at the match aside, I guess he's not a bad person.
He's just saying nice things.
What? What did he just say?
Was he bad-mouthing Takamura?
N-No...
It's just...
Don't keep it to yourself!
Spill it!
Th-The reason for his visit is because of his favorite Japanese food.
He came to eat them.
The purpose wasn't to watch Takamura-san's match?
Do you like Japanese food?
Can you tell us more about it?
If you like sashimi, we have a fishing-boat owner here, so I'll treat you.
Or do you want ramen and gyoza?
He cooks with his hands right after playing with his dick, but it's a great place.
Wait, is ramen Chinese?
Are you sure I can tell them?
No problem.
Y-You see...
his favorite is...
oriental girls.
Japanese girls are especially excellent.
Come on, let's shake hands, Takamura!
Let's shake hands.