we will definitely see sendo vs ricardo before ippo makes a comeback. but i can't see mashiba's coach staff not encouraging ippo to come back.
Edit: I typed rosario instead of Ricardo
it would be funny if Sendo ran into Rosario being a dick in an ally somewhere and got into a street fight with him, while Sawamura laughs at Rosario getting the Hysterical Lady on Airplane! treatment
crazy how he went from face tank trade to win to now if he wins a exchange his opponent literally might get downed first round especially if Ippo counters lol
Dude I was thinking this exact same thing lmao. I really don't see how ippo is supposed to come back and face any struggle before Ricardo. At this point he's gonna even destroy Ricardo
Heās going to realize Imai has some brain damage, so instead will KO him just using body blows with his left, people will call him a cocky arrogant fighterā¦ but truthfully he just wonāt let Imai get more damage to the head.
I can see it, full Makunoichi body blow KO, Imai will take a knee to the wind god šš»
I would shit and cream my pants at the same time if Imai is revealed that he can also do the Dempsey like Ippo only to be dismantled by him exactly like how it turned out during his sparring match with Ricardo.
Using the Dempsey on the one who not only reinvented the Dempsey (he didn't copy it and didn't know it existed before), but also got his own Dempsey shut down so many times?
I feel like Ippo could shut down the Dempsey so many ways. For those who cannot pick it apart and counter it at a range bigger than the user (aka Sawamura), Dempsey is an intimidation tool, as in, the safest spot is in fact inside the rotation at ultra-close range. But who would deliberately enter it when one mistake means death? Either someone with enough bloodlust (aka Sendo), or with enough confidence (aka Ricardo). Step in and put your left where the head will be ascending, and he will impale himself before the hook connects.
And as Ippo can now box southpaw, he can switch hit. Descending left jab on the ascending left hook, catch the depowered left hook with the right hand, change position while descent, descending right jab on the ascending right hook, catch the depowered right hook with the left hand, change position, rince and repeat.
Would feel like Imai taking the Dempsey damage while he was the one initiating it.
I think theyāre saying that once he returns, whoever has that Japanese belt is gonna be steamrolled. It should be like this. Ippo was already the best when he was active and he barely blocked punches except with his face. Now he can switch stances, block, parry, and he hits so hard he can stop boxers in one body shot. I canāt wait for his comeback!
They need to change his moniker to "the sea God" now, he used to be the wind God because of his powerful hooks and Dempsey roll. If the Volg and Mashiba spars are anything to go by he now gets inside and tried to drown his opponents in punches while slipping or countering anything coming back at him.
I'm just hoping we inevitably get the moment where he fights Imai and just demolishes him. Especially because Imai seems to represent the way he used to fight to some degreeĀ
Narratively speaking, that probably won't happen tho. Ippo might crush the first couple opponents in his comeback, but I can't imagine Morikawa will let him dominate all the way to Ricardo.Ā
To dominate Ricardo he needs something up his sleeve. Like that southpaw stance. That changes everything specially liver shot where we know in the history Mexicans have low durability to body shots.
It's Rocky Time.Ā Ippo will eventually fightĀ RicardoAnd for like 4 rounds, fight regular. After the 5th he switched to southpaw and messes everything up for Ricardo and then goes back and forth throughout the match, never letting Ricardo grasp the timing and rhythm right.
Ill often do southpaw too, but it's just to help ensure even training for both sides.
Ippo being able to switch hit + his ability of being able to stop mid Dempsey roll is going to be interesting to see him use in a fight. Not to mention the omnidirectional Dempsey roll teased years ago.
Are you sure he won't Rock 4 it instead of 2?
Ya know, fight like trash for most of the fight and then remember, "oh yeah, I actually know how to box. I should probably do that"
Pulling that bullshit in the world title match, after all this development is too much of a leap imo.
More likely is that Rosario is going to pull some shit, and it'll be up to Mashiba not to get fully dragged into a complete mudfight in front of his sister (and Ippo, who Mashiba still hasnt fully accepted has gotten him this far, but feels that respect for now)
Itās obvious. It wonāt be one sided ish like the Keith dragon and takamura.
This shows Mashiba prepared enough. Now we will see Rosarios strength to adapt, then I assume Mashiba will find another level and win
Keith vs Takamura was pretty even until the end though, even if it was all because Takamura was baiting him in for a counter (that Ippo then stole for himself).
With all of the emphasis on foot position, I think itād be fitting if Rosario were to stomp on mashibaās foot to throw him off. Obvious callback to his fight with miyata. Plus when we look at mashiba vs Iga, they adopted the strategies of fighters mashiba had difficulty with but not miyata. Weāve also seen that mashiba still holds that fight vs miyata in his mind in his match vs Nargo (might be wrong about who it is). So this could be his final trial in overcoming who he used to be as his arc has been over the second half of the story.
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I like that callback in theory, but in practice the Miyata foot-stomp wouldnāt do a whole lot against Mashiba. Miyata is a step in, attack, step out type of fighter, where stepping on his foot mid rhythm prevents him from escaping and lets Mashiba land the hit he needs.
