Father's Back Arc

Father's Back Arc
Information
Volumes	67-70, (4 Volumes)
Manga Rounds	625-656, (32 Chapters)
Chronology
Previous	Phantom Card Arc
Next	Rusted Blade Arc

The Father's Back Arc is the twenty-ninth story arc in the series and the fourth in the Law of the Ring Saga.

With the promised fight in the professional ring finally set between Ippo Makunouchi and Ichirō Miyata, all that is left is for them to defend their titles. First one is Ippo, who has to defend his JBC title against first ranked veteran fighter Keīchi Take for his seventh title defence match, so he can relinquish his title afterwards to aim for greater heights: the world stage. Take is a proud father that wishes to show his son the back of a father who fights his very best, capable of defeating the best in Japan without intention of running away as his son believes he did last time with Eiji Date.

Summary

The Promised Match and the Baton Pass

Takamura making fun of Yagi's chair pun.

At the Makunouchi Fishing Boat, Ippo is helping out his mother with more work since Itagaki is resting from his last match at the Kawai Hospital. There, Kumi informs Itagaki that he's perfectly fine and will be out soon enough but he should not move yet. Imai is also there with him giving respect to Itagaki that he has defeated him but he should not relax just yet as the West Japan Rookie King is quite strong. Imai doesn't want any more people he knows being far ahead than him so he wants Itagaki to watch the fight tapes he gave and to win, even saying that if he needs any help he can just ask. Itagaki feels ready to go despite what Kumi said and Imai agrees until Nanako appears and asks her brother to not go anywhere. Nanako asks Imai to stop Itagaki which he does just that, Kumi also appears and yells at Itagaki to go rest, they both joyfully listen to them. Later that day, the Kamogawa gym is full of high spirit, training while chanting "Gattsu de Gattsun Gattsun da!!" ("ガッツでガッツンガッツンだ!!"), a saying they learned from Shinoda, as Takamura deems it the Kamogawa gym's new war-cry. After Takamura, Aoki, and Kimura makes fun of Yagi's chair pun during Itagaki and Imai's match, pointing out that Itagaki did worse after Yagi made the pun, Yagi makes the three do three sets of punching the sandbag for ten minutes, which makes Takamura laugh due to "three sets" and "sandbag" sounding the same in Japanese.

Ippo agreeing with Kamogawa's terms to challenge Miyata in a title match.

Kamogawa asks the rest to start hitting the sandbags and do their usual training as he calls Ippo to his office for something. Kamogawa and Yagi announces to Ippo that he will be defending his JBC featherweight title again for the seventh time in January 25th as part of the annual Champion Carnival instead the match against Miyata because of Miyata's OPBF featherweight title defence schedule. The match is now unofficially set in Spring and to fill that gap as a boxer instead of being inactive for months, Ippo has to fight in another title defence as well. After both successfully defend their titles, they will fight in the ring. Ippo is overjoyed and thanks them as Yagi and Kamogawa express that the world stage is approaching. Ippo in high spirits starts hitting the sandbags, then he leaves for the day as Aoki and Kimura question what might have gotten him this happy. As Takamura, Aoki, and Kimura leave the gym, Takamura jokingly comments how Ippo's distance to his sweetheart has gotten closer. On his way to the riverbank, Ippo wishes for the fight to finally happen. Over at the Kawahara gym at the same time, Miyata, while training promises that he won't break the promise for a second time.

Ippo's baton pass to Itagaki.

As Itagaki is able to be released from the hospital, Imai is there to see him off. Ippo arrived to take Itagaki home in a truck while Imai offers to walk Nanako home. Kumi comments that Nanako should do it since they would make a good couple. Nanako tells Imai that she thought he wasn't suppose to talk to her since he lost to Itagaki. Remembering how Itagaki was strong and proved that he has become a true professional, Imai walks away, determined to beat Itagaki in a rematch. Kumi mentions to Nanako that men hate to admit they lost. Kumi remembers that her brother has a match coming up, thinking how boxers never seem to have time to relax. Ippo nervously drives him to the gym, while causing a traffic jam and hitting Aoki when he stepped into the road to help Ippo know where he should stop. When Itagaki enters the gym in high spirits wanting to see videos of Hoshi's matches to study them, he is shocked to learn that it was decided that he would be resigned from the All Japan Rookie King Tournament due to the injuries on his left hand and achilles tendon. Later, Ippo tells Itagaki about his meeting with Hoshi and the terms he put in order to challenge Ippo being that Hoshi would have to defeat Itagaki in order to fight Ippo. After Ippo talks about how he would worry about who would hold the JBC featherweight belt after he moves on, he gives Itagaki a baton pass. Itagaki promises Ippo that he will keep going until he brings the JBC featherweight belt to the gym when Ippo lets go of it.

