Scratch Arc

Scratch Arc
Information
Volumes	76-78 (3 Volumes)
Manga Rounds	718-741, (24 Chapters)
Chronology
Previous	Seiken Arc
Next	Destined Boxer Arc

The Scratch Arc, also known as the "The Fallen Hero Arc", is the thirty-third story arc in the series and the second in the Survival Match of Asian Champions Saga.

Ippo and Miyata meet for the first time in a while, and a shocking reveal about their fateful encounter to the promised place comes out. Then, Ippo challenges the fallen hero of Thailand, Jimmy Sisphar, as the first champion in the region, a tough scarred in-fighter that Miyata previously fought with. Ippo has to face him head on due to his rushing style and technique of the Jolt Blow, resulting in a dangerous battle that is sure to end quickly.

Summary

Aoki's Revenge

Aoki's hairstyle returns.

At the Monthly Boxing Fan, Fujii, his assistant, Mari, and the rest of the staff talk about Itagaki's win against Hoshi. Fujii notes that there are only a few candidates that can succeed Ippo, however, Itagaki is far ahead of them. The first thing he and others think is what would happen if Itagaki fought Ippo, believing that it would be a good match. Interested in the Kamogawa gym's momentum due to Ippo, Takamura, and Itagaki's accomplishments, he decides to go to the Kamogawa gym with Mari to cover a variety of topics to create a special feature on the Monthly Boxing Fan magazine about their development. When they arrive, they decide to pass on it after seeing Aoki chasing Ippo around the gym with Takamura's faeces on his head. After getting his usual hairstyle back, and telling Tomiko about how Takamura put his faeces on his head during his antics recently, Tomiko asks if Aoki is turning into a loser, prompting Aoki to desire to return to his old self and get revenge on Takamura for his constant making fun of him. Aoki turns to Kimura, Ippo, and Itagaki to see how he would get his revenge, and ultimately decides to use his cooking skill to get his revenge. He has Tomiko get a swallow's nest for Aoki to use the swallow's droppings by putting it into Takamura's ramen. When the Chūka Soba closed for the day, Aoki calls Takamura over to eat it. Ippo, Itagaki, and Kimura also comes, and Aoki gives them ramen without the swallow's droppings. After the four switch bowls to their liking and Kimura had to leave and gives Aoki his bowl, the four ate. He discovers that his revenge failed as Aoki was the one that ate the swallow droppings ramen, causing a stomach ache.

The Broken Promise Between Two Rivals

Ippo remembers how his father saved him and his mother has protected him all this time. He has known since he was a kid that he want to take over his family's business as soon as possible. Knowing that his mother is always tired and has collapsed before, he is sorry for being selfish and thankful to her for allowing him to box, as every day of his life has been fulfilling as he has been surrounded by wonderful friends. As he does roadwork, he thinks how he feels like everything that has been happening since going to the ring has been like a dream, and is satisfied, so his next match will be his last. By fighting Miyata, he can finally see if he can find the answer he has been asking all along, whether he wins or loses. While he doesn't think he will stop boxing entirely, it will be the last time he enters the ring as a pro boxer, and his last bit of selfishness. He becomes shocked as he finds Miyata by himself. He wonders if he came to see him, asking if his injuries are healed for his match with him. He notices wraps on Miyata's fists and assumes that they aren't, but happily states that it is fine, as he will wait as long as it takes, so he doesn't have to rush it and fight in his best condition. He notices Miyata is stressed and asks what is wrong. Miyata does a dogeza in front of him to apologise. With Ippo confused as to why he is doing that, Miyata tells him to not wait for him anymore, revealing that the match between them won't happen. Ippo questions Miyata's claim since they promised to meet in the pro ring, however, Miyata walks away while telling him that it just wasn't fated. Devastated, Ippo looked down and stayed on his knees for hours while remembering moments of him and Miyata before walking away.

Searching for Answers

Kamogawa learning that Miyata has cancelled his match with Ippo.

When Miyata's father goes to Kamogawa's office, Kamogawa becomes furious to hear him apologise as he explained that his son has decided to put his priority into maintaining his OPBF title, wanting to fight the interim champion rather than the promised match against Ippo. Kamogawa has him leave and decides to cut all ties between Miyata's father and his son. After the father leaves Kamogawa's office, Takamura asks him about his son's decision, knowing that Miyata viewed a fight with Ippo above anything else, however, the father doesn't know either. Takamura suggests for Miyata to fight Ippo after his match against the interim champion, but the father mentions how the chance of scheduling a match between two title holders is small, making it seem that the two are not fated to fight. At the Chūka Soba, Itagaki brings his friend Suzuki from the Kawahara gym. Aoki offers Suzuki ramen if he answers why the match was put off for Miyata to take on the OPBF title match. However, Suzuki does not know why Miyata did so. In Kamogawa's office, Takamura asks Yagi what Ippo and Kamogawa are going to do now, to which Yagi answers that he doesn't know.

Ippo asking Kamogawa who he is suppose to be fighting.