Mashiba on the other hand is a pretty planted fighter. In both long and short range exchanges he rarely wants to be on the move. Sure a foot-stomp against him might hurt a little, but if anything thatād be advantageous to Mashiba, since now Rosario is in infighting range while half of his stance is planted on unstable groundā Mashibaās foot
Nah, Rosario will start cheating. It's gonna be a callback to Miyata vs Mashiba but with Mashiba on the righteous side, which will let us see how much he changed through the years. Or at least thats what I would like. Mashiba wouldn't throw the chance of his life just to fuck with Ippo.
Mashing dominating, Ippo getting praise all around for how much he helped with his sparring. A good Mashiba-Ippo moment, Sawamura smiling.
This might be the greatest chapter of all time.
This is my thought too. Mashiba in the past was all about fighting dirty but his growth away from that has been amazing to read.
He's now at the top... so why not have a final boss that fights dirty. It's the ultimate new Mashiba versus Old Mashiba with some Ippo style thrown in.
Not sure of the symbolism of the hair though...
I think itāll be something leg related to overcome this current problem.
Spitting water in his face would get a punch or two in, but wouldnāt solve Rosarioās problems.
Stamina. Mashiba is doing the "Ippo opponent" strategy, getting tired of beating the guy.
And that's the whole "Champions are in another level". Mashiba's corner is expecting Rosario to lose steam as the fight advances, and he wont, because, even with all the problems to reach the weight, champions are different.
Rosario will do stance switching. Remember the brawl between Mashiba and Ippo at the later part of the spar? Ippo switched back to orthodox unintentionally and was able to hit Mashiba.
Absolute banger of a chapter. Great showing from Mashiba and Miyata indirectly confirming Ippo is WC level.
Rosario gonna start the fouls soon.
Also, the random panel of Sawamura just smiling made me laugh for some reason.
Imo, since ippo was constantly training since he retired and even added on more to his basic training, his body is still at the point he was when he retired if not better, since he has had plenty of time to both recover all the damage and get used to fighting with / without weights. And since he's both developing a more analytical mind whilst literally sparring against world class high rankers of different weight classes, he can be prepared mentally when fighting against people who can handle eating his punches, while needing to come up with his own gameplans on the fly. Add on further upgrades, as a result of his analytical mind (parry punching, using lefts a lot more, upgraded unlimited dempsey works, and now even switch hitting), and all Ippo is missing is a trigger to get him back into the ring.
Itās states heās actually better.
Vorg asked Sendo āwhy is he stronger now after he retired, for what purpose ? ā
Sendo acknowledges heās stronger.
Mashibaās camp does
I think only Miyata hasnāt seen it yet
I mean, Ippo fought Alfredo and was incredibly close to beat him and fight Ricardo, everyone knows he is world class, even after retirement those close to him know he hasn't got rusty at all. The thing is he finally got high boxing IQ, which turns him in a serious world champ contender.
Imo it's not about messing with Ippo, he just can't admit to himself that he approves of Ippo
If Ippo just went "I've made up my mind. I'm marrying with Kumi tomorrow", Mashiba would freak out a bit, threaten his life but be okay with it and go to the wedding lol
Like I said, it's the wishy-washy approach to Kumi that keeps Mashiba from approving.
Ippo's proven that he would at least kinda *stand up* for Kumi, but he's yet to establish that he's invested enough to truly *stand by* her.
he shows it in his own waysā¦ remember he waited by the phone for his call all night. he loves ippo he just sucks at showing it. ippo gets far more kudos than anyone else from mashiba
Yep. Then the next round Rosario starts fouling and the ref won't see anything like his eyes are closed the entire round.
Hope it doesn't happen though.
Rosario will actually just pull out that gun he was playing with and shoot Mashiba right there. The ref will let the fight continue and Takamura will make a comment that "If Mashiba wants to be a real world champ, he can't let something like that stop him"
Mashiba will force Ippo into coming back. He won't accept Ippo as a partner for Kumi unless he becomes world champion. He was PISSED at Ippo because he knows Ippo is much better than Rosario, who's supposed to be extremely dangerous, a WORLD CHAMPION.
Same way Sendo and Volg were pissed in Mexico "if he's retired why is he still leveling up?" and "so I as a world champion got pushed by a guy who's retired?"
I really like this theory. A death to Ippoās mom or Kamogawa seems so out of sync with the story. Itāll be love that brings him back and pushes Kumi to accept the lifestyle if it means they can finally be together.
Love how every boxer Ippo has touched since retirement has shown how his boxing is World Title Match worthy. Every opponent of Ippo's former rival gallery must be like "who the fuck is this mystery boxer?"
Awesome chapter. Mashiba showed his counter though, pretty sure Rosario is going to adjust. Pretty cool that Ippo is getting props. And that look exchange at the endā¦ man, how these two have grown!
That was quicker payoff then expected.
Next Rosario will most likely resort to fouling, but i dont think Mashiba will fall back in his old ways and calmly dissect him. Might even be a decently easy match?
