Soft Defence is Round 188 of Jōji Morikawa's Hajime no Ippo manga series.
Details[]
- Title Page Character(s): Ippo Makunouchi, Genji Kamogawa, Haruhiko Yagi, Masaru Aoki, Tatsuya Kimura, Mamoru Takamura, Ippo's Teacher, Masahiko Umezawa
Summary[]
Astonished by the abilities of Date, Ippo is in shock and unable to move. Realising the referee's count is at five, he immediately gets up as he has no damage. As Kamogawa orders, Ippo advances knowing that Date must be in pain from the exchange. Ippo attacks, causing the audience's cheers to become even louder. However Kamogawa tells Yagi that when Ippo's hits connect, Date moves his guard along with the punch, meaning he is receiving no damage and Ippo feels the same lack of response from his hits as he did before. Ippo slowly becomes desperate when he realises that not even his body blow can not hurt the champion. He then attempts a larger swing with more power in it, but Date uses the opportunity to deliver a right. With his opponent stunned, Date initiates a series of powerful blows that immediately overwhelm Ippo, who can do nothing but blocking. By the time the bell rings, Date emerges victorious from an exchange where he should be the underdog.
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