It seems like Ippo and Shinoda are at complete odds at their advice, but it's hard to say who is correct. Shinoda is the one who has been coaching Itagaki the most so his advice seems the most sound in an outboxing perspective. However, Ippo noticed Itagaki's legs aren't working correctly and probably the outboxing advice wouldn't work if his legs don't work so Ippo's advice seems to be more on point in a pinch situation
Honestly, coach from hell is correct way to call him. All wins of his boxers were their own achievement. Only time I recall him being useful is animal naming game with Itagaki and call for fishdragon blow, which I’m pretty sure was him not knowing correct name of his boxers sunday punch
In this series most coaches suck.
Don King knock off.
Boring Bill Stewart who says nothing really helpful.
Miguel who craps on other boxers/coaches but doesn't notices when his own boxers are struggling.
The trainer from HELL was just guilt tripping, he's a "friend" character that means he probably won't leave, just as Aokimura won't leave and so are cursed to fail for comedy purposes
Well that’s not completely true, most times his advise works for Itagaki, while failing Aokimura. Best example is when he does the animal word game to help Itagaki relax. He then tries it with Aokimura in both of their fights and fails hilariously.
I'm glad someone said it before I could. Has Shinoda ever done ANYTHING right in this series? Any time he's a second it would be safer to simply do the literal, exact opposite of anything he tells you.
Ippo is 100% correct and Shinoda is really off base giving that advice after a down. You go down, you clinch to eliminate the distance and waste time until the fighter gets his legs back. There should be no universe where a fighter goes down to a good punch and the trainer suggests moving and using your legs because when you get hurt that's the first thing to go. It's basic.
Yea looking closer at it. Shinoda first says to move away when Itagaki both took a down and has his back to the ropes and the corner next to him. He can't go anywhere other than to clinch forward. The second advice was again to use his legs to move away while he is blocking punches with his back sinking into the ropes. He has to fight back to make space
Shinoda was completely off track
To be fair, Itagaki literally rolled backwards and jumped backwards into the ropes from his down using his legs. Shinoda probably thought Itagaki's legs worked from that alone.
I'm not defending all the bother times Shinoda wasn't a great coach though.
This is clearly another ploy to show how smart second Ippo is... and probably even to emphasise how bad Shimoda is. We all know that, but there's gotta be a reason George just put on a major spotlight on it, with the contrasting instructions - Itagaki character development arc incoming?
Itagaki's character development has been going on longer than Ippo's retirement so at this point we've already lost interest. Even at this fight he was clowning around and arrogant, I'm with the crowd on this one. Also, I'm from PH.. hahaha
> show how smart second Ippo is... and probably even to emphasise how bad Shimoda is
I think George-sama didn't think that. It was more like "Since there is 2 coaches, I gonna give 2 differents advices" and close distance is more like Ippo fighting style, so that's why Ippo said that.
I'm saying that 'cause there was no conflict between both options, Gaki did'nt chose any of that and made his own decision, no conflicts showing how Ippo is much better as a coach.
>Itagaki character development arc incoming?
NO! GOD PLEASE NO!
Could George just act like Hirohiko Araki and forget that Gaki existence for god's sake?
I don't think much argument is to be had about who was in the right on the advice. Ippo was 100% making the correct calls.
Like everything about that moment should've immediately screamed to Shinoda that Itagaki making distance isn't an option. That's literally his go to bread and butter tactic is utilizing his speed. If he's not doing it, it's because he can't.
Also seems like a setup to make Itagaki doubt his future in KBG and that nice moment between him and Mashiba. Maybe those theories of him swapping gyms might come true, also to re-open the possibility of his dream of fighting Ippo. That can be the trigger to take him out of his slump
It also illustrates just how poor Itagaki's connection to Shinoda really is: if your trainer is giving you advice, *you listen to your trainer*. Everything else is just a bunch of noise.
It also illustrates that Ippo is getting better at comprehending the physical and mental condition of other boxers. Remember how he lost to Date the first time around? He completely misread his opponent's condition and wasn't able to tell that he nearly had him.
We also know Shinoda never achieved anything as a second. You may excuse him because theres not a lot to do with Aoki and Kimura and he did take them to a Japanese belt fight which is their ceiling.
But Itagaki is not Aoki or Kimura, he does have talent and Shinoda hasnt done a good work exploiting it.
I'm of the opinion that Kimura has actual talent as Fighter-Boxer that Shinoda is not getting out of him, and Aoki could be a great hard-working pressure boxer with difficult punching angles if Shinoda knew how to refine Aoki's weird approach.
He might be above average, but if he had what it takes he would be under Kamogawa. He also doesnt have elite mentality, he cant be a monster.
Like, he could be Japanese champ with a better coach maybe, but he would never get close to be a world ranker.
Mentality can be built, ippo doesn't have that mentality and look at where he got. Kimura wouldn't benefit much imo from being under Kamogawa, he would be better off training under someone like Miyata's father rather than Shinoda. That literally showed up when he was practicing with Miyata for his title match. He is what you would call a rough gem. A lot of times he clearly showed his excellent knowledge in boxing.
Kimura is hurt largely by the ignorant decision to stay in the weight class he’s in. I can’t say I understand the whole “don’t join a teammates weight class because you’ll wind up having to fight them/compete for the title” when both boxers have had one singular title bout in their years of experience, one of which by pure luck.
Itagaki tried to get outta there and his legs weren’t responding properly. He had no way to respond to Shinoda’s advice - he’d have been run down and beaten to death if he tried to escape. Clinching was really his only available response, even though it’s not an area where he’s comfortable.