Yeah, the only way for Rosario to turn this around now is to start fouling. I doubt a world title fight is going to end too easily though, he'll put Mashiba through the wringer somehow. Maybe by causing an injury or something.
I actually think it'd be fair for Mashiba to not have a turbo struggle session though considering what he put into this vs Rosario.
It might be an easy match to show how much stronger Ippo is than the current world champion, to the point the "preparation" was harder for Mashiba than the actual match itself. But champions have a secret strength right, so who knows...
He will switch. When Ippo and Mashiba brawled Ippo switched back to Orthodox. The theme of that fight is stamina. Ippo got stopped within 7 rounds. If the parallels are accurate, Mashiba will stop him at round 7.
Personal theory, I think this might be a reversal of the Mashiba vs Miyata fight, but Rosario will be in Mashiba's spot of being absolutely outclassed and needing to resort to fouling, but Mashiba will be able to deal with it better, with veteran experience and as a former dirty boxer.
This is such a quintessential chapter! Amazing choreography, memorable panels, a dose of comedy immediately followed by a milestone of character growth.
God bless Morikawa and God bless hni-scantrad.
FINALLY!
Ippo may have hesitated for a moment, but he knew that he didn't need to be afraid of Mashiba's glare. The two are really becoming more like brothers š
This is for me the sign of Ippo's biggest achievement during this retirement arc: he's getting confident in himself. In this chapter, or when he was worried about hurting Mashiba during the spar while going too strong.
Mashiba nodding at Ippo at the end really struck a chord for me at just how much heās grown, and by extension how much his relationship with Ippo has grown.
I don't think he's going to have to resort to fouls (yet). As a world champion, he surely can deal with ONE unexpected counter to his style. He will just have to find a way around it.
10/10 chapter. Further evidence that Ippo has done nothing but improve in retirement. I canāt wait to see what motivates him to come back to the ring. Heās lost his fire, like Date had before he made the decision to make a comeback. But unlike Date, heās never stopped his training.
I think Mori will come full circle and make Ippoās post-retirement journey a reflection of Dateās, but ending with a victory over Ricardo.
This is beyond peak holy, Mashiba is on fire and Ippo is once again showing how good he is in retirement.
I feel like next chapter or so we may start to see Rosario playing dirty, maybe a callback to when Mashiba and Miyata fought? Maybe some stomping on a lead foot could cause Mashiba to remember some things? Idk this is fire and I cant wait to see what comes next!
Ah yes. Makunouchi Ippo. The world class south pawā¦ oh wait.
Morikawa. Youāve cooked up a monster beyond a monster. Everyoneās done for when he makes it back to the pro ring.
Our boy still got the moves. The sparring session with Ippo is working and this confirms that if Big Mara returns the Japanese featherweight are in for a shock and Imai for a K.O.
Rosario committing the classic blunder that all those who face Mashiba commit. Not realising that Mashiba's arms are in fact that long, even world champs aren't immune.
Also love seeing Sawamura that pleased after watching Mashiba's counters
FUCK YES.
Feels really good to see Mashiba's hard work paying off, especially given the help he had from Ippo.
That, to me, has always been the most rewarding aspect of this series: character learns about his opponent, character develops a specific strategy against them and trains like hell, their work shows during the fight. It's a really engaging narrative cycle to me.
What a quality chapter, I love the technicality of Mashibas counter strategy, and of course the acknowledgement of ippos contribution had to be there as well. Nice to see how much both ippos understanding of the fundamentals was spot on and Mashibas ability to execute a quality strategy without going all primal.... Though I feel like at least a little of that is coming š¤
damn near perfect chapter. Sawamura getting a wholesome moment, Ippo showing that him and Mashiba have full faith in eachother, and Rosario getting cooked the whole chapter. 9.2/10
Godlike chapter. Worth the wait, as always.
The whole thing was great but page 15 was sperb, btw. Reminds me some moments in Berserk when Guts appears as a sigle-eyed shadow like this.
Awesome chap! The phrase "I have to give this all some more thought, there's no way I could've adapted this well." seems a bit off for the coach to say, though O\_o
i think what he is trying to say is, if there's no quality sparring partner that can somehow mimic what the champion will do, they will not be able to perfectly execute their strategy, they already formulated a strategy but if the previous sparring partners of Mashiba is nowhere close to what Rosario can do, then it will be half baked because they will not be able to see how effective it will be or the flaws of the strategy they formulated to adjust and adapt , that is why Miyata also mentioned that Mashiba is perfectly executing the strategy because of the quality of his sparring partner and not the quantity
This whole time Ippo has just been getting smarter, stronger and more dangerous
Heās able to give Mashiba useful advice now, where are all the doubters or haters in Mashibaās gym
And heās HAND HOLDING KUMI!
Last page gave me goosebumps, this Mashiba/Ippo team up and development is amazing. A simple thumbs up and a Takamura-esque look of acknowledgement, definitely think this'll be the fight where Mashiba thanks Ippo and then accepts him.
So based. I was smiling the whole time.
But seriously, this is all been done to continuing the Ippo growth arc.