Fujii discussing Take with his staff.

At the Monthly Boxing Fan, Fujii expresses his disappointment with the news that Eastern Rookie King Itagaki would not fight the Western Rookie King Hoshi in the All Japan Rookie King Tournament due to his injuries, so they will have to rely on next year's big news. His assistant asks if he is talking about Takamura, but Fujii claims that they need to pay attention to next year's Champion Carnival since Ippo and Mashiba will most likely relinquish their belts afterwards as they have trouble finding competition in Japan. Fujii explains that while Mashiba doesn't have an opponent yet, Ippo has a JBC title defence against veteran boxer Keīchi Take from Fukuoka, Kyushu, who recently became first ranked.

The Veteran Boxer - Keīchi Take

Take discussing the rumour about Ippo his coach.

At the Sameichi gym, Take learns from his coach about the rumour that Ippo might relinquish his belt after his next defence. While his coach is upset and feels that it is an insult, Take thinks it is good for young ones to seek higher competition. His son, Hide arrives to tell Take that dinner is ready. Take's coach requests for Hide to tell Take that he wants him to get Ippo's JBC featherweight belt. However, Hide declines since he knows Ippo is strong since he sees Ippo's match tapes every night. Hide mentions that he is looking forward to go to Tokyo, since his father promised to take him to Disneyland. Take comments that he wants to show his son how a man from Kyushu should live his life. Take tells his coach that Ippo's problem is that he only looks up, leading Take to wonder what happens to people like him that don't mind where they are walking. As Hide leaves with Take, they argue about how Take shouldn't overdo it because they are supposed to go to Disneyland afterwards. At the Kamogawa gym, Ippo learns about his seventh JBC title defence opponent, Take, and how he has never lost by a knockout before.

Later at the Kamogawa gym, while Aoki, Kimura, and Itagaki are watching Ippo shadow boxing, they notice how when he throws a hook, he puts his head in line with his pivot foot and uses it to spin like a top, which helps him lower his centre of gravity to hit faster while using the Dempsey Roll. Kimura comments that when Ippo puts his full weight of his body into the punch and rotating so much his opponent can see his back, there aren't many men alive that can withstand it. As Takamura overhears Aoki mention how Ippo's hook, even if dodged, feels like the wind of it could knock one over, Takamura "demonstrates" knocking someone out with wind by throwing hooks while hitting Aoki with thrown objects. Itagaki asks Ippo if he wants to go with him to see the All Japan Rookie King Tournament, which Ippo plans to.

Date telling Ippo and Itagaki that the opponent he didn't want to fight was Take.

The next day, Ippo and Itagaki go to the Kōrakuen Hall to watch the tournament. There, Ippo and Itagaki notice coach Date is there, who's boxer lost by knockout. Date mentions he heard a rumour that Ippo's next match is his last title defence, and plans on challenging for the OPBF title or higher. He warns Ippo that there is nothing wrong with looking up, but he should not forget to check below too. Date explains to Ippo and Itagaki during the time when he first took the JBC title, there was a challenger he did not want to fight since he was a genius at finding weaknesses. He didn't think he would lose against him, but he wasn't confident he would win either. He comments that he wasn't sure why the opponent cancelled his challenge, but they never fought, which he thought was lucky. He tells them the opponent was the first ranker at the time, Take, who is Ippo's next opponent. After Itagaki was surprised that Take became ranked first again, Date notes that that was the tenacity he did not want to face. Date warns Ippo to watch out and look below him to make sure he doesn't trip on anything before leaving. Ippo then realises he should focus on Take rather than only Miyata.

A Father's Challenge to Answer his Son's Expectations: Words that Hurt him More than Fighting

Take being interviewed by Mari.