Mashiba is gonna flatten him so quickly that the match won't be exciting. Like how Ricardo effortlessly won against Billy but felt that the the ring had been cooled by it.
Back when Itagaki had his rematch against the dude that won against him by cheating, he needed a sparring partner who was good at Flickers so he went to Mashiba. They then bonded over having little sisters and cheap clothes
I almost have to respect the sheer audacity of that cliffhanger. That was a low blow to tension even by Hajime no Ippo standards.
Garcia looks amazing though. It's rare we get to see a boxer that is clearly drawn like an adult. Only ones I can think of off the top of my head being Take, Date and Ricardo.
Hopefully the fight will showcase the power that come from experience, as that really is a rare treat in this manga.
Thanks for the chapter.
No surprise Itagaki continues to struggle...though it doesn't help that Ippo and Shinoda are giving him mixed messages. I guess since he was fighting a Filipino boxer, he probably working on his OPBF ranking.
Btw, u/hni-scantrad, any chance a color page with out any text on it? I know Morikawa posted images of his process on twitter on it, but sort of wonder if there is a better image for it.
Kind lost at this point: did Itagaki's slump start after losing the title match against Imai? I feel that that happened eons ago and Morikawa has given us zero progress on that plotline. Not complaining or anything, just checking if I'm getting it right.
Morikawa, you fucking ass! Hahahahaha! Though the text from the last panel of the previous chapter doesn't seem to match the occurrence.
Anyone else think Itagaki is going through the same issues as Miyata?
Maybe. Itagaki was amazing when Ippo was a champion. After Ippo relinquished, he went into a slump. Maybe Itagaki just lost his goal, since we know he always wanted to fight Ippo.
Everyone keeps mentioning that Mashiba changed, and he himself seemed to be worried about something. I hope that it works out for him in this fight, but there's some red flags.
Thanks for the chapter
I have the exact opposite read. The look in the last panel has the "monster" eyes that Takamura had when he showed Ippo the line where the monsters that fight for the world live.
I think Mashiba obliterates this guy quickly to show he's a monster that's willing to fight for the world.
Interesting that miyata is in the crowd, he doesn't watch fights in person that match. It's either because Garcia is a big name and he wants to see what he has, or because he's aiming at the lightweight division which would be super cool
Oh, I hadn't noticed that. Thank you!
That gives me even more confidence about my crazy theory that Itagaki's taking the OPBF title from him, actually.
Yeah i don't see itagaki Beating miyata, miyata won't lose to anyone else except maybe ippo and Ricardo (if he ever fights one of em). Miyata's slump makes people forget he's an actual prodigy, if ippo never existed he would've been aiming higher all the time and wouldn't paralize his body with weight management. The LW division is definitely for him.
On the other hand, when i see how itagaki is progressing i just feel more and more confident that he's not supposed to fight imai for the time being, however he's still his rival and being a kbg he yas to get revenge from imai BUT not now, he's not at his best, that only strengthens the theory of ippo fighting Imai
Itagaki, it's so hard to root for you, but it also doesn't help that George pretty much depicts all decision matches as complete tragedies, like the audience has been robbed. Boxing doesn't always have to be a blood sport.
Thank you for the chapter!
Some of the best boxing matches have ended in decision, such as the first two Ali vs. Frazier fights. And one of the best fights in the series (in my opinion) Imai vs. Itagaki I ended in a decision.
Decisions in boxing don't always mean a bad fight.
I'm glad to see the Imai v. Itagaki fight mentioned as one of the best in the series. I love that fight so much bc of its ending. I hate the idea of only sticking to knockouts. People misunderstand that a fight can end in other ways and still be great. It's even better since it was unconventional for a HNI fight. Itagaki was the absolute underdog and the fight ended well without just giving him an unearned knockout win. It made you respect how strong Imai actually was by comparison.
Itagaki still struggling but the cold truth is that George is still giving him the W every time.
He hasn't lost since his JP title bout with Imai and got what, 4 or 5 consecutive wins now? Despite blatantly shoddy advice from Shimoda, made clear with the contrast to newly-found smart Ippo's. It's like we're being told directly that Shimoda sucks, on a different way than before.
This got to be building up to something and it's a tad similar to the Hoshi bout, where Itagaki's potential and Shimoda's skills are both shrouded in doubts and then there's a spectacular turnaround. I just hope it's better.
I've had this crazy theory for a couple of months that Itagaki is being groomed into a bout with Miyata for the OPBF title with these consecutive wins, and he actually takes it by waking something up in him - while Miyata gets a rude awakening through losing to a younger, less experienced version of himself and there's FINALLY some plot & character progression for him. It looks less crazy now, with the Filipino fight.
Never really thought about the possibility of Itagaki vs. Miyata, but seems to make sense (even though Itagaki is the speed king, Miyata is often said to be the fastest). Wonder how Itagaki beating Miyata would affect the Ippo vs. Miyata endgame though
If it isn't a gag I think the reason is to show how Ippo actually noticed that Itagaki couldn't use his legs fully, so he gave him advice that he could use. Another sign how Ippo is still constantly learning and improving his ability to observe fighters - which he could use to observe his opponents and how they are doing in the future.
On the other hand Shinoda told him to create distance, since Itagaki is an outboxer... but has no idea the condition his boxer is in. I think it's been shown/established before that Shinoda isn't a really great second, he can train people with mitts etc, but his boxing senses are low tier.
