Episode 54 (Season 1)

Fists of the Champ
Episode Information
Previous	So That I Can Be Myself
Episode	Season 1 #54 (Watch Online)
Next	The Japan Featherweight Title Match
Japanese Title	王者の拳
Romanized Title	Ōja no Ken
Arc	Challenge for the Throne Arc
Manga	Round 177 (p.14-19) Round 178 (p.1-19) Round 179 (p.1-18) Round 180 (p.1-19) Round 181 (p.15-19)
Air dates
Japanese	October 23, 2001
English	April 25, 2006
Music
Opening	Tumbling Dice
Ending	Eternal Loop

Fists of the Champ is Round 54 of the Hajime no Ippo anime, which is the adaptation of Jōji Morikawa's Hajime no Ippo series.

Details

• Characters Introduced: Atsushi Tamaki

Summary

The fight begins and Takamura is being outclassed by challenger Atsushi Tamaki when Ippo arrives. Ippo gets worried as he believes that no matter how strong Takamura is, he can not stand such blows. Takamura however, remains standing and Ippo remembers Date's words. The first round ends with Takamura beaten and Tamaki untouched. Ippo, Aoki and Kimura keep cheering for him, as Takamura tells a worried Kamogawa that he will win no matter what as he must keep being the goal of the trio. The second round begins and Takamura attempts a display of his strength by slamming his body to Tamaki's, but he loses the exchange and gets pushed back. Tamaki full of determination, attacks Takamura, whose legs begin to shake after the received punches. Tamaki stops instead of ending the fight when he notices that Takamura's eyes are still alive. Takamura, who can not move from the ropes due to the damage, taunts Tamaki to lure him in. Tamaki is confused as he does not know if Takamura is actually hurt or not. However he decides to attack, and succeeds in delivering strong combinations. Takamura appears to fall, but regains his balance and connects a devastating uppercut. Despite having damage on his legs now, Tamaki decides to attack as he knows that Takamura is hurt as well. On his way in, Tamaki is caught by a powerful combination that drops him. After winning the match, Takamura makes an arrogant comment that is received with hostility by the audience members, who are upset about the article of Takamura forcing himself on Megumi. Later as they walk home, Takamura explains to Ippo, the real meaning of Date's words and the weight a champion carries in his fists from everyone who has supported him. However, he states that a champion is by no means invincible. When Ippo arrives home, he gets a call from Kimura. Kimura informs Ippo that Mashiba defeated the lightweight JBC champion. As soon as Ippo puts the phone down, it rings again, and this time it is Kumi. She tells him that to celebrate her brother's victory, she made a cake, but since he does not have any friends, no one showed up, so she asks him if he wants to go over. Ippo goes over to Mashiba's house, wanting to ask a him some questions about the title match. When he arrives, all the lights in the house are off, and it seems there is no one in. The door the opens and Mashiba asks Ippo to enter the house and have a seat. Ippo asks Mashiba about the match, and the latter replies that it was nothing special and he fought like always. When Kumi arrives and turns the lights on, Ippo notices Mashiba's bruised face, and realises that it was no easy victory for him. Even though Kumi and Ippo celebrate with enthusiasm, Mashiba seems to be very annoyed, but Kumi tells Ippo that this is his face when he is happy. When Ippo leaves, Kumi accompanies him outside and tells him that the wrinkles on her brother's face, were not those of anger, but the ones he makes when he tries not to smile. She also wishes him luck in his upcoming title match against Date, and promises to hold a party for him as well when he becomes the champion. At the Kamogawa gym, Fujii watches Ippo training with Kimura. Kamogawa's strategy is to keep a close distance to Date so he can not use his Sunday punch. Fujii sees this as a good plan, but thinks being too close will nullify Ippo's power. He however, proven wrong when Ippo lands a devastating blow at close distance. Fujii then remembers a theory stating that only ten centimetres of space are needed to land an effective punch.

Anime-Manga Differences

See also: Anime-Manga Differences

• Ippo's hair change scene was moved to when he is in the front of the Mashiba household, subsequently, Hiroko was removed of the scene.
• Date's spar was removed from the anime.

Credits

Characters are named as they appear in the credits.

Role	English Name	Japanese	Rōmaji	English Voice Actor
Ippo Makunouchi	Kōhei Kiyasu	喜安 浩平	Kiyasu Kōhei	Steve Cannon
Mamoru Takamura	Rikiya Koyama	小山 力也	Koyama Rikiya	Eddie Frierson
Coach Kamogawa	Kenji Utsumi	内海 賢二	Utsumi Kenji	Richard Epcar
Masaru Aoki	Wataru Takagi	高木 渉	Takagi Wataru	Jim Taggert
Tatsuya Kimura	Keiji Fujiwara	藤原 啓治	Fujiwara Keiji	Grant George
Reporter Fujii	Ken'ichi Ono	小野 健一	Ono Ken'ichi	Hamilton Fox
Eiji Date	Masaki Aizawa	相沢 正輝	Aizawa Masaki	Rafael Antonio
Ryō Mashiba	Masahiko Tanaka	田中 正彦	Tanaka Masahiko	Terry Roberts
Kumi Mashiba	Sanae Kobayashi	小林 沙苗	Kobayashi Sanae	Jennifer Sekiguchi
Ring Announcer	Katsuyuki Konishi	小西 克幸	Konishi Katsuyuki
Live Announcer	Jin Horikawa	堀川 仁	Horikawa Jin	Ron Allen
Tamaki	Hiroshi Yanaka	家中 宏	Yanaka Hiroshi
Interviewer	Mariko Suzuki	鈴木 麻里子	Suzuki Mariko

Episode Credits

Role	English Name	Japanese	Rōmaji
Screenplay	Kazuyuki Fudeyasu	筆安 一幸	Fudeyasu Kazuyuki
Storyboard	Toshiya Niidome	新留 俊哉	Niidome Toshiya
Director	Atsushi Takahashi	高橋 敦史	Takahashi Atsushi
Animation Director	Tomoaki Kado	かど ともあき	Kado Tomoaki