Unable To Reach the World is Round 1052 of Jōji Morikawa's Hajime no Ippo manga series.
Details[]
- Title Page Character(s): None
Summary[]
From near the end of round four until there are twenty-two seconds left in the fifth round, Ippo charged forward while getting hit by Alfredo, who hits him from long range with not a scratch on his face. Due to the damage he got from his charging, Ippo's face is bruised and his right eye is swollen. Miyata doesn't think Ippo will be hitting Alfredo with how the things are going now, as he isn't able to anticipate where Alfredo's punches are coming from, so he charges in with no hesitation. However, Miyata notes how Alfredo is capitalising on Ippo's mad dash with punches that have pinpoint precision, perfect in timing and angle, making them have the same effect as counters, and if Alfredo followed through his punches, Ippo would go down. Sendō is angry that Alfredo isn't going for the knockout when he could, thinking that Alfredo is cooling the arena down. Mari points out that Alfredo isn't here to please the crowd, as his only concern is winning and minimising the damage he takes. As Ippo's liver blow hits Alfredo's arm, he gets hit by a left hook. Takamura thinks how Ippo's body is tough and believes that Ippo presses forward so much to tire Alfredo out, however, Alfredo is in total control of the pace, and people fighting at their own rhythm won't tire out, concluding that Kamogawa's bet won't pay out. Kamogawa watches in shock as sees Ippo get torn apart, remembering the last beating he took like this was against Wally, where they were saved by Wally's lack of experience, but they can't place their hopes on that as their opponent has been in a world title match before. While Kamogawa notes that their plan was to chip away at Alfredo's stamina, it only led to Ippo taking continuous beatings, wondering what they can do now.