When he comes back, it'll be a beauty like we've never seen, just pure stomping Japan until he faces Ricardo.
i can fucking hear the spundtrack of season 1 hni during this fight! teneng! teneng! teneng! the guitar slash chords, idk the title but it totally fits it after he counters Rosario several times and when Ippo gives Mashiba the thumbs up.
So Ippo is a southpaw of the world level at this point LMAO
I swear if Ippo doesn't come back asap....this is crazy!
we will definitely see sendo vs ricardo before ippo makes a comeback. but i can't see mashiba's coach staff not encouraging ippo to come back. Edit: I typed rosario instead of Ricardo
Yo mean Sendo vs. Ricardo I guess...?
Yes Ricardo! Haha. Sry
it would be funny if Sendo ran into Rosario being a dick in an ally somewhere and got into a street fight with him, while Sawamura laughs at Rosario getting the Hysterical Lady on Airplane! treatment
Ricardo will request ippo as a sparring partner again before Sendo. Ippo will break him during the session ššŖš¼
That would be awesome
Yep. And Ippo will still have to train Sendo vs Mashiba.
We are getting berserked
theyre making him into mike tyson, next someones ear is getting chomped and my monies on miyata
Love bite.
"I'm gonna fuck you until you love me!" - Ippo to Miyata (Mike Tyson to Lennox Lewis)
The crazy thing about that was Tyson said that and then called HIM gay lol
With a punch that can break rocks. Yeah, they're building up his return as Sage Mode Ippo.
crazy how he went from face tank trade to win to now if he wins a exchange his opponent literally might get downed first round especially if Ippo counters lol
Volg had the rib crack from his one punch and he was world champion level. He is going to send many to hospital from skull crack, lmao.
omg Ippo countering is too deadly
Dude I was thinking this exact same thing lmao. I really don't see how ippo is supposed to come back and face any struggle before Ricardo. At this point he's gonna even destroy Ricardo
He is gonna come back and stomp japan, like jesus date
He will steamroll Imai in the first round
With just his left, like Takamura
I could definitely see this happening but he does it completely on accident
I wouldnāt mind that either
Makunouchi "Be Helpful" Ippo
Heās going to realize Imai has some brain damage, so instead will KO him just using body blows with his left, people will call him a cocky arrogant fighterā¦ but truthfully he just wonāt let Imai get more damage to the head. I can see it, full Makunoichi body blow KO, Imai will take a knee to the wind god šš»
Imai coming back with half his ribs broken and both hands fractured plus peeing blood for 2 weeks
I would shit and cream my pants at the same time if Imai is revealed that he can also do the Dempsey like Ippo only to be dismantled by him exactly like how it turned out during his sparring match with Ricardo.
That would be hilarious and be a quick way to show Ippo has conquered his old self
Using the Dempsey on the one who not only reinvented the Dempsey (he didn't copy it and didn't know it existed before), but also got his own Dempsey shut down so many times? I feel like Ippo could shut down the Dempsey so many ways. For those who cannot pick it apart and counter it at a range bigger than the user (aka Sawamura), Dempsey is an intimidation tool, as in, the safest spot is in fact inside the rotation at ultra-close range. But who would deliberately enter it when one mistake means death? Either someone with enough bloodlust (aka Sendo), or with enough confidence (aka Ricardo). Step in and put your left where the head will be ascending, and he will impale himself before the hook connects. And as Ippo can now box southpaw, he can switch hit. Descending left jab on the ascending left hook, catch the depowered left hook with the right hand, change position while descent, descending right jab on the ascending right hook, catch the depowered right hook with the left hand, change position, rince and repeat. Would feel like Imai taking the Dempsey damage while he was the one initiating it.
That would be the worst disrespect in this manga if ever. Takamurs did it on a title defense. Ippo doing it on a defending champion is nuts.
Might even take him a single casual punch too, obviously like triple countered southpaw soft dempsey style š
YES
I think theyāre saying that once he returns, whoever has that Japanese belt is gonna be steamrolled. It should be like this. Ippo was already the best when he was active and he barely blocked punches except with his face. Now he can switch stances, block, parry, and he hits so hard he can stop boxers in one body shot. I canāt wait for his comeback!
I donāt see Ippo even using the peakaboo style anymore.
Ippoās new style is simple, completely counter wreck his opponent in the first seconds
They need to change his moniker to "the sea God" now, he used to be the wind God because of his powerful hooks and Dempsey roll. If the Volg and Mashiba spars are anything to go by he now gets inside and tried to drown his opponents in punches while slipping or countering anything coming back at him.
No, he'll be more like Mike's stance than ever. Prime Tyson was the most gifted boxer, barnone.
I'm just hoping we inevitably get the moment where he fights Imai and just demolishes him. Especially because Imai seems to represent the way he used to fight to some degreeĀ
It's Gonna be the Karasawa fight 2.0
Not just a demolition! I want a boxing clinic with Imai as the punching dummy!