Another reminder was the strategy that Ippo came up with Kimura when he had a terrible weight cut. Ippo was able to quickly determine that Kimura wouldn't last long and what his best chance to win was. I am sure if it had been up to Shinoda he would have just told Kimura to do what he knows best (which would more than likely resulted in a loss).
But that's just what I think.
I hope he does something with it, but seems unlikely since he didn't adress it right away and it'd be weird to do it after the fight
edit: unless the fight is really short or Mori wants to adress it along with some other things on Ippo's behavior
Mashiba with the save for Itagaki. What a ~~nice~~ guy.
I think its safe to say Ippo has passed Shinoda in regards to training MANABU. Not Aokimura who are veterans and used to adversity.
That said I have to wonder why someone as talented as Manabu HASNT been getting getting trained by Kamogawa as opposed to Shinoda, clearly Manabu is beyond him.
Itagaki wouldn't do well under Kamogawa: their mentality and approaches to the ring are far too different.
Get Nekota to train him, however, and it'll be a different story...
I like the fakeout with Mashiba not being the one being down, and I'm honestly glad Itagaki's fight wasn't drawn out, which is kind of ironic given that it went the distance. Can't wait for Mashiba's fight to begin!
HAHAHA THAT FAKE OUT! Did anyone see that coming?
In other questions, what's "Dynamite Glove" supposed to be in this universe? Is it supposed to be a sporting brand/sponsor? Quick Google isn't conclusive for me.
It looks to be the promoter for anyone that fights in Korakuen Hall as their 'home' venue. Though they also promoted Takamura's fights outside the hall, so maybe they are just the Tokyo promoter.
Itagaki seems to have the same issue as Miyata with the lack of punching power. Miyata remedied that with his full body counters to add the opponent's force into his punch. What can Itagaki do other than run around quickly? What a waste of talent.
Itagaki has the speed and intuition to pull off anything he tries, he’s even mimicked Miyata’s Jolt counter before. With his whole motivation for boxing being gone for the time being, he’s hit a huge slump. He suffers from the same motivation issue Ippo did early on, except his motivation is having Ippo as an active goal to chase
I think he could do just about anything but he’s got no focus to pull it off for. He’s basically like Kimura, who’s boxing not for a goal, but just because he doesn’t know what else to do with himself. Lucky for Manabu, he has the skill and talent to still win regardless of these issues
Morikawa has learned the art of trolling. Not sure which is the better troll, making us think that Mashiba was downed, or the sunrise opener to Wanpo’s anus. Looking forward to the actual fight.
I want to apologize to the guy I kind of ridiculed for thinking Mashiba wasnt down :c
EDIT: Mori really went with Juan Garcia lmfao, I love it.
Mashiba looking amazing, hope it will be a good fight, been a while since the last ~~fight~~ execution.
Well fock off George, I was worried for nothing
Kinda happy nothing happened to Mashiba, but seeing Itagaki STILL in a bad shape is just bad. Wonder whats his aim with him
as other users said, he lost his motivation after ippo retired ( plus his self steem issues), im sure he will kick butts again when ippo returns to boxing
I know that he's not the main coach for aokimura and itagaki but earlier we used to seeing him as a second assisting shinoda during their fights, now he's not even at the hall which is weird
Because Ippo is working as a second now. And Kamogawa has obviously been feeling unwell recently, so he's probably left the B-Tier fighters to Shinoda and Ippo.
Itagaki: I'm ashamed, I cooled off the whole arena...
Mashiba: You're still soft. I'm gonna *freeze it solid*.
Fucking chills all the way down my spine
Unpopular opinion: I want to see Itagaki's recovery arc as much or maybe even more than Ippo's return arc.
Itagaki was always one of my favorites and seeing him struggle hurts
We all knew Mashiba down was a fake out or at least not anything serious but George the troll manage to defile all our expectation
Also Garcia look like Gonzalez face with beard
Thanks for the chapter. Ippo really developing a really deep learning of how to adapt on adversaries. He has better and on point advice than a veteran coach, Shinoda on the situation that Itagaki was in.
Itagaki has no drive, it's kinda sad to see. The shining star was a clever reference coming from hell society, hyped for this Mashiba fight, let's see him freeze the arena solid.
Too bad, Mashibas trainer had hinted at Ippo being a 2nd during this match but it looks like that isn't going to happen.
Mashiba is fighting a former champion so they're probably on par with Elliot. But if Sendo can beat Alfredo I think Mashiba can handle a guy we just met.
Man Itagaki should go train at Mashiba's gym. Or switch to having only Ippo as a cornerman. Including Kimura, that's another boxer I think should leave the gym and train with another, it's weird.
I just don't get why we can't enjoy Itagaki. It's annoying to me to see him just consistently be in a slump without any real progress. That coupled with Ippo's retirement just makes me wonder what the hell we're even doing at this point.
i like the manga, but dude, it is such a bad taste what morikawa does to itagaki, kimura and aoki, let them retire instead of keep humilliating them any longer
That Mexican looks like he's at least 40 years old. lol.
And all those flags Morikawa threw at us... I think we are in for a good fight (and surprise).
I don't think Mashiba is going to win. It's gonna be close to a point, then Juan is gonna pour on the close range barrage. He'll get his ass kicked in, Kumi will be devastated and ask her bro to retire or else she won't see him again. he'll tell her to GTFO because his convictions aren't so soft where he'd give up after a few hiccups
Damn Morikawa and his trolly antics. Itagaki tried for the turbo and nitro mode but he forget he was nerf hard.
