"So, today is the day, huh"
"Yeah Miyata will definitely win"
"Yeah, Miyata is going to crush that newbie"
"I think Ippo has chances of winning"
"Are you out of your mind. Can that newbie's boorish boxing style win over Miyata's sharp counter"
"But you have seen how strong Ippo's punches are. And it's not like a newbie has not won"
"Yeah that's true but Kenshin-san is a friend of Miyata and he is also helping Miyata to win"
"Yeah, ever since Kenshin-san came, everybody started training seriously. Kenshin-san increased the level of our boxing gym".
A series of discussion went through the crowd about today's match. Yes, today is the day when Ichiro is going to fight Ippo.
In the corner of the gym Kenshin was sitting there while looking at the ring in the center and thought, "So, today is the day of the very special match which sparked the rivalry between Ichiro and Ippo throughout the series. Let's see how much Ichiro has grown compared to the manga"
"Oye, Kenshin, what are you doing in the back. Come to the front to watch with us", said Aoki. Kenshin saw Aoki and Kimura coming from behind.
Kenshin looked at Aoki & Kimura and said, "Okay let's go to the front though I can see it clearly".
"That's because you are tall you giant bastard", said Aoki in an angry tone. Kenshin ignored him and went ahead with Kimura.
"Who do you think will win", asked Kimura after they came near the ring.
"Both of them have chances to win, though Ichiro's chances are higher as he has trained longer than Ippo and Ippo is a coward. If Ippo can remove his cowardly nature, his chances to win will definitely increase but nothing is certain until the fight is over", said Kenshin slowly.
"Hey you two bastards how dare you to ignore me", said Aoki while angrily looking at Kenshin and Kimura.
"Aoki shut up, we are discussing the match between Miyata and Ippo. Who do you think will win", said Kimura while diverting Aoki's anger.
"Hmmm… I think Miyata has a higher chance but I will support Ippo. Ippo is a good kid, he brings me icecreams whenever I ask him to", said Aoki.
Kimura looked at Aoki and said, "Aoki you bastard you are bullying your junior. Okay whenever you ask Ippo, ask to bring two of them. Okay, Aoki Let's support our kouhai(junior). Ippo!! Ippo!".
Kenshin looked at these two clowns and laughed slightly. They are even funnier in real.
As they were talking, Ichiro came up to the ring with his father walking behind him. Ichiro silently stood at one corner and waited for the match to happen. After a few minutes, Coach Kamogawa came up with Ippo, Takamura and Yagi chan. Takamura was dressed in formal referee attire.
Just as they were about to start, the gate of the gym opened and two uninvited guests came. It was Fuji-san and his assistant from 'Monthly boxing fan'.
"Ohh, Monthly boxing fan's Fuji-san. Welcome", Yagi chan went ahead and welcomed the two guests.
"What's going on, the gym is bustling with excitement", asked Fuji-san.
"My two Kouhai's are going to fight. This will be an interesting match hahahahahah", said Takamura.
"Takamura, why are you dressed like that. And your kouhai… do you mean Miyata kun" , said Fuji-san.
"I am going to be the referee of this match. Yeah, Miyata will fight with Ippo. This is going to be an exciting match", said Takamura.
"Ohh let's watch the match. I anyway came to interview Miyata for the Newcomer Find Campaign", said Fuji-san looking at the stage.
Takamura went up to the ring and after a few minuted later, the match started. As soon as the match started Ippo dashed towards Miyata and sent a series of jabs but Miyata easily dodged them.
'The boy named Ippo is not bad, he has some quick feet and fast jabs but not enough to corner Miyata. Miyata Ichiro is really a boxing genius', thought Fuji-san while looking towards the ring.
After Miyata dodged the series of punched, he quickly used his feet to move to the middle. As in the anime, Ippo followed him but Ichiro's speed is faster than what is shown in the manga. As Ippo was charging towards him, Ichiro took the chance to send a jab towards Ippo who blocked it perfectly but became imbalanced as his momentum was forcefully stopped.
Ichiro didn't let that chance go and send a powerful right straight towards Ippo's belly. This punch sent Ippo a few steps back and his defense was also broken. Ichiro again took this chance and send a series of jabs and crosses towards Ippo. Ippo was knocked down.