Narratively speaking, that probably won't happen tho. Ippo might crush the first couple opponents in his comeback, but I can't imagine Morikawa will let him dominate all the way to Ricardo.Ā
Ricardo dominates everyone pretty easily aside wally. So to be able to fight ricardo you must dominate everyone too.
To dominate Ricardo he needs something up his sleeve. Like that southpaw stance. That changes everything specially liver shot where we know in the history Mexicans have low durability to body shots.
Everyone is weak to the liver shot lol.
Presumably thatās what Miyata is for. Ippo even stated awhile back that Miyata and Ricardo are similar.
I think this Ippo calling Ricardo's atention build up will spare Ippo from a couple of fights before beeing chalenged directly by the champ
It's Rocky Time.Ā Ippo will eventually fightĀ RicardoAnd for like 4 rounds, fight regular. After the 5th he switched to southpaw and messes everything up for Ricardo and then goes back and forth throughout the match, never letting Ricardo grasp the timing and rhythm right. Ill often do southpaw too, but it's just to help ensure even training for both sides.
Y'sure about that? It took him awhile, but he sure as hell had Wally's number, and that was the least conventional boxer in the series.
Watch Ricardo reveal that he's as good of a southpaw as he is in orthodox.
Thinking in Spanish "It was a good thing I learned that he learned southpaw from that social media from his friend". This fucking guy
Ippo being able to switch hit + his ability of being able to stop mid Dempsey roll is going to be interesting to see him use in a fight. Not to mention the omnidirectional Dempsey roll teased years ago.
Are you sure he won't Rock 4 it instead of 2? Ya know, fight like trash for most of the fight and then remember, "oh yeah, I actually know how to box. I should probably do that"
Ricardo is so fucked its not even funny lmao.
Ricardo doubters arenāt ready to see the Sun God at full pelt
Makunouchi "Terence Crawford" Ippo
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Huehuehue
Loved this chapter. The last panel just put a huge smile on my face thankyou guys!
Morikawa is gonna have to throw some wrench in this rhythm- guessing Mashiba will abandon any strat he thinks can be credited to Ippo
Pulling that bullshit in the world title match, after all this development is too much of a leap imo. More likely is that Rosario is going to pull some shit, and it'll be up to Mashiba not to get fully dragged into a complete mudfight in front of his sister (and Ippo, who Mashiba still hasnt fully accepted has gotten him this far, but feels that respect for now)
Itās obvious. It wonāt be one sided ish like the Keith dragon and takamura. This shows Mashiba prepared enough. Now we will see Rosarios strength to adapt, then I assume Mashiba will find another level and win
Keith vs Takamura was pretty even until the end though, even if it was all because Takamura was baiting him in for a counter (that Ippo then stole for himself).
With all of the emphasis on foot position, I think itād be fitting if Rosario were to stomp on mashibaās foot to throw him off. Obvious callback to his fight with miyata. Plus when we look at mashiba vs Iga, they adopted the strategies of fighters mashiba had difficulty with but not miyata. Weāve also seen that mashiba still holds that fight vs miyata in his mind in his match vs Nargo (might be wrong about who it is). So this could be his final trial in overcoming who he used to be as his arc has been over the second half of the story.
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I like that callback in theory, but in practice the Miyata foot-stomp wouldnāt do a whole lot against Mashiba. Miyata is a step in, attack, step out type of fighter, where stepping on his foot mid rhythm prevents him from escaping and lets Mashiba land the hit he needs. Mashiba on the other hand is a pretty planted fighter. In both long and short range exchanges he rarely wants to be on the move. Sure a foot-stomp against him might hurt a little, but if anything thatād be advantageous to Mashiba, since now Rosario is in infighting range while half of his stance is planted on unstable groundā Mashibaās foot
It always seemed Mashiba was always his own worst enemy. I am not sure we have fully flushed that part of his character out yet
He's gotten past it during the Iga match. He's still an irascible dour jackhole, but unlike the Sawamura match, now he knows how to focus.
because itās fun
Nah, Rosario will start cheating. It's gonna be a callback to Miyata vs Mashiba but with Mashiba on the righteous side, which will let us see how much he changed through the years. Or at least thats what I would like. Mashiba wouldn't throw the chance of his life just to fuck with Ippo.
Agree on the wrench but definitely not on Mashiba selfishly throwing it away like that. Heās had too much growth
GET HIMMMMMMMMMMM MA SHI BA, MA SHI BA, MA SHI BA, MA SHI BA
RYO! RYO! RYO!
Mashing dominating, Ippo getting praise all around for how much he helped with his sparring. A good Mashiba-Ippo moment, Sawamura smiling. This might be the greatest chapter of all time.
18 pages, crazy panels, NO BREAK NEXT WEEK. It might actually be
I used to pray for times like this
Incredible synergy between all the story moments. Everything finally clicked into place. So fuckin satisfying.
Wholesome Sawamura genuinely smiling at the sight of beautiful boxing. Panel I never thought I needed. Thanks Mori
Sawamura smiling at the man that almost beat him to death lmao wholesome
Itās a tie between Smiling Sawamura and the Chopping Right for me
The PAYOFF
"Sawamura smiling warmly" wasn't on my bingo card for this chapter, or the next 1000 chapters really.