Take is interviewed by reporter Mari. In the interview, Take reveals his high respect for Date, and explains how he withdrew his challenge to fight the JBC champion Date due his son being hospitalised and he had to give up boxing temporarily to be with him. As Take claims that his son locked himself in his room for a year after being discharged from the hospital, Mari wonders if he was being bullied. Take simply claims that the world is full of cruel people, but he wants his son to grow up strong, which is why he plans to show his son the back of a father that fights his very best by fighting Ippo for ten rounds. Mari believes that facing Ippo for ten rounds is crazy, however, Take is sure that the pain that his son felt was worse, as he notes that words can hurt more than being hit sometimes. As Take left, Mari reflects how she can see why he has never lost by knockout. As Take hugs his son and Ippo leaves the Kōrakuen Hall, they both are fired up, planning to be persistent.

Ippo and Take at the weigh-in.

At the Kamogawa gym, after doing intense training with Ippo with the mitts, Kamogawa takes a break. Kamogawa mentions to Takamura how Date makes a great leader, reflecting how Date warned Ippo about Take, since he planned to knock Ippo out of his fixation on his match with Miyata. Kamogawa notes that Ippo hasn't fought against many veterans aside from Date, which Takamura responds that Date only had 20 matches, while Take has over 30. As Takamura thinks that if Ippo's rhythm breaks, even his mind could break and he could end up losing. Kamogawa claims that nothing adds more fatigue than a broken rhythm, so they are working on Ippo's stamina, as it will help him control the fight early on. When Ippo and Take's weigh-in arrives, ippo, Kamogawa, and Yagi goes to the Kōrakuen Hall. After Kamogawa complains about Take being late, Take arrives, appearing sick. Take fakes being sick to try and fool Ippo to let his guard down, however, Take is surprised that Ippo feels bad for him, but still wants to give it his all. After the weigh-in, Ippo is shocked to discover from Kamogawa and Yagi that Take being sick was an act to make Ippo act careless. Kamogawa expresses his disgust about the veteran using mind games like that and instructs Ippo to go all out from the start. At a hotel, Take tells his coach how he wished faking being sick would have worked, but realises that Ippo is a good honest person who is careful to mind where he steps, which is why he will be able to get him. Take feels that even if plan A failed, he still has plan B and C.

Champion Carnival - The Challenge for the 7th Defence - JBC Featherweight Title Match - Champion Ippo Makunouchi (Seventh Defence) VS. Challenger Keīchi Take (JBC Rank 1)

Take and his son before the match.

The next day, Ippo bows to the family picture that has his father on it before leaving his house to go to the Kōrakuen Hall for his match against Take. Take, Hide, and Keiko arrive to the Kōrakuen Hall. Before heading inside, Hide asks Take and Keiko if they could take him to the nearby theme park, however, Take mentions that he has an important job to do first. As Hide begins to look worried, Take puts him on his shoulders and insists that he will become champion tonight. At the Kawahara gym while Miyata is going through with his weight management, his father informs him that Ippo's match against Take is about to begin. When Miyata didn't respond, his father realises that Miyata is not in a position to worry about other people. After Miyata mentions that Ippo's not thinking about him either, and that he himself has to worry about the match ahead of him, his father agrees, wanting him to focus on the match ahead of him first. Miyata's father believes that if either him or Ippo fails to reach their destination, they might not be meant to fight again. At the Kōrakuen Hall's audience area as the match between Ippo and Take is about to begin, Aoki, having found out that Take faked being sick during the weigh-in, tells Kimura, Takamura, and Itagaki that Take to have surpassed him in levels of deception a few times over. Takamura notes that it is Ippo's first time fighting a veteran with this much experience, so there is no reason to think he won't have trouble. The announcer announces that the Champion Carnival is about to begin.

Making his way into the ring, the champion Ippo, as he shadow boxes one-twos, something that he hasn't done before in his career, is more ready than ever to finally accomplish this great task of defending his title one last time so he can finally fight the OPBF champion Miyata and also prepare for the world stage. At the other corner, the veteran challenger, Take enters the ring, confident in what he has learned all these years as a veteran fighter, it's time to show his son what he can do against the most powerful fists in Japan.

Take knocked down by Ippo's powerful right hook.