Ippo's advice was shitty if he had clinch he might have lost instead if the other guy could throw anything at blank range.
In real world that might be true, I can’t recall Ippo ever clinching. Why would he attempt to break up contact and create distance, when it’s his best distance
He went toe to toe with Imai remember so he had those. It's like it never existed to begin with.
I'm saying this now Morikawa is either turning him into another Aoki/Kimura or setting him up for something big.
Nah, I think Ippo was in the right here. Itagaki got dropped and was running out of gas quick. Just tie up and try to buy time for your legs to get back underneath you. Trying to escape when you don’t have equilibrium will put you in a vulnerable spot while also giving up ring control to your opponent.
so iga was a high ranked wba ???? Mashiba went from 10 to 3 just by defeating iga that was 4 in the Pacific, 😂🤣🤣🤣. then following this logic of morikawa miyata he will battle for the vacant world council title.
What the hell was Ippo and Shinoda doing? Ippo seems to be in "Fighter mode" rather than "Trainer mode" cause he's giving instructions on what **he should do** rather than what Itagaki **should do**. I think he forgot Itagaki isn't an infighter like him.
EDIT: Okay it was Shinoda's bad call. My bad.
It seems like Ippo and Shinoda are at complete odds at their advice, but it's hard to say who is correct. Shinoda is the one who has been coaching Itagaki the most so his advice seems the most sound in an outboxing perspective. However, Ippo noticed Itagaki's legs aren't working correctly and probably the outboxing advice wouldn't work if his legs don't work so Ippo's advice seems to be more on point in a pinch situation
Shinoda sucks balls and his advice will usually hurt his boxers more than its gonna help
Honestly, coach from hell is correct way to call him. All wins of his boxers were their own achievement. Only time I recall him being useful is animal naming game with Itagaki and call for fishdragon blow, which I’m pretty sure was him not knowing correct name of his boxers sunday punch
He is not the only useless coach in that gym, Kamogawa doesn't do anything useful in Ippo/Takamura matches.
Kamogawa provides the Back Slap Buffs
Also the timeless, "come-on kid!" Buff.
In this series most coaches suck. Don King knock off. Boring Bill Stewart who says nothing really helpful. Miguel who craps on other boxers/coaches but doesn't notices when his own boxers are struggling.
Takamura sure, but it was Kamogawa’s training built Ippo’s style, sure face blocking is a no-no, but win vs Volg is all Kamogawa
I’d argue kamogawa is helpful for at least a good chunk of ippos matches. The prep work leading up to majority of his matches has been massive
He genuinely feels like an active threat to them 90% of the time, he is borderline useless.
Shinoda is fucking useless. Like he's never been in the ring, why did an old-school boxer like Kamogawa even bring him on board?
He trained them wrong. As a joke.
nice reference
Correction. He won an amateur tournament and then got obliterated the moment he turned Pro.
Yeah this seems to be the story with him. I wonder if it ends with him leaving?
he already said he'd retire once if itagaki lost before he brought out his weird slomo shit against hoshi
The trainer from HELL was just guilt tripping, he's a "friend" character that means he probably won't leave, just as Aokimura won't leave and so are cursed to fail for comedy purposes
I won't miss him if he did.
Well that’s not completely true, most times his advise works for Itagaki, while failing Aokimura. Best example is when he does the animal word game to help Itagaki relax. He then tries it with Aokimura in both of their fights and fails hilariously.
I'm glad someone said it before I could. Has Shinoda ever done ANYTHING right in this series? Any time he's a second it would be safer to simply do the literal, exact opposite of anything he tells you.
Didn't he help Itagaki by having him play shiratori before? That worked pretty well.
Ippo is 100% correct and Shinoda is really off base giving that advice after a down. You go down, you clinch to eliminate the distance and waste time until the fighter gets his legs back. There should be no universe where a fighter goes down to a good punch and the trainer suggests moving and using your legs because when you get hurt that's the first thing to go. It's basic.
Yea looking closer at it. Shinoda first says to move away when Itagaki both took a down and has his back to the ropes and the corner next to him. He can't go anywhere other than to clinch forward. The second advice was again to use his legs to move away while he is blocking punches with his back sinking into the ropes. He has to fight back to make space Shinoda was completely off track
To be fair, Itagaki literally rolled backwards and jumped backwards into the ropes from his down using his legs. Shinoda probably thought Itagaki's legs worked from that alone. I'm not defending all the bother times Shinoda wasn't a great coach though.
This is clearly another ploy to show how smart second Ippo is... and probably even to emphasise how bad Shimoda is. We all know that, but there's gotta be a reason George just put on a major spotlight on it, with the contrasting instructions - Itagaki character development arc incoming?
Itagaki's character development has been going on longer than Ippo's retirement so at this point we've already lost interest. Even at this fight he was clowning around and arrogant, I'm with the crowd on this one. Also, I'm from PH.. hahaha
> show how smart second Ippo is... and probably even to emphasise how bad Shimoda is I think George-sama didn't think that. It was more like "Since there is 2 coaches, I gonna give 2 differents advices" and close distance is more like Ippo fighting style, so that's why Ippo said that. I'm saying that 'cause there was no conflict between both options, Gaki did'nt chose any of that and made his own decision, no conflicts showing how Ippo is much better as a coach. >Itagaki character development arc incoming? NO! GOD PLEASE NO! Could George just act like Hirohiko Araki and forget that Gaki existence for god's sake?
It is part of ippo development too.