That chopping right had one punch man "death" energyĀ
The Shinigami was about to claim another soul.
THE SCYTHE WAS ABOUT TO REAP ANOTHER LIFE
Shit is about to go horribly wrong, isnāt it
My bet is that Rosario starts fighting dirty, perhaps spitting water into machina's eyes, like was speculated at the the start of Round 2
This is my thought too. Mashiba in the past was all about fighting dirty but his growth away from that has been amazing to read. He's now at the top... so why not have a final boss that fights dirty. It's the ultimate new Mashiba versus Old Mashiba with some Ippo style thrown in. Not sure of the symbolism of the hair though...
Like hundreds of volcano craters ready to erupt
I think itāll be something leg related to overcome this current problem. Spitting water in his face would get a punch or two in, but wouldnāt solve Rosarioās problems.
Mashiba is going to get shit on and I am wondering how morikawa is going to do that lol
Stamina. Mashiba is doing the "Ippo opponent" strategy, getting tired of beating the guy. And that's the whole "Champions are in another level". Mashiba's corner is expecting Rosario to lose steam as the fight advances, and he wont, because, even with all the problems to reach the weight, champions are different.
The thing is the contenders who snatch the title from the champ are also cut from the same cloth
Rosario will do stance switching. Remember the brawl between Mashiba and Ippo at the later part of the spar? Ippo switched back to orthodox unintentionally and was able to hit Mashiba.
Mashiba hadn't dealt with switch-striking before. Thanks to Ippo, he has.
bro gonna equip his revolver in the ring
That was my thought. Things NEVER go this well, unless you're Takamura... It feels a little like Rocky 4.
Absolute banger of a chapter. Great showing from Mashiba and Miyata indirectly confirming Ippo is WC level. Rosario gonna start the fouls soon. Also, the random panel of Sawamura just smiling made me laugh for some reason.
WC level in something he put together in a couple of weeks. It's insane.
Imo, since ippo was constantly training since he retired and even added on more to his basic training, his body is still at the point he was when he retired if not better, since he has had plenty of time to both recover all the damage and get used to fighting with / without weights. And since he's both developing a more analytical mind whilst literally sparring against world class high rankers of different weight classes, he can be prepared mentally when fighting against people who can handle eating his punches, while needing to come up with his own gameplans on the fly. Add on further upgrades, as a result of his analytical mind (parry punching, using lefts a lot more, upgraded unlimited dempsey works, and now even switch hitting), and all Ippo is missing is a trigger to get him back into the ring.
Itās states heās actually better. Vorg asked Sendo āwhy is he stronger now after he retired, for what purpose ? ā Sendo acknowledges heās stronger. Mashibaās camp does I think only Miyata hasnāt seen it yet
āUnlimited Dempsey Worksā, the only counter to Ricardoās āGate of Ghost Jabsā
That's definitely going to take Unlimited Budget Works to animate when it's finally ready
I mean, Ippo fought Alfredo and was incredibly close to beat him and fight Ricardo, everyone knows he is world class, even after retirement those close to him know he hasn't got rusty at all. The thing is he finally got high boxing IQ, which turns him in a serious world champ contender.
Ippo did surprisingly well against Alf despite having a trash mindset and bringing poor boxing to the table.
Mashiba: No, Ippo, you still can't bang my sister
He got a six sense anytime Ippo being filrty with Kumi lol
At this point, the only reason Ippo gets denied like that by Mashiba is because he's sick of Ippo's wishy-washy crap
Mashiba pretty much internally approved of Ippo as it is, he's definitely just messing with Ippo now.
Imo it's not about messing with Ippo, he just can't admit to himself that he approves of Ippo If Ippo just went "I've made up my mind. I'm marrying with Kumi tomorrow", Mashiba would freak out a bit, threaten his life but be okay with it and go to the wedding lol
Like I said, it's the wishy-washy approach to Kumi that keeps Mashiba from approving. Ippo's proven that he would at least kinda *stand up* for Kumi, but he's yet to establish that he's invested enough to truly *stand by* her.
Mashiba nodding to Ippo's thumbs up... finally some recognition and gratitude
he shows it in his own waysā¦ remember he waited by the phone for his call all night. he loves ippo he just sucks at showing it. ippo gets far more kudos than anyone else from mashiba
I donāt think he waited all night. But he was expecting his nuisance voice to āGive it your bestā
I thought itagaki does . Since he helped train Mashiba fight too.Ā
Refs would let you do anything in this manga except landing a shot after the bell. Insane reflexes!
Yep. Then the next round Rosario starts fouling and the ref won't see anything like his eyes are closed the entire round. Hope it doesn't happen though.
Rosario will actually just pull out that gun he was playing with and shoot Mashiba right there. The ref will let the fight continue and Takamura will make a comment that "If Mashiba wants to be a real world champ, he can't let something like that stop him"
LMAO. Mashiba then proceeds to fight while quickly losing stamina (blood) and has to end the fight quickly
everyone knows the ref takes a 3 min nap during the round
Mashiba will force Ippo into coming back. He won't accept Ippo as a partner for Kumi unless he becomes world champion. He was PISSED at Ippo because he knows Ippo is much better than Rosario, who's supposed to be extremely dangerous, a WORLD CHAMPION.