Kamogawa notices that Take's cold is gone and for Ippo to not be distracted a single a bit, Ippo thinks that Take will try to lure him out and if taken the initiative, he won't be able to get it back. Ippo plans to take control of the fight quickly from the very start. As the bell rings, to Ippo's surprise Take wants to touch gloves, instead he pushes him aside and attacks Ippo, Kamogawa yells to Ippo not to be careless but he was quick enough to block it. Ippo dodges and blocks with his Peek-a-Boo Style every vicious attack combination from the challenger, but manages to get hit. Ippo returns back immediately by hitting Take with an extremely powerful left straight that breaks Take's attack pattern. Take is nearly unconscious as his face is knocked upwards, Ippo's power is much more dangerous than he imagined, with his own punch having done no damage to Ippo. Following up from that, Ippo shifts his weight and throws a left hook at Take, throwing him off closer to the ropes and then with a huge step-in, Ippo attacks with an even more powerful right hook, which violently downs Take.

Take using an anti in-fighter clinch.

Take's son cries out, Mari and Fujii wonders if it is already over. Take gets back up calmly by count of eight, and the match continues. Kamogawa agrees with Yagi that Take waited for the count to reach eight. With two minutes left, Ippo dashes in, but Take decides to also dash in and clinches. Ippo is surprised by this unexpected dash, as he asks himself if he is even hurt. Kamogawa yells again that the challenger's legs are weak and that Ippo can knock him down. Itagaki and Kimura discuss that clinches don't work anymore on Ippo, but Takamura explains that this clinch is different as Ippo's arms are both lifted up from his waist, holding them right above his shoulders, so there is no way to hit. The referee breaks them up again and again but Take continues to clinch, the crowd is annoyed at the challenger as they came to watch boxing not sumo wrestling, thinking that he's scared of Ippo's power. Kamogawa tells Ippo to put his elbows in to shake his weird clinch off and so he does just that successfully. As Ippo prepares a left body blow, Take throws his entire body onto him and shuts Ippo down from doing anything.

Take tells Ippo he knows his weakness.

While Itagaki and Kimura, like the crowd, believes that is cheap. Aoki believes that these are great skills and that Take is a good study material for him. While clinching, Take confidently tells Ippo that he has found his weakness, which shocks Ippo as he drops his guard and gets hit. The crowd realises that was a fake-out the entire time, to buy time and recover. Ippo tries to feint and inspect Take, but he doesn't react much to it. Kamogawa tells Ippo to dash in and fight like he knows. A confused Ippo is unable to reach Take's face even though their legs are intersecting and being in his reach. The gong sounds as the first round ends.

Take's son calling at his father to do his best.

Is the challenger hiding a trump card? Will the champion's raw power be enough to gain victory? The TV Announcer says as the second round of this fight begins shortly. At Ippo's corner, Kamogawa yells at Ippo to stop with the random swings and Ippo replies that he's bothered about what Take said that he knows his weakness. Yagi says that it is probably a bluff, but even if it isn't Kamogawa tells him not to worry about any weaknesses, as he's full of them but he always has overcome them with each fight. He asks Ippo to move forward with how he always fights, what makes him the fighter that he is. To Take's corner, Take recalls how powerful that hook he took was, his coach says he hasn't seen anyone being knocked down like that before, the champion is very powerful. What Take was more surprised was his speed, not encountering such speed before along with power. As the call for seconds out of the ring, Take seeks to seal off both of Ippo's destructive power and speed in the next rounds.

Unexpected Troublesome Southpaw Stance

Take enters the southpaw stance.

Right from the start of the second round, Kamogawa and Takamura notice something, as a confused Ippo dashes in but is unable to hit Take despite being so close. Ippo steps back and notices it as well, he has a southpaw stance, something Ippo never went up against one before aside a spar in the past against Akira Shigeta with bad results. Ippo gets even more frustrated and confused having no experience with southpaws before. Take's coach believes that Ippo is too straight-forward of a boxer and that Take was able to understand his speed, power and range with that knockdown. Ippo says in times like this he has to rely on the basics as he tries throwing a left, but Take knocks his punch out. Kimura says that it is tough to fight against a southpaw as jabs are harder to connect and messes your sense of distance, him and Itagaki both express that it he's sneaky. Aoki agrees that he is but what is wrong with using his head if he's falling behind, doing whatever it takes to win is still part of boxing and it shows how much Take wants the belt after all these years being an active fighter. Takamura says there's some truth with what Aoki says, although Take is confirmed to be an orthodox fighter and that by doing this Ippo is twice more confused than before. A very tensed Kamogawa says to himself that Ippo is hopeless when it comes to unexpected ways of fighting him as he has shown in many of his matches prior this. While Ippo tries hard to hit Take, none of them are connecting, Take is one step ahead hitting Ippo now.