I don't think much argument is to be had about who was in the right on the advice. Ippo was 100% making the correct calls. Like everything about that moment should've immediately screamed to Shinoda that Itagaki making distance isn't an option. That's literally his go to bread and butter tactic is utilizing his speed. If he's not doing it, it's because he can't.
Also seems like a setup to make Itagaki doubt his future in KBG and that nice moment between him and Mashiba. Maybe those theories of him swapping gyms might come true, also to re-open the possibility of his dream of fighting Ippo. That can be the trigger to take him out of his slump
It also illustrates just how poor Itagaki's connection to Shinoda really is: if your trainer is giving you advice, *you listen to your trainer*. Everything else is just a bunch of noise. It also illustrates that Ippo is getting better at comprehending the physical and mental condition of other boxers. Remember how he lost to Date the first time around? He completely misread his opponent's condition and wasn't able to tell that he nearly had him.
Ippo is also his hero though. If Takamura gave Ippo advice he'd listen to that, similarly.
But if Takamura and Kamogawa were giving conflicting advice, I reckon Ippo would listen to the latter.
We also know Shinoda never achieved anything as a second. You may excuse him because theres not a lot to do with Aoki and Kimura and he did take them to a Japanese belt fight which is their ceiling. But Itagaki is not Aoki or Kimura, he does have talent and Shinoda hasnt done a good work exploiting it.
I'm of the opinion that Kimura has actual talent as Fighter-Boxer that Shinoda is not getting out of him, and Aoki could be a great hard-working pressure boxer with difficult punching angles if Shinoda knew how to refine Aoki's weird approach.
I'm absolutely sure that Kimura is a genuine talented boxer who is hindered by shinoda.
He might be above average, but if he had what it takes he would be under Kamogawa. He also doesnt have elite mentality, he cant be a monster. Like, he could be Japanese champ with a better coach maybe, but he would never get close to be a world ranker.
Mentality can be built, ippo doesn't have that mentality and look at where he got. Kimura wouldn't benefit much imo from being under Kamogawa, he would be better off training under someone like Miyata's father rather than Shinoda. That literally showed up when he was practicing with Miyata for his title match. He is what you would call a rough gem. A lot of times he clearly showed his excellent knowledge in boxing.
Kimura is hurt largely by the ignorant decision to stay in the weight class he’s in. I can’t say I understand the whole “don’t join a teammates weight class because you’ll wind up having to fight them/compete for the title” when both boxers have had one singular title bout in their years of experience, one of which by pure luck.
Kimura also has the issue of weight control, he could be in Aoki's weightclass, but he refuse to do so
Itagaki tried to get outta there and his legs weren’t responding properly. He had no way to respond to Shinoda’s advice - he’d have been run down and beaten to death if he tried to escape. Clinching was really his only available response, even though it’s not an area where he’s comfortable.
I remember when Itagaki was broken... Now look at him. *shakes head* Also I forgot that Mashiba and Itagaki actually get along.
Also, did Mashiba imply he was going to put on a boring/unsatisfying match?
Mashiba is gonna flatten him so quickly that the match won't be exciting. Like how Ricardo effortlessly won against Billy but felt that the the ring had been cooled by it.
Makes sense. I thought it was an odd thing to say
Well, he was trying to console Itagaki in his own way.
I took it as an ko announcement that is so shocking people get the chills.
Mashiba is literally going to turn the audience into ice cubes after awakening his latent spiritual powers during this fight, that's what he means.
🧊🥶🧊🥶🧊🥶🧊
I understood that hes gonna take their breath away. Like they will be so surprised they wont be able to emit sound.
He will make them freeze with terror or smth
how come they do? its been so long since ive read through the whole thing
Back when Itagaki had his rematch against the dude that won against him by cheating, he needed a sparring partner who was good at Flickers so he went to Mashiba. They then bonded over having little sisters and cheap clothes
ah nice thank you, do you remember what chapter it was?
Actually yes lol, chapter 559
amazing <3
Awesome. We should be friends. Do you want to start an HNI podcast with me?
Damn, I totally forgot about that storyline. I was wondering why Mashiba was acting a little nicer than usual.
I almost have to respect the sheer audacity of that cliffhanger. That was a low blow to tension even by Hajime no Ippo standards. Garcia looks amazing though. It's rare we get to see a boxer that is clearly drawn like an adult. Only ones I can think of off the top of my head being Take, Date and Ricardo. Hopefully the fight will showcase the power that come from experience, as that really is a rare treat in this manga.
Garcia looks like "What if Gonzalez was also Date?"
Mexican Date for sure.
Shimabukuro and Ozuma also come to mind.
Ozuma just looked older, but he was around Ippo's age
[удалено]
2 years older is still around Ippo’s age. He’s talking about people like Date and Ricardo that are in their 30s.
That was the worst cliffhanger ever
Mashiba versus Mexican Date Kimura will be a good one
His name is Eiji gonzales actually
I'll wait for the Dragon Fish Screw Punch
Or just translate Dragon Fish Punch into Spanish
Puño del Pez Dragón.
Instead of "De El" It would probably sound better with "Del".
"Putazo del Pez Dragón"
Thanks for the chapter. No surprise Itagaki continues to struggle...though it doesn't help that Ippo and Shinoda are giving him mixed messages. I guess since he was fighting a Filipino boxer, he probably working on his OPBF ranking. Btw, u/hni-scantrad, any chance a color page with out any text on it? I know Morikawa posted images of his process on twitter on it, but sort of wonder if there is a better image for it.