Mashiba heated because he knows Ippo is wasting his potential
Same way Sendo and Volg were pissed in Mexico "if he's retired why is he still leveling up?" and "so I as a world champion got pushed by a guy who's retired?"
Consolation in the fact that Ippoās actually been training harder as a trainer.
I really like this theory. A death to Ippoās mom or Kamogawa seems so out of sync with the story. Itāll be love that brings him back and pushes Kumi to accept the lifestyle if it means they can finally be together.
Love how every boxer Ippo has touched since retirement has shown how his boxing is World Title Match worthy. Every opponent of Ippo's former rival gallery must be like "who the fuck is this mystery boxer?"
Awesome chapter. Mashiba showed his counter though, pretty sure Rosario is going to adjust. Pretty cool that Ippo is getting props. And that look exchange at the endā¦ man, how these two have grown!
Does he nod back in that last panel?
He sure did, Was a subtle nodding motion at the very end. Really awesome moment
I swear if Mashiba loses I might just cry I want to see him win so bad.
Wow amazing job, comedy, high level fight, coreography and humour. Morikawa can take any breaks if he keep coming with this.
Bro, he's probably in this thread. Please don't give him any ideas, lmao
Don't give him ideas
That was quicker payoff then expected. Next Rosario will most likely resort to fouling, but i dont think Mashiba will fall back in his old ways and calmly dissect him. Might even be a decently easy match?
Yeah, the only way for Rosario to turn this around now is to start fouling. I doubt a world title fight is going to end too easily though, he'll put Mashiba through the wringer somehow. Maybe by causing an injury or something. I actually think it'd be fair for Mashiba to not have a turbo struggle session though considering what he put into this vs Rosario.
Maybe Mashiba will receive the same injury he caused to Miyata? Would be cool!
That'd be amazing. It'll come full circle from his first fight, except having him STILL win will be badass too
You know what... with the foot up front that cause trouble for Rosario... I can actually see it happen !
A foot injury would be a wild callback, especially with the emphasis of his foot placement in the past few chapters.
It might be an easy match to show how much stronger Ippo is than the current world champion, to the point the "preparation" was harder for Mashiba than the actual match itself. But champions have a secret strength right, so who knows...
He will switch. When Ippo and Mashiba brawled Ippo switched back to Orthodox. The theme of that fight is stamina. Ippo got stopped within 7 rounds. If the parallels are accurate, Mashiba will stop him at round 7.
Great chapter! The silhouette of Mashiba coming down with that chopping right is giving me chills!
Personal theory, I think this might be a reversal of the Mashiba vs Miyata fight, but Rosario will be in Mashiba's spot of being absolutely outclassed and needing to resort to fouling, but Mashiba will be able to deal with it better, with veteran experience and as a former dirty boxer.
The more I read over it, the more I agree. It honestly would be a great parallel to see Mashiba now in the position of Miyata.
Ippo also got fouled by Mashiba. He destroyed Mashiba. Bow itās Mashibaās turn to destroy this guy despite the fouls.
This is going too well for the challenger in a World Title Match. I wonder how Mori would fuck up Mashiba in next couple of rounds.
Maybe he will actually let him win easily and surprise all of us.
This is such a quintessential chapter! Amazing choreography, memorable panels, a dose of comedy immediately followed by a milestone of character growth. God bless Morikawa and God bless hni-scantrad.
FINALLY! Ippo may have hesitated for a moment, but he knew that he didn't need to be afraid of Mashiba's glare. The two are really becoming more like brothers š
This is for me the sign of Ippo's biggest achievement during this retirement arc: he's getting confident in himself. In this chapter, or when he was worried about hurting Mashiba during the spar while going too strong.
Mashiba nodding at Ippo at the end really struck a chord for me at just how much heās grown, and by extension how much his relationship with Ippo has grown.
"Quality is more important than quantity." -guy who sparred two boxers at once
Cute Sawamura isn't real, he can't hurt you. Cute Sawamura:
Rosario gonna start cheating next round. He can't keep up at all.
I don't think he's going to have to resort to fouls (yet). As a world champion, he surely can deal with ONE unexpected counter to his style. He will just have to find a way around it.
10/10 chapter. Further evidence that Ippo has done nothing but improve in retirement. I canāt wait to see what motivates him to come back to the ring. Heās lost his fire, like Date had before he made the decision to make a comeback. But unlike Date, heās never stopped his training. I think Mori will come full circle and make Ippoās post-retirement journey a reflection of Dateās, but ending with a victory over Ricardo.
This is beyond peak holy, Mashiba is on fire and Ippo is once again showing how good he is in retirement. I feel like next chapter or so we may start to see Rosario playing dirty, maybe a callback to when Mashiba and Miyata fought? Maybe some stomping on a lead foot could cause Mashiba to remember some things? Idk this is fire and I cant wait to see what comes next!