Caught in the Veteran's Anti-In-Fighter Web

Ippo caught in the web.

Ippo listens to Kamogawa's calls to stiffen his guard and dash in like he usually does. Take doesn't flinch as he believes Ippo has many other weaknesses, fully being caught in his web. Take dashes as well and throws himself onto Ippo once again, preventing him from being able to move. Ippo's gym-mates take a notice on Take's 15 KO's, being 70% out of all his victories which will mean he might still haven't thrown a powerful punch yet. Ippo tries with his right to hit Take, but Take quickly stops it while he puts his weight up front, distracting him with shoulder work and then he hits Ippo's chin with an impressive short left uppercut from a very close range. Ippo tries to hit him with a right straight but Take avoids it easily as he ducks under and rushes in, hitting Ippo with two continuous short left uppercuts. A lot of blood is spewed, as Take goes for the fourth one, but Ippo pulls his head back fast and dodges it.

Take's short left uppercut approach.

A desperate Ippo tries to hit him, but Take rushes in again and hits Ippo with the same short left uppercut. The bell rings ending the round with Ippo failing at his own speciality, in-fighting. With a shocking expression he gets back to his corner. The crowd is impressed and worried, this was very much unexpected to them as well. Within the crowd, Take's son from being the one worried, now is enthusiastic, as he shouts out at his father that he can win. Ippo on the other side is being scolded by his coach Kamogawa who is very mad, that he's not being careful and has fallen into Take's trap. He tells Ippo not to be distracted by Take's mind games and not let the southpaw and clinches get him, to stick to his style of boxing and pay close attention to his opponent. Yagi feels that they are in a pinch and cannot help Ippo that well here.

Take's short left uppercut connecting.

The third round begins with the challenger rushing in at the champion. Ippo throws a precise powerful left hook the moment he is close to him, then following with a right straight he wins the distance that he previously struggled with. Take does not give up, he dashes in again to initiate another clinch but instead feints it and pushes his body onto Ippo so he can throw a short left uppercut again, with the shoulder work distraction. Ippo this times blocks it off with his right and with a killer left hook, countering his move. A lot of blood is spewed in the ring as Take's face is thrown upwards. To everyone's surprise, Take hangs on and returns with the same short left uppercut to his face. The crowd is shocked from his performance, as Take rushes in again but this time switching to a barrage of body blows to the champion. Kamogawa shouts from the corner that if Ippo loses in in-fighting he will have nothing left. Ippo with a left hook this time hits Take, pushing his face downwards, as he stops moving, Ippo follows up with a right hook to finish him off, but again, it did not work. He manages to still stand and attacks with a short right uppercut instead of a left. Everyone is in disbelief that Take is capable of tanking Ippo's power this well. Take again dashes in and ducks and continues with a few more body blows until the bell rings. While Ippo is at the corner with a bloody mouth, Take seems to be damaged worse as his eyes are getting swollen. Hearing the cheers of joy from his son, Take aims to answer all of his son's expectations, that he will not run away, to continue watching him closely until the very end.

Take being countered by Ippo with a left hook.

Following with a dash in as the next round starts, Ippo throws multiple one-twos and then a heavy right, even though Take blocks them his head is lifted up from the power. With a huge step-in within Take's range he manages to hit him with a left hook almost knocking him of the canvas. Take still stands but he is feeling like his arms are about to break off from blocking such powerful punches. Take with an even tighter guard defends himself from being hit by the multiple short range jabs thrown at him and then he gets his timing down correctly and opens Ippo's guard off instead. Take here makes a huge mistake as it seems from everyone's point of view, leaving his face fully open to Ippo's left but ducks under again to start hitting Ippo at the body but Ippo returns with an accurate right hook down to Take's temple. Take does not fall. They trade a few punches at close range but Ippo is being hit with a many body blows again.

