" did you hear , ren san is retiring already "
" I heard kou trainer say that he has become puch drunk and contuinig his career as a pro boxer is impossible now "
ken has arrived after completing his roadwork inside the gym and hears this gossip among the gym members ..
he snaps out of it and asks kou san " what they are saying , is it the truth? " ken grabs the collar of kou san and continues " come on tell me now . what the hell is this ... "
" calm down ken chan . I know that you cannot accept this but we are all the same. it's the truth so we have no choice but to accept it . " kou San replies with tears in his eyes .
ken is devastated as he confirmed the truth . he lifelessly sits on a bench in the corner and starts remembering his time spent with ito ren . he feels frustrated as he cannot accept that the boxer who he looks up to cannot fight in the pro ring anymore .
after a while ken forces himself to accept the reality as after experiencing everything he has gone through with his family till now has caused his heart to become tougher . he knows that this can happen to any boxer and he cannot do anything about it ..
" kou san, is it that serious ? " ken asks kou San in a sad voice but one can see resolve in his now ..
kou san is surprised after seeing the firm look in Ken's eyes and is happy that his favorite student has become mentally stronger and he didnt even know about it " that's true . looking at his condition , it will take a long time before he can return to normal lifestyle . boxing ? it's out of the question . I'm worried about the gym now because ren chan was the brightest hope of our gym . bonda already told me that many members have left our gym already after learning the truth "
" kou san, don't worry . I will become the hope in place of ren senpai ." ken replies with resolve in his voice " dont bother stopping anyone who wants to leave , they cannot do much anyway if they cannot even face the truth ." ken stands up and puts his gloves on " now it's time for mitt training kou san. I am only going to look forward from now on and practice is the best way to forget the bad stuff "
kou san feels energized after hearing Ken's words and starts wearing the old brown mitts " ken chan ,let's do this now . get inside the ring young man . " kou san dashes towards the ring excitedly immediately after saying that ..
" old man , dont get too excited now . running like that , think about your age ... wait for me " ken starts chasing after kou San with a smile on his face ..
when other members, hear the sounds of sharp punches and see ken training, they stop their gossip and start preparing themselves for starting practice . for some reason , Ken's little figure punching the mitt ignites fire inside them . they have no choice but to start practicing themselves after seeing the eyes of ken which are only looking forward ..
**********
days pass and the atmosphere inside ito boxing gym has started to return to normal gradually . but in truth , all the new members and even some old members have left the gym after learning the news about ito ken suffering from severe punch drunk syndrome .
now only 3 boxers are left with the coach and managing staff -
chief - ito mamoru ( taking care of ito ren and hasn't shown his face)
coach / trainer - shimizu kou
manager - bonda genji
japan lightweight 7th rank - Kato gin
japan lightweight 5th rank - Tanaka ichiro
japan featherweight 9th rank - Yamamoto ken
even if the boxers have become less abruptly and the popularity of ito boxing gym has gone down after the retirement of japan middleweight champion ito ren , the atmosphere inside the gym hasn't changed much . on the contrary, 3 boxers who didnt leave are training daily with more passion.
********
Kato gin is a veteran who is a pro boxer for 6 years now . he is an outboxer and uses his speed and technique to fight with his opponents. his official fighting record is -
20 matches -
15 wins ( 5 KO )
5 losses
*******
tanaka ichiro is also a veteran, in fact he joined the ito boxing gym together with kato gin . he is a fighter who fights with his opponents at close range and middle range . he has average power and speed for his weight division but his willpower is strong .
his official fighting record is -
20 matches -
16 wins ( 12 KO)
4 losses
both gin and tanaka senpai are seniors who have taken good care of ken since he joined . they both have taught him many of their techniques so ken respects them a lot but both of them are the typical example of boxers who became pro boxers from delinquents so became angry quickly and like to vent their anger on their kouhai . so ken will suffer more than before because he is the only one left with both of them now ..
*********