When Ippo arrives to the gym, the gym members notice that Ippo is acting like his usual self despite his match against Miyata being called off. Kamogawa proceeds to do mitt practice with him until Ippo stops, asking Kamogawa who he is supposed to beat. Kamogawa lectures him to remember that the reason he punches and what he chases is to become strong and that there are many strong fighters in the world to fight and become strong, telling him to forget about what happened with Miyata and look upward. As Ippo responds that he can't forget about Miyata, Kamogawa becomes angry and kicks Ippo out of his gym. Takamura asks Ippo if he took Date's baton to only run this far with it, however, Ippo silently leaves the gym. Later, Fujii goes to the Kamogawa gym and sees that Yagi put up the poster for Takamura's upcoming second WBC middleweight title defence match. Fujii deems it almost like a "Kamogawa gym carnival" since it has Aoki, Kimura, and Itagaki fighting in it as well. After Yagi claims that it would be one if Ippo and Miyata's match was the semi-final like it originally was supposed to be, Fujii expresses the disappointment of the press and fans that the two sides has cancelled it. Fujii asks when Ippo's next match will be since he hasn't fought since his match against Take, however, Yagi tells him that he is still away from the gym. Itagaki tries to get Ippo to go back to the gym after a day of working at the fishing boat, however, Ippo ignores him. Back at the gym, when Kimura suggests that Ippo may not come back since Ippo was probably going to retire after his fight with Miyata, Itagaki argues that he could move to the world, however, Kimura points out that he never said he wanted to do that.

The dreams ingrained in Ippo's fists.

Mari goes to talk to Ippo as Fujii was worried that he is going retire. She mentions to Ippo that retiring from boxing when one is ready to is fine since the sport causes extreme strain on the body, and how his record is excellent, however, she adds that his fists seem light. She tells him a story about a boxer, who was star in an amateur high school, and invited her to watch a match that had a boxer that he lost to before. She notes how he was ecstatic when the boxer he lost to scored a down, as he knew that his opponent wouldn't get up because his fists were heavy due to them having his dreams within them. She reveals to Ippo that she learned that many dreams are ingrained into a boxer's fists, making them strong and heavy, adding that Ippo's nineteen fights makes his fists hold the dreams of eighteen people, believing that he can't simply throw them away. As she leaves, Ippo asks if the boxer she was talking about is still fighting, however, she answers that he was an older man she had a crush on, but she suddenly feels like the older one now. Ippo then remembers his reason of fighting was to become strong and decides to continue boxing and run until he gets his answer.

A New Path

Kamogawa mentions to Yagi that he it is a good thing that Ippo's match against Miyata did not happen, since Ippo was mistakenly satisfied with either winning or losing, since without a will of steel there would have been no way he could win. Ippo goes to the Kamogawa gym and apologises and requests for Kamogawa to let him keep boxing. Kamogawa decides to have Yagi call any champions in the OPBF. Kamogawa explains to Ippo of the situation of the world stage, where Ricardo rules the WBA without any real contenders and everyone else aiming for the WBC title to avoid fighting Ricardo. Kamogawa reveals a plan to Ippo to challenge the national champions in the OPBF in order to become the unofficial OPBF champion to make his way to become the first ranker of the world, get the WBC title, and wait his turn to fight Ricardo. Fired up by the announcement, Ippo begins his training with Kamogawa. Yagi is able to get a match scheduled for Ippo to go against that Thai featherweight champion Jimmy Sisphar, who is also known as "Scratch J".

Jimmy meeting Ippo at the weigh-in, wanting to send a message to Miyata about the "Fist of God".

After returning from the training camp, Takamura, Aoki, Kimura, and Itagaki notices a match poster featuring Ippo and are excited to see Ippo in the gym. Ippo apologises for worrying them, but Aoki and Kimura claim they weren't worried as there is no way Ippo will ever quit boxing. Aoki, Kimura, and Itagaki learns from Ippo that he is going to fight Sisphar, who Miyata had fought before. Everyone gets shocked when Yagi explains how Sisphar has been having self destructive matches where he accidentally headbutts his opponents many times because he charges with his upper body, and severe bleeding and the damage to his head gave him scars, which gave him the title "Scratch J". Sisphar arrives to Japan, recognising the country as the place where Miyata is from, and wanting to show the Japanese the "Fist of God". The day before the match, Ippo and Kamogawa goes to the Kōrakuen Hall for the weigh-in, where Ippo meets Sisphar and gets scared of his scarred appearance. When Mari mentions to Sisphar's coach how Ippo is one of the most famous boxers in Japan, he asks if Miyata will be watching his match against Ippo. When she confirms that he may, Sisphar is grateful, looking forward to sending him a message that he perfected the "Fist of God" by defeating Ippo by knockout. Before leaving the venue, Sisphar goes to the ring with his coach to look up at the spotlights at the ceiling, mentioning to his coach how God is up there, and that he saw God while being defeated by Miyata's Jolt Counter, a punch that made him want to find a technique that would bring him closer to God.

outside the venue, Fujii notices how Sisphar was acting made it seem like he is Punch Drunk and wonders if Sisphar's statement of using a knockout victory against Ippo as a message to Miyata meaning that he trying to send a rematch challenge to Miyata. Fujii and Mari assumes that the Kamogawa side doesn't know how Sisphar fights due to the short amount of time the match was scheduled, however, Kamogawa comments that he figured Sisphar is a rushing in-fighter due to the scars

Scratch - Main Event - Japanese Champion Ippo Makunouchi vs. Thai Champion Jimmy Sisphar

Ippo getting hit by the Tornado Jolt.

The next day, at the Kōrakuen Hall as Ippo walks out of his waiting room, Ippo thinks that he will use this match as a message to Miyata that they will tread different paths starting with his match against Sisphar. At the ring before the match, Kamogawa instructs Ippo to prevent Sisphar from getting fired up and move forward. Sisphar does a signature prayer at his corner. When the match begins and both boxers touch gloves, Ippo is surprised as Sisphar jumps back, as he thought that Sisphar is an in-fighter. However, it is revealed that Sisphar was just building momentum as he charges toward Ippo. Ippo has trouble facing Sisphar's tactic of charging forward from a distance and throwing powerful Jolt Blows, with even a Cross-Arm Block not being able to fully block it. Ippo charges forward to stop Sisphar's charging and enters an in-fight, however, the punches Ippo lands, including a right counter against a huge swing