Similar Fighter is Round 419 of Morikawa Jouji's Hajime no Ippo manga series.
Details
- Cover Page Characters: Shimabukuro Iwao, Coach Mensore, Makunouchi Ippo, Okita Keigo, Kamogawa Genji, Yagi Haruhiko, Takamura Mamoru, Kimura Tatsuya, Shimakawa
Summary
Kamogawa shows Ippo a video of Shimabukuro's match against Okita during the Class A Tournament finals from a year ago. After watching Shimabukuro defeat Okita in 32 seconds even after taking a Corkscrew Blow, Ippo notices that Shimabukuro is shorter than him and has a similar in-fighting style to him. Kamogawa comments that it will be Ippo's first opponent who is best at close combat, with Ippo adding that it is also the first opponent who is shorter than him. Takamura points out that one of Ippo's advantages are his short height, as all punches become uppercuts to taller opponents and harder to avoid. However, Kamogawa states that this is now a disadvantage, as Shimabukuro is shorter. Aoki then puts in the tape of the champion of his weight class, however, everyone leaves the room but Takamura, who, after the video finishes, tells Aoki that he will lose.
Elsewhere, Shimabukuro's coach tells Shimabukuro how Ippo can also be called a man of the sea. Shimabukuro believes the fight will be fun, as it is a fight between men of the same size and between men of the sea. At the Kamogawa Boxing Gym, Kamogawa tells Ippo that Shimabukuro lost a fight in the second round of the West Japan Rookie King Tournament, but could not find a video of it. Ippo tells Kamogawa that he believes hand-speed and step-in speed is the way to catch Shimabukuro, and that he has been working on the speed of his Dempsey Roll. Kamogawa asks to show it to him and begins the mitt practise. Ippo performs the faster Dempsey Roll, however Kamogawa orders him to stop, and orders him to forget about the Dempsey Roll.