Kamogawa blaming himself for Ippo's struggle.

Kamogawa takes the blame to himself to not have noticed his way of gimmick sooner and that Ippo's power is being cut in half. Takamura explains to them that Take gets lower than Ippo who has a low stance already, presses into his body and then forces it up. His knees are extended, no rotation is done, he's only hitting him with his arms. The trick behind this gimmick is to keep Ippo from rotating, shutting down his strong weight-shifting jabs. Everyone expected Ippo to win this close range battle but Ippo's power has been neutralised. Shinoda says that Take reminds him of Aoki a lot, although different type of fighters they are very similar with how they would use tricks to strip the belt away despite lacking in power and technique. To even get at such a close range, Take had to get past Ippo's insane punches and he has succeeded, they do give him respect in that regard. Take grits his teeth and musters up all the courage he has left fighting a strong champion like Ippo, showing his son what he's capable of achieving. Ippo's jabs are blocked twice and then a short right uppercut cuts Ippo's eyelid as he tried to avoid it.

The Veteran's Toughness and Determination as he Slowly Closes the Gap to Victory

Ippo getting back to his corner with a cut above his eye.

The audience and Ippo's gymmates say that Ippo hasn't been cut at his eye many times either, only once in the past, things are getting worse and worse. Kamogawa as he looks at Take's eyes, he believes they are not swollen from this fight but it is proof, the embodiment of his career from the many hits he took, shaping them this way permanently. Kamogawa being so frustrated with himself asks Yagi and Shinoda to hit him for his blindness, for putting his boxer in such a dangerous situation. The 4th round ends as a bloodstained Ippo in a big disadvantage heads back to his corner. The referee approaches them and asks if Ippo can continue and if they need a doctor to check his eye. Kamogawa annoyingly says that he won't be need anything and the referee replies that if it gets bad the match will have to be stopped. Ippo tells his coach Kamogawa to stop the bleeding, acknowledging how great of a fighter Take is and wants to continue fighting him. Take tells his coach how tough Ippo is, no matter how many punches he throws, he does not budge a bit. Take's son from the crowd cheers him on to win. With a hazy vision he notices his son being this happy for his performance and will continue not backing down from the strong champion, asking his son not take his eyes of his back. To the red corner, Kamogawa asks Ippo to throw a jab as he closes the cut above his eye, Ippo then proceeds to hit the coach as he drops his hand down, purposely getting hit for believing he's at the wrong here. Fujii says that it may look like a reckless fight but in fact this is a perfect way for defeating Ippo. Sendō and Shimabukuro all fought Ippo on close range and made him struggle, but here Take hasn't given in to Ippo's overwhelming power and pressure. He keeps going forward slowly and methodically closing the gap to his victory. Kamogawa again tells Ippo to win the way he always did, move forward with confidence and not back off, Shinoda says that this advice isn't any different from what he's given before this, as the coach's left side of his face is swollen from Ippo's punch. Kamogawa tells Yagi that Ippo seemed excited to learn more from this fight as it will add to his experience, it is how Ippo is, no matter if he's in a pinch.

Imitating the Veteran's Strategy

Ippo using Take's strategy against him.

Starting now with the 5th round, Ippo takes the upper hand by quick one-twos on the challenger, not leaving him off to do anything that eventually it breaks his guard and Take gets hit. Take tries to duck under but still he gets hit from far stopping him from going towards Ippo. The audience is impressed, Fujii also is and asks if he doesn't feel any damage to which Mari thinks back to what Take told her, that words strike at your heart more than being hit. "Run Away" not being in Take's vocabulary. Take manages to duck under one of Ippo's jabs and closes in on him, with a combination of an left uppercut and then multiple body blows like before as he puts Ippo on the defensive again. If being in this same position won't work, Ippo even lower than Take is, and from there he throws a left uppercut that knocks Take off of him. As they rush towards each other to the centre of the ring, Ippo manages to duck even lower than Take was doing and with another left uppercut this time to the body Take is lifted up in pain by Ippo's incredible power. By using his own strategy against him, Ippo switches to a right uppercut and destroys Take's guard throwing his arms in the air. Ippo dashes under again, almost hitting Take with another left uppercut with a vertical rotation. Take expresses that his potential is out of this world, saying that he's a monster, Take tries to clinch on Ippo.