"Go, to a neutral side", Takamura came in between Ippo and Ichiro as soon as Ippo was knocked down and started the countdown.
"Wow, Miyata is really something. His level of boxing is very high. But that Ippo is also good but slightly far than Miyata", said Fuji-san.
Kenshin looked at the scene and thought, "Damm, I thought that Ichiro will be powerful but he really exceeded my expectations. Miyata really has very good boxing sense".
While Kenshin was thinking, Coach Kamogawa is shouting at Ippo to stand up. Ippo struggles to stand and finally gets up in the 6th count. As Ippo's balance was not good, Ichiro wanted to take the chance and knock him out for sure but Ippo's luck was really good and was saved by the bell.
"Brat, what are you doing. Show some resolve, Miyata's skill is above your's by a notch. So to defeat him, you have to charge towards him and wait for the moment to strike uppercut. Swallow the pain and defeat Miyata", said coach Kamogawa. To which Ippo only muttered, "Swallow the pain".
After some time, the second round started, Ippo again dashed towards Ichiro. Ichiro easily evaded that and threw a jab at Ippo which was dodged by Ippo. Ippo and I moved forward and charged at Ichiro and Ichiro who again tried to maintain a certain distance.
This went on for a minute when Ippo charged at Ichiro and threw a barrage of attack to contain Ichiro in one position. Ippo punched and led Ichiro towards the ropes. Ichiro knew that it was dangerous, so he started to threw punches at Ippo. Ippo was waiting for that, he ducked to avoid the punch and threw left-handed blow to the liver.
Ichiro knew that he couldn't dodge, so put a guard to block. His guard was blown away by that punch, and Ippo took the chance to threw the recently learned uppercut at Ichiro. Ichiro knew that it was unavoidable so he put a hasty guard with his left hand and moved back using the ropes.
Ichiro's left hand was blown away by that punch but he still took the chance and use the ropes to spring forward and punched Ippo with his right fist. Ippo who was tired after all the punches forgot to put a guard and took a blow to the face. Ichiro used the moment to throw a couple of punches that send Ippo to his knees. Ippo stand-up after 7th countdown as he was only thinking "swallow the pain".
After that Ichiro took the chance and punched Ippo with a jab and then run away. Ichiro was using the hit and run tactics. After a few seconds, the 2nd round finished.
Everybody in the crowd was shocked by the level of boxing shown by the two boxers who have not even got their boxing license. Fuji-san was shocked to see Miyata's level of boxing but he was shocked to see another rookie who was just slightly off than Miyata only because he started boxing only 6 months ago. He was happy to write about it.
Soon, the third round started in which the tired Ippo started operation turtle and struck for defense. Ichiro was using fight and run tactics to hit Ippo a few times. Ippo was taking a lot of damage but was calm as there is only one thought in his mind, "Swallow the pain and wait for the right moment to strike".
Ichiro, though started boxing early, still is very inexperienced so he got confident and thought Ippo was tired and tried to knock him down, so he threw dozens of punches at him. After the 8th punch, the tired Ippo suddenly moved and punched Ichiro at the same time.
As Ippo's punches are more deadly, so Ichiro was stunned for a second. Ippo took the chance and threw a nice right uppercut at Ichiro. Ichiro was knocked down unconscious. Just as Takemura was about to declare the result, Ippo who was standing fell on the floor.
Everybody was awestruck by the level of Miyata's boxing and Ippo's determination.
After a few days, while everything settled down, Kenshin got the news that Ichiro was leaving. Upon hearing this, he sighed, "I tried to help him but I cannot change much of the story. It seems like other relevant characters are also stronger than the manga".
The day after Ichiro packed up his stuff and went away. Just like everything that happened in the manga, Ippo followed Ichiro and they talked and made the promise. That day Kenshin visited Ichiro's house and talked with him and after some time he said goodbye and walked out.
Just as he was about to move out, he said, "Train well Ichiro, use the weight bracelets to push your limits and reach new heights. I also heard that you made some promise with Ippo. It's good and I respect that but you are taller than Ippo by 2 inches and is barely able to remain in Featherweight category and I am also asking you to train using bracelets which might increase a bit of your weight(by increasing muscles), so if it increases don't try to decrease it as it may cause muscle deterioration. So I as a friend asking you to not do anything stupid. Moreover, you should be a champion, and champions don't have rivals, they have challengers".