Mental Shape is Round 1093 of Jōji Morikawa's Hajime no Ippo manga series.
Details[]
- Characters Introduced: Tsuchiya
- Real Life People Mentioned: Thomas Hearns
- Title Page Character(s): Ippo Makunouchi
Summary[]
Ippo remembers what Takamura told him about making excuses, and asks Itagaki, Aoki, and Kimura if they make excuses when they lose. The three claim that they do. Itagaki thought Imai was being cheap, as he trapped him in the corner as soon as the gong rang and before he could turn around. Kimura thinks Itagaki is just whining, but Itagaki claims that his whining is his excuse. Kimura believes the reason he lost his close split decision was because he ran out of stamina at the last round, so if he was able to move around still, he would have won. Aoki thinks his reason is legit: if Iga had been weaker than him, he would have won. Ippo explains how he was taught the word "determination" from Miyata, and after that, he learned to go into matches with the intent of winning them. However, when he learned he might get a world title shot, he began to think how far he could go and if he could make it that far, wanting to know how effective his boxing would be. He realised it after looking at Sendō and Mashiba's eyes, as they looked inhuman and had confidence in their victory. He believes it has to do with how one spends their time before the fight: the same way they get into physical shape, they also have to get into mental shape in order to win. He also believes if he had done all of that, he would have withstood Alfredo's counter. As Tsuchiya's world flyweight title match begins, Ippo sees how he looks prepared and bets that he isn't thinking about losing, knowing that one can't go into the ring just wanting to see how well they can do. After Tsuchiya loses by knockout, Aoki notes that sometimes it doesn't matter how confident one is, and Kimura adds that if he can make excuses, he can start over again. In Sendō and Mashiba's room, the two argue about Sendō copying Mashiba's Chopping Right, but Sendō claims he was copying "Tommy".