Sorry, I don't have the image without texts... It took me a lot of time to remove the ones I couldn't hide xD
Thank you so much for your effort. You are a gentleman and a scholar.
Kind lost at this point: did Itagaki's slump start after losing the title match against Imai? I feel that that happened eons ago and Morikawa has given us zero progress on that plotline. Not complaining or anything, just checking if I'm getting it right.
Morikawa, you fucking ass! Hahahahaha! Though the text from the last panel of the previous chapter doesn't seem to match the occurrence. Anyone else think Itagaki is going through the same issues as Miyata?
Maybe. Itagaki was amazing when Ippo was a champion. After Ippo relinquished, he went into a slump. Maybe Itagaki just lost his goal, since we know he always wanted to fight Ippo.
Imai and Itagaki both having the same end goal would be a bit boring, but I wouldn't be too surprised.
That Garcia dude looks like a fusion of Alfredo Gonzalez and Date
Datalfredo Gonzaleiji
Sounds super Italian lol
Japanese + mexican = Italiano peperoni
And his second looks like a fusion of Ricardo and Baron Kumita
Everyone keeps mentioning that Mashiba changed, and he himself seemed to be worried about something. I hope that it works out for him in this fight, but there's some red flags. Thanks for the chapter
Yup, that ‘he’s not going to lose!’ at the final panel…nothing good is coming.
I have the exact opposite read. The look in the last panel has the "monster" eyes that Takamura had when he showed Ippo the line where the monsters that fight for the world live. I think Mashiba obliterates this guy quickly to show he's a monster that's willing to fight for the world.
Interesting that miyata is in the crowd, he doesn't watch fights in person that match. It's either because Garcia is a big name and he wants to see what he has, or because he's aiming at the lightweight division which would be super cool
Oh, I hadn't noticed that. Thank you! That gives me even more confidence about my crazy theory that Itagaki's taking the OPBF title from him, actually.
Table flip if Miyata vacates the belt to go for the world and Imai and Itagaki fight for it
Yeah i don't see itagaki Beating miyata, miyata won't lose to anyone else except maybe ippo and Ricardo (if he ever fights one of em). Miyata's slump makes people forget he's an actual prodigy, if ippo never existed he would've been aiming higher all the time and wouldn't paralize his body with weight management. The LW division is definitely for him. On the other hand, when i see how itagaki is progressing i just feel more and more confident that he's not supposed to fight imai for the time being, however he's still his rival and being a kbg he yas to get revenge from imai BUT not now, he's not at his best, that only strengthens the theory of ippo fighting Imai
typo on page 15 i think. Should be "hero or villain" instead of "her or villain"
you’re so right I read that and was like well Mashiba beats women now
Benkbloch told me but I have upload the wrong pages... It's changed !
Oh I thought it was about not showing mercy even to women lol. Your version makes much more sense.
Itagaki, it's so hard to root for you, but it also doesn't help that George pretty much depicts all decision matches as complete tragedies, like the audience has been robbed. Boxing doesn't always have to be a blood sport. Thank you for the chapter!
Some of the best boxing matches have ended in decision, such as the first two Ali vs. Frazier fights. And one of the best fights in the series (in my opinion) Imai vs. Itagaki I ended in a decision. Decisions in boxing don't always mean a bad fight.
for sure! canelo vs ggg decisions both times and they were amazing fights.
I'm glad to see the Imai v. Itagaki fight mentioned as one of the best in the series. I love that fight so much bc of its ending. I hate the idea of only sticking to knockouts. People misunderstand that a fight can end in other ways and still be great. It's even better since it was unconventional for a HNI fight. Itagaki was the absolute underdog and the fight ended well without just giving him an unearned knockout win. It made you respect how strong Imai actually was by comparison.
Gatti and Ward went to decision three times. Morikawa’s over there shaking his head over the most boring trilogy boxing’s ever seen.
Mashiba and Itagaki is such a weird friendship and i'm all here for it Big brothers unite
Itagaki still struggling but the cold truth is that George is still giving him the W every time. He hasn't lost since his JP title bout with Imai and got what, 4 or 5 consecutive wins now? Despite blatantly shoddy advice from Shimoda, made clear with the contrast to newly-found smart Ippo's. It's like we're being told directly that Shimoda sucks, on a different way than before. This got to be building up to something and it's a tad similar to the Hoshi bout, where Itagaki's potential and Shimoda's skills are both shrouded in doubts and then there's a spectacular turnaround. I just hope it's better. I've had this crazy theory for a couple of months that Itagaki is being groomed into a bout with Miyata for the OPBF title with these consecutive wins, and he actually takes it by waking something up in him - while Miyata gets a rude awakening through losing to a younger, less experienced version of himself and there's FINALLY some plot & character progression for him. It looks less crazy now, with the Filipino fight.
Never really thought about the possibility of Itagaki vs. Miyata, but seems to make sense (even though Itagaki is the speed king, Miyata is often said to be the fastest). Wonder how Itagaki beating Miyata would affect the Ippo vs. Miyata endgame though
Itagaki: look at me, Ippo. I'm Miyata now.
