Rusted Blade Arc

Rusted Blade Arc
Information
Volumes	70-72, (3 Volumes)
Manga Rounds	657-672, (16 Chapters)
Chronology
Previous	Father's Back Arc
Next	Chaos Arc

The Rusted Blade Arc is the thirtieth story arc in the series and the fifth in the Law of the Ring Saga.

As Ippo did his part of the promise, it is Miyata's turn to, by winning his fifth OPBF featherweight title defence against Choi Jong-bong so he can meet Ippo at the promised place. After the match, Miyata has a fateful encounter with Randy Boy Junior, who believes that they are meant to fight and that Miyata can not escape destiny. Then, Takamura has his first WBC middleweight title defence against Richard Fox. As the semi-finals for that title defence, Kimura has a rematch against Eleki Battery, and Aoki has a rematch against Papaya Dachiu.

Summary

OPBF Featherweight Title Match - Champion Ichirō Miyata (Fifth Defence) VS. Challenger Choi Jong-bong (OPBF Rank 6)

Aoki with three strands of hair after getting rid of his Broccoman hairstyle.

At the Kamogawa gym, Ippo learns from Yagi that at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan in March, as openers, Aoki has a rematch against Papaya, Kimura has a rematch against Eleki, a bantamweight world title match will be the semi-final, and Takamura will defend his WBC middleweight title for the first time against a third ranker as the main event. Takamura wishes he would move to the super middleweight class immediately, but Kamogawa comments that there is a proper way to do things in the world. Aoki and Kimura are sure that they will win since they found out the Papaya has weak stamina, and Eleki has a weak body. Aoki wants payback against Papaya for causing him trouble for the Broccoman incident. Takamura is curious to see what lies underneath Aoki's hat on his head covering his broccoli hairstyle, however, when Takamura pulls off his hat, everyone laughs as Aoki shaved his head and has only grown three strands of hair. Ippo asks his gym mates if they want to come watch Miyata's fifth OPBF title defence match with him. While they were not interested, Aoki calls Kumi, who accepts the invitation to watch with Ippo, much to Ippo's dismay. The next day, Ippo goes to the Kōrakuen Hall and met with Kumi, and the uninvited Mashiba. They go inside to watch Miyata's fifth OPBF title defence match against Choi Jong-bong. At the seating area, Ippo asks Mashiba when his junior lightweight title defence for the Champion Carnival will happen. Mashiba answers that it is in April, but no opponent has been decided yet.

Miyata fighting Choi.

As the match between Miyata and Choi is about to begin, the two boxers appear in the ring. As the announcer says that the winner will be accepted to fight JBC champion Ippo, the audience gets excited over a possible Ippo vs. Miyata match. Ippo believes that Miyata will win, but Mashiba feels that when someone who is expected to lose gets their head together, they are capable of anything, so it is only natural for an upset to occur. Miyata is told by his father to stay focused and concentrate of his current opponent rather that his possible future one. Choi is instructed by his coach to step in with a tight guard and to go after Miyata's body to stop his movements. When the first round begins, Miyata plans to use the first round to study Choi. Miyata goes on the defence as Choi immediately attacks Miyata and enters close range, leaving Miyata having to block a barrage of body blows. Miyata has trouble against Choi's elbows and headbutts after a headbutt connected, however, Miyata lands a right counter after Choi tried to follow-up with an overhand from a headbutt, sending him down. Miyata knows that it isn't going to be easy, and that the counter he threw was just luck from the distance and timing. When Choi gets up, Miyata uses his quick footwork to dodge Choi's attacks and land lefts and a one-two. Miyata and Mashiba realise at the same time that Choi's style, especially the way he steps-in is a lot like Ippo, with Mashiba thinking that they have already started working on a strategy against Ippo. After the first round ends, Miyata tells his father that he doesn't compare to Ippo, but his father claims that he should not be in a rush and slip up. Miyata continues to dominate in the match in the second and third round. After the third round ends, Miyata goes to his corner and informs his father that he saw Mr. Sakaguchi in the crowd. While he isn't worried about him, Miyata is worried about the man sitting next to him, as he looks familiar, especially his eyes. Miyata's father tells him to not worry about them, and to just focus on the match.

Miyata defeating Choi.

When the fourth round begins, Miyata becomes distracted as he tries to remember who the man is, resulting in Miyata getting hit by a strong right. As Miyata tries to get away, Choi steps on Miyata's foot, preventing him from getting away. Miyata proceeds to get hit as he tries to remember who the man next to Mr. Sakaguchi is. After Miyata takes many hits, the referee stops the match to have the ring doctor check on Miyata due to the bleeding from the cut on his face. As the doctor informs the referee that he needs to stop the match because the cut is too deep, Miyata tells the doctor to stay out of his way since he has somewhere he needs to go. Miyata's determination to continue and the crowd supporting his decision leaves the referee forced to continue the match. As Miyata is unable to do his footwork because of his damage and is determined to win to keep his promise with Ippo, he decides to enter a close range exchange match with Choi. After landing a Cross Counter, Miyata begins to have the advantage in the exchange until he is the only one landing his punches. Miyata sends Choi down with his combination of punches, and the referee goes between them as Miyata doesn't stop hitting Choi while he was on his knees. The referee ends the match without a count, resulting in Miyata's victory. Miyata reflects that that was his worst match ever as he leaves the ring, skipping his victory interview. Outside the venue, Ippo is excited that Miyata won, as they will now be able to fight in the professional ring as they promised.