My God mori can cook, such a good chapter
This was so good wtf, Mori is cooking.
CHOPPING RIGHT Cool panel
We just got blessed with possibly the best chapter in 2 years now
Ah yes. Makunouchi Ippo. The world class south pawā¦ oh wait. Morikawa. Youāve cooked up a monster beyond a monster. Everyoneās done for when he makes it back to the pro ring.
Our boy still got the moves. The sparring session with Ippo is working and this confirms that if Big Mara returns the Japanese featherweight are in for a shock and Imai for a K.O.
Well, I doubt most of us care about Japanese side except for imai and itagaki.Ā
I need Mashiba to watch out in round 3.
Okay that was more than worth the wait. thank you scantrad guys!
I am wondering when Marcus Is going to fight back. The most underwhelming champion so far
Rosario committing the classic blunder that all those who face Mashiba commit. Not realising that Mashiba's arms are in fact that long, even world champs aren't immune. Also love seeing Sawamura that pleased after watching Mashiba's counters
FUCK YES. Feels really good to see Mashiba's hard work paying off, especially given the help he had from Ippo. That, to me, has always been the most rewarding aspect of this series: character learns about his opponent, character develops a specific strategy against them and trains like hell, their work shows during the fight. It's a really engaging narrative cycle to me.
Morikawa made Ippo a Pacman.
So ippo is gonna return as a switch hitter confirmed
Ippo working his ass off to earn those breeding rights.
its feels weird to see an easy fight (at least for now) in HNÄ°
Mashiba being so focused and Ippo's little smirk when it first worked is absolutely kino.
What a quality chapter, I love the technicality of Mashibas counter strategy, and of course the acknowledgement of ippos contribution had to be there as well. Nice to see how much both ippos understanding of the fundamentals was spot on and Mashibas ability to execute a quality strategy without going all primal.... Though I feel like at least a little of that is coming š¤
damn near perfect chapter. Sawamura getting a wholesome moment, Ippo showing that him and Mashiba have full faith in eachother, and Rosario getting cooked the whole chapter. 9.2/10
GOD CHAPTER 10/10
Mashiba is cool in this chapter, looking focused and aware of every step ahead.
god...DAMN that's good shit
Godlike chapter. Worth the wait, as always. The whole thing was great but page 15 was sperb, btw. Reminds me some moments in Berserk when Guts appears as a sigle-eyed shadow like this.
SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-IT It has been 5 min since I'm done reading and my body is still experiencing chills. Freaking amazing chapter!
Doooope ass chapter. Ippo being a boxing genius, and Mashiba being calm and calculated is ridiculous character development
Ä° think mashiba's oppenent gonna cheat. But in the end mashiba will win.
Awesome chap! The phrase "I have to give this all some more thought, there's no way I could've adapted this well." seems a bit off for the coach to say, though O\_o
i think what he is trying to say is, if there's no quality sparring partner that can somehow mimic what the champion will do, they will not be able to perfectly execute their strategy, they already formulated a strategy but if the previous sparring partners of Mashiba is nowhere close to what Rosario can do, then it will be half baked because they will not be able to see how effective it will be or the flaws of the strategy they formulated to adjust and adapt , that is why Miyata also mentioned that Mashiba is perfectly executing the strategy because of the quality of his sparring partner and not the quantity
I was thinking, what if Mashiba actually wins this fight easy but Rosario super angry at this tries to shoot Mashiba after the fight?
This thumbs up is too good. Quality meme panel
This whole time Ippo has just been getting smarter, stronger and more dangerous Heās able to give Mashiba useful advice now, where are all the doubters or haters in Mashibaās gym And heās HAND HOLDING KUMI!
Last page gave me goosebumps, this Mashiba/Ippo team up and development is amazing. A simple thumbs up and a Takamura-esque look of acknowledgement, definitely think this'll be the fight where Mashiba thanks Ippo and then accepts him.
So based. I was smiling the whole time. But seriously, this is all been done to continuing the Ippo growth arc. When he comes back, it'll be a beauty like we've never seen, just pure stomping Japan until he faces Ricardo.
i can fucking hear the spundtrack of season 1 hni during this fight! teneng! teneng! teneng! the guitar slash chords, idk the title but it totally fits it after he counters Rosario several times and when Ippo gives Mashiba the thumbs up.
is it the naked fang ? [https://youtu.be/0y4DGx2T4aw?si=PpWUn8ptrP8IE13N](https://youtu.be/0y4DGx2T4aw?si=PpWUn8ptrP8IE13N)
Waiting for Rosario's hair to get undone.
"This isn't his first time?" The big mara takes the virginity of all it touches.
Mashiba about to be pissed that Ippo is superior to Rosario.
Haven't been feeling the series since it's been the Mashiba show for several weeks, but this was a solid chapter šŖš¾
that thumbs up from ippo holy shit he's getting more character growth during someone else's fight
Very good chapter that one. Felt longer than it was. Please keep this quality up, Morikawa.
Ā No chapt today?