Take exchanging punches with Ippo.

Ippo's gymmates say that if the cut re-opens, the match can end by a referee stop, and a veteran is likely to do that. Take backs off and pushes Ippo away, with a taunt he asks Ippo to duke it out with Ippo so his son can witness here and there that he will not run away from the strong champion. They start simultaneously exchanging punches and with a right straight Ippo takes the pace for a bit but Take hits back with a one-two at Ippo, still standing from that attack. With 30 seconds left for this round they trade dangerous punches in the ring. Ippo pushes him back to the corner from an attack, and with a devastating up and low left hooks combination Take is hit, but still stands, returning with a left hook as well. The audience acknowledges Take's toughness and cheers him on loudly as his son watching calls his father amazing. Ippo's cut re-opens from the slugfest, but Ippo says that as long as he's within range he can hit him. The difference in power is visible to everyone but Take is still standing from Ippo's powerful punches, to the point it might get really dangerous. His son starts to be worried more and more as Take seems to be taking far worse damage than the champion and slowly losing the exchange. Take is hit with a powerful right hook as the round ends. He tries to fight back but the referee stops Take, his eyes are fully swollen. As Ippo is at his corner, he thinks Take doesn't seem to be even conscious anymore. Take not being able to even stand, proceeds into the next round with his son's words echoing "Dad, did you run away?". Take doesn't even recognise his surroundings anymore and gets into the next round just by recalling his son's words.

The Last Showdown of the Veteran Challenger against the Strong Young Champion

Ippo's deadly right hook, knocking Take out.

As the 6th round starts, Ippo's powerfully fast one-two knock Take down to the other side of the ring. Take still gets up quickly as the referee tries ,he pushes the referee aside and they continue to box. Take's son tells his mother that this is enough, that it is his fault that his father is suffering there in the ring, and that if this continues he might die. He was the one who run away from those who got him the idea that his father run away from the strong champion back then in the first place. His mother replies to keep on cheering until the very end. Ippo looking how tough Take is, might have no choice but to use the Dempsey Roll on him. Everyone notices that Ippo started to weave more, and Mari thinks that this might be too much especially when Take might be unconscious he might end up dying. Take dashes in quickly and stops the weaving motion hitting Ippo with another uppercut. Taking the initiative again and declaring a challenge, Ippo questions what can he possibly do as he remembers Kamogawa's words to fight the way he always does just like he practised. With an even lower ducking form than before Ippo dodges Take's right uppercut and from the canvas he throws a nasty counter punch lifting Take's body off the canvas, then Ippo immediately shifts and puts his whole body weight to his shoulder and then fires a deadly right hook at Take as he calls his son's name, Hide.

Without a count, the referee waves his hands signalling the end of the Japanese featherweight title match. The veteran challenger from Kyushu Take has been brutally defeated by Ippo as he defends his title successfully once again for the seventh time. The tenacity and guile of the veteran has been shattered by the young champion's fists.

Kamogawa announcing to the press that they will challenge the OPBF featherweight champion, Ichirō Miyata.

Outside the venue, while Take is telling his son that they can go to the amusement park the next day, Hide reveals that he wants to become a boxer and for his father to be his coach.after seeing how great he fought and declines to go to the amusement park. Take happily hugs Hide in response. In Ippo's room in the venue, the press tries to interview Ippo, asking him if he will relinquish the title and go for the world but instead Kamogawa answers for them, announcing that the will be challenging Miyata next, the OPBF champion. The reaction of the press is as expected, they immediately run off very excited to write articles about it and hype up the public. Kamogawa tells Ippo to not get too excited, instead, he should not forget the pain he went through today, but don't fixate on his mistakes either. Kamogawa adds that Take left a very important mark on him that will help him in the future. Outside the Kawahara gym, Miyata has learned that Ippo won, knowing that it is his turn now. At home, Ippo has trouble eating the mentaiko he got from Take due to the pain he received in his mouth from the uppercuts. Ippo decides to bear with the pain, thanking Take for passing his experience to him. He remembered how Take was a father, which reminded him of his own father.

Trivia

• "Father's Back Arc" (父の背中編, Chichi no Senaka-hen), name taken from Best Bout book Ippo Makunouchi VS. Keīchi Take.