Miyata's encounter with destiny.

At his room in the venue, Miyata is told by his father that, due to him breaking both of his fists, his match with Ippo will be rescheduled for another time, which Miyata replies that he is grateful for having it delayed instead of cancelled. As Miyata leaves to go to the doctor, he is met by the man that was sitting next to Mr. Sakaguchi. After the man claims that he and Miyata are destined to meet, Miyata requests for him to identify himself. The man does not answer, instead he throws a punch that Miyata dodges and tells him that they are meant to fight. When Miyata's father approaches them, the man leaves after noticing that it is a father-son team and warns that Miyata can not escape from his destiny. Miyata tells his father that he has no idea who he is, but believes that he is no cannon fodder. When the man comes out from the venue, he informs Mr. Sakaguchi that Miyata turned him down and he noticed that his fists are broken. Mr. Sakaguchi reassures him that their match will still happen despite that. As Miyata exits the venue, he is told by his father to forget what just happened and to concentrate on healing and on Ippo. Miyata agrees, as he will finally have his match with Ippo.

Fox Hunt - Undercards - Tatsuya Kimura vs. Eleki Battery/Masaru Aoki vs. Papaya Dachiu

Press conference fight between Takamura and Fox.

The next day, Ippo, as well as the rest of the gym is informed by Kamogawa that his match with Miyata has been postponed due to Miyata fracturing both fists, however, Ippo will be the first OPBF title challenger when he recovers as his return match. Later, at the press conference for Takamura's WBC middleweight title defence against Richard Fox, Takamura comments that he no longer has a reason to stay in the middleweight division. Knowing "Fox" means "Kitsune" in Japanese, he mentions that after this "Fox Hunt", he will conqueror the super middleweight class next. When Fox hears Takamura's comment, it makes him mad, and a brawl between the two almost happened. At the Monthly Boxing Fan Fujii notes that Takamura's match will be a good thing for their magazine, since there would have been a void without it due to Ippo and Miyata's match being postponed. After Fujii stresses that they can only rely on Takamura, Mari reveals that they can now also highlight Mashiba, as an article has just printed out that he would be fighting Sawamura in the Champion Carnival as his seventh JBC junior lightweight title defence match opponent. At the Tōhō gym, Mashiba learns from his coach that the press has announced his match against Sawamura. Mashiba wants confirmation from his coach if it is against the law or not to kill a man in the ring.

Kimura fighting Eleki.

Later, Ippo and Itagaki go to the Ryōgoku Kokugikan for Takamura, Aoki, and Kimura's matches. Upon arrival, Ippo and Itagaki learns from Fujii that Mashiba's JBC title defence match in the Champion Carnival would be against Sawamura. When Ippo and Itagaki go to the Kamogawa gym's waiting room, they are shocked to see Kimura excited. Kimura expresses his excitement over hearing the news that Mashiba and Sawamura would be fighting each other in the Champion Carnival, possibly making at least one of them damaged, with another challenger damaging them even more, resulting in an easy title match for Kimura. As Kimura's rematch against Eleki is about to begin, both boxers go to the ring, and Kimura immediately notices that Eleki's body looks stronger, fixing his weakness. As the match begins, Kimura's attack to Eleki's body leads him to confirm that he has overcame his weakness, much to Kimura's dismay. Kimura continues to aim for Eleki's body and gets dragged to Eleki's pacing, letting Eleki hit him with a counter, causing Kimura to go down in the first round. In the seventh round, Kimura's body blows are revealed to be a set up for his Dragonfish Blow, making Eleki focus on guarding low so that Kimura could hit him with the overhand of his technique. The Dragonfish Blow causes Eleki to go down, however, Eleki stands back up. The match continues and Kimura and Eleki lasts until the match ends, where it ends in a draw.

Aoki fighting Papaya.

Aoki goes to the ring to go against Papaya and, after being ordered to take off the hat due to rules being against wearing a hat in the ring, the match begins. Aoki immediately notices Papaya has a bigger right arm to improve his Coconut Punch. After hitting Papaya once, Aoki runs away for nine rounds until he gets deducted a point for it. As the audience jeers and Papaya taunts Aoki to come to him, Aoki goes to attack him, but gets hit by the Coconut Punch, sending him down. After Aoki gets up, the ninth round ends. In the final tenth round, Papaya begins excessively sweating and gets easily knocked down twice. However, since Aoki was unable to get a third down, the match ends in a draw.

Fox Hunt - Main Event - WBC Middleweight World Title Match - Champion Mamoru Takamura (First Defence) vs. Challenger Richard Fox (WBC Rank 3)

Takamura defeating Fox.

With Aoki in the locker room, Ippo, Itagaki, and Kimura meet up in the hall. They meet the next person who is about to fight, Yūta Ishii, who is challenging for the bantamweight world title. Yūta tells Ippo that he will be in the same position soon enough, and Ippo wishes him good luck. Aoki joins the group to watch Yūta's world title match. They watch as the undefeated Yūta gets defeated in two rounds, acknowledging how huge the world is. As Takamura's match against Fox begins, after shouting that "hissatsu" means "instant death," Takamura manages to knock Fox out 2:47 into the first round with a right overhand. After watching the matches, Fujii expresses his surprise to Mari about Yūta's failed attempt to get a world title and believes that the fire of the Japanese boxing world would be put out if Takamura's loses his title. Fujii thinks that that fire can't be put out, but the world's still a far off place.