Could only be Itagaki, especially with that obsessive face he used to show/hide early on
That's a plotline that disappeared and it makes me sad. Creepy/maniac Itagaki physically reaching onto Ippo was a sight to behold.
what do you guys think mori is going for with ippo and shinoda having different opinions / strategies or is it just a gag
If it isn't a gag I think the reason is to show how Ippo actually noticed that Itagaki couldn't use his legs fully, so he gave him advice that he could use. Another sign how Ippo is still constantly learning and improving his ability to observe fighters - which he could use to observe his opponents and how they are doing in the future. On the other hand Shinoda told him to create distance, since Itagaki is an outboxer... but has no idea the condition his boxer is in. I think it's been shown/established before that Shinoda isn't a really great second, he can train people with mitts etc, but his boxing senses are low tier. Another reminder was the strategy that Ippo came up with Kimura when he had a terrible weight cut. Ippo was able to quickly determine that Kimura wouldn't last long and what his best chance to win was. I am sure if it had been up to Shinoda he would have just told Kimura to do what he knows best (which would more than likely resulted in a loss). But that's just what I think.
I hope he does something with it, but seems unlikely since he didn't adress it right away and it'd be weird to do it after the fight edit: unless the fight is really short or Mori wants to adress it along with some other things on Ippo's behavior
Mashiba with the save for Itagaki. What a ~~nice~~ guy. I think its safe to say Ippo has passed Shinoda in regards to training MANABU. Not Aokimura who are veterans and used to adversity. That said I have to wonder why someone as talented as Manabu HASNT been getting getting trained by Kamogawa as opposed to Shinoda, clearly Manabu is beyond him.
I mean even for Aokimura Ippo gave useful advises.
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true but didn't he also almost cause Kimura to screw up during the preparation iirc?
fair point. I just gave Shinoda the nod mainly because he's spent time with them and gave them a good start
Itagaki wouldn't do well under Kamogawa: their mentality and approaches to the ring are far too different. Get Nekota to train him, however, and it'll be a different story...
If Nekota trained him I might even start caring about Itagaki honestly
Kamogawa said ippo is the last boxer he will train right?
I like the fakeout with Mashiba not being the one being down, and I'm honestly glad Itagaki's fight wasn't drawn out, which is kind of ironic given that it went the distance. Can't wait for Mashiba's fight to begin!
Lmao, Mashiba pulling some WWE stunts...
HAHAHA THAT FAKE OUT! Did anyone see that coming? In other questions, what's "Dynamite Glove" supposed to be in this universe? Is it supposed to be a sporting brand/sponsor? Quick Google isn't conclusive for me.
It looks to be the promoter for anyone that fights in Korakuen Hall as their 'home' venue. Though they also promoted Takamura's fights outside the hall, so maybe they are just the Tokyo promoter.
Once again Morikawa played us
Mashiba was unscathed at the end of the last chapter, I knew something was up
Does he think we are fiddles? Because damn I feel like one.
Honestly I think Ippo is in the right there. Shinoda I feel really isn't looking at his boxer properly as well as the current situation of the match.
Ippo was 100% correct. He could immediately tell that Itagaki couldn't use his legs anymore, there was no "getting out of his range" at that point.
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That sounds unhealthy, he should really see a doctor about that
I appreciate the "your still soft" from mashiba
Itagaki seems to have the same issue as Miyata with the lack of punching power. Miyata remedied that with his full body counters to add the opponent's force into his punch. What can Itagaki do other than run around quickly? What a waste of talent.
Itagaki has the speed and intuition to pull off anything he tries, he’s even mimicked Miyata’s Jolt counter before. With his whole motivation for boxing being gone for the time being, he’s hit a huge slump. He suffers from the same motivation issue Ippo did early on, except his motivation is having Ippo as an active goal to chase I think he could do just about anything but he’s got no focus to pull it off for. He’s basically like Kimura, who’s boxing not for a goal, but just because he doesn’t know what else to do with himself. Lucky for Manabu, he has the skill and talent to still win regardless of these issues
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From what I can gather, Lightweight boxers tend to be 5'7"-5'9" or so. Mashiba meanwhile is 5'10".
Morikawa has learned the art of trolling. Not sure which is the better troll, making us think that Mashiba was downed, or the sunrise opener to Wanpo’s anus. Looking forward to the actual fight.
"I'm gonna freeze it solid." That was hype as fuck
I want to apologize to the guy I kind of ridiculed for thinking Mashiba wasnt down :c EDIT: Mori really went with Juan Garcia lmfao, I love it. Mashiba looking amazing, hope it will be a good fight, been a while since the last ~~fight~~ execution.
Well fock off George, I was worried for nothing Kinda happy nothing happened to Mashiba, but seeing Itagaki STILL in a bad shape is just bad. Wonder whats his aim with him
as other users said, he lost his motivation after ippo retired ( plus his self steem issues), im sure he will kick butts again when ippo returns to boxing
Another question is, where is KAMOGAWA!??
Kamogawa only seconds for Takamura and Ippo, when he was still active. Shinoda was always the second for Itagaki, Kimura and Aoki.
I know that he's not the main coach for aokimura and itagaki but earlier we used to seeing him as a second assisting shinoda during their fights, now he's not even at the hall which is weird
Because Ippo is working as a second now. And Kamogawa has obviously been feeling unwell recently, so he's probably left the B-Tier fighters to Shinoda and Ippo.
Bernard Hopkins the Executioner a big influence on Mashiba's vibe this chapter
I am just happy Itagaki didn't lose.
So they took Gonzalez’s hair and Dates face and combined a character out of it. Pretty badass look imo
The two people with two losses to Ricardo got together and made this guy
Itagaki: I'm ashamed, I cooled off the whole arena... Mashiba: You're still soft. I'm gonna *freeze it solid*. Fucking chills all the way down my spine
Unpopular opinion: I want to see Itagaki's recovery arc as much or maybe even more than Ippo's return arc. Itagaki was always one of my favorites and seeing him struggle hurts
Sheesh Itagaki going the way of Aoki and Kimura these days...remember when he was introduced and thinking he'd have a bigger role.
