In Pursuit of What's Next is Round 1172 of Jōji Morikawa's Hajime no Ippo manga series.
Details[]
- Title Page Character(s): Ippo Makunouchi, Mamoru Takamura, Masaru Aoki
Summary[]
Aoki ducks the unknown opponent's punch setting up the Frog Punch, but the opponent show signs of blocking it. Takamura thinks this match will go to decision since Aoki's main weapon is pretty known at this point, where the opponent just needs to calmly keep their guard when they expect it. Once it has been block, all that is left is a "mud wrestling" match. The opponent continues to block and wait for Aoki's Frog Punch, but Aoki doesn't throw it. Ippo realises Aoki is throwing the Bell Horn, which is able to land on the opponent. Aoki wins by knockout. While Aoki celebrates his win, Ippo realises he wants to get back into the ring. Takamura knows what Ippo's thinking, and mention that he gave up the title believing that he graduated from Japan, but then he couldn't do much at the world level. He wonder why Ippo wants to head back into the ring, or what he wants to do since he is in an awkward place. Ippo isn't clear on what he is after, but he wants to show the new Dempsey Roll for Kamogawa. Ippo feels that after he spent all the time in he spent preparing his body for it, and now it is finally starting to bear fruit, where he wants Kamogawa to see it in the ring. Ippo feels by showing the new Dempsey Roll, it will help him move forward and be the start of something. Takamura tells him to go for it, but not to disappoint him. Ippo meets with Itagaki, Kimura, Aoki, and Tomiko after the match. Kimura and Itagaki are disappointed in their matches. Aoki tells Ippo to care Kimura stuff back for him since he was hurt the most, and to let him vent. Along the way home, Ippo tries to cheer him up. They discuss Aoki's match, and possible chance at fighting Iga again. Ippo thinks he can do it, and he feels if Kimura was in a higher weight class, he thinks Kimura can keep winning too. Kimura tells him to stop since Takamura and Miyata have it worse than him, but they keep quiet and just get results. He knows he can't make excuses about his weight. He has lost sight of his goal, and his motivation is lacking. He feels he will be okay once he set his sights on something soon, until then he is in an awkward place. Ippo sees a lot of similarities with Kimura's situation and his. At the Kamogawa gym, Kamogawa is doing mitt practice with Takamura. After he is done, Ippo's turn is about to start.