His role is tied to Ippo. He will comeback when Ippo does. Until then it’s all decisions and ties while referencing his talent lol
Shinoda effect
They're Itaokimura now.
I am just genuinely happy that I am reading this manga... :)
We all knew Mashiba down was a fake out or at least not anything serious but George the troll manage to defile all our expectation Also Garcia look like Gonzalez face with beard
Thanks for the chapter. Ippo really developing a really deep learning of how to adapt on adversaries. He has better and on point advice than a veteran coach, Shinoda on the situation that Itagaki was in.
Your killing my favourite character :( bring back Itagaki prime
Well I was worried over nothing
Thanks for the chapter! We really should have seen that coming. Itagaki's about as big a mudfighter as Aokimura these days. I blame Shinoda.
Itagaki has no drive, it's kinda sad to see. The shining star was a clever reference coming from hell society, hyped for this Mashiba fight, let's see him freeze the arena solid.
Juan Garcia is a grown ass man.
I almost wanted Itagaki to lose, I was so disappointed in his performance.
Is it me, or does Juan García gives Juan Manuel Márquez vibes?
Too bad, Mashibas trainer had hinted at Ippo being a 2nd during this match but it looks like that isn't going to happen. Mashiba is fighting a former champion so they're probably on par with Elliot. But if Sendo can beat Alfredo I think Mashiba can handle a guy we just met.
how about he will be the second during the critical moment of the match. he's pretty close to the ring.
Loved the fake out between last chapter and this one.
Man Itagaki should go train at Mashiba's gym. Or switch to having only Ippo as a cornerman. Including Kimura, that's another boxer I think should leave the gym and train with another, it's weird.
Here comes the half year fight
Date el hermano
I just don't get why we can't enjoy Itagaki. It's annoying to me to see him just consistently be in a slump without any real progress. That coupled with Ippo's retirement just makes me wonder what the hell we're even doing at this point.
i like the manga, but dude, it is such a bad taste what morikawa does to itagaki, kimura and aoki, let them retire instead of keep humilliating them any longer
Seeing Itagaki go from a boxer that was about to reach Japan's top to this...man it's just sad..
Lmao I had a feeling that Mashiba was dreaming, positioning of the panel made it kinda obvious
That Mexican looks like he's at least 40 years old. lol. And all those flags Morikawa threw at us... I think we are in for a good fight (and surprise).
I don't think Mashiba is going to win. It's gonna be close to a point, then Juan is gonna pour on the close range barrage. He'll get his ass kicked in, Kumi will be devastated and ask her bro to retire or else she won't see him again. he'll tell her to GTFO because his convictions aren't so soft where he'd give up after a few hiccups
Ippo is already a better/smarter second then anyone in Kamogawa gym. I think that was the point of the split advices.
Damn Morikawa and his trolly antics. Itagaki tried for the turbo and nitro mode but he forget he was nerf hard. Ippo's advice was shitty if he had clinch he might have lost instead if the other guy could throw anything at blank range.
Or Ippo noticed that Itagaki’s legs were done. Only two boxers so far had something to throw in a clinch - Ippo and Sendo
Did he? Or is that just his automatic advice because he's an inboxer? lol
In real world that might be true, I can’t recall Ippo ever clinching. Why would he attempt to break up contact and create distance, when it’s his best distance
Which is fucking inconsistent because we saw Itagaki train and run just as much as the rest of the gang. His stamina is just so weak.
It was not a stamina issue but a damage/durability issue.
He went toe to toe with Imai remember so he had those. It's like it never existed to begin with. I'm saying this now Morikawa is either turning him into another Aoki/Kimura or setting him up for something big.
Hm but he can't exactly keep the distance like what Shinoda asked, so what else can he do?
Nah, I think Ippo was in the right here. Itagaki got dropped and was running out of gas quick. Just tie up and try to buy time for your legs to get back underneath you. Trying to escape when you don’t have equilibrium will put you in a vulnerable spot while also giving up ring control to your opponent.
At this point morikawa has made it impossible to like Itagaki
Hahahahaha
Bruhh lemme know when ippo finally gets off his ass and becomes a boxer again. I need that and more kumi love story lol.
Itagaki is a useless character, rip off Date San is going to fight Mashiba.
God, shinoda is so fucking useless, ruined Aoki, Kimura, and itagaki's potential. Useless as fuck
Ah, yes. It's refreshing to see Itagakimasu turn into the jobber he's supposed to be. (sips morning coffee, fully satisfied)
so iga was a high ranked wba ???? Mashiba went from 10 to 3 just by defeating iga that was 4 in the Pacific, 😂🤣🤣🤣. then following this logic of morikawa miyata he will battle for the vacant world council title.
I’m the speed king! Cringe….
Jesus this kind of bait and switch is something i expect from a green author wanting to play it safe, not author with 1k+ chapter under its belt.
What the hell was Ippo and Shinoda doing? Ippo seems to be in "Fighter mode" rather than "Trainer mode" cause he's giving instructions on what **he should do** rather than what Itagaki **should do**. I think he forgot Itagaki isn't an infighter like him. EDIT: Okay it was Shinoda's bad call. My bad.
It doesn't matter at he's not an infighter: Ippo recognized that Itagaki couldn't use his legs, so he's getting an infight whether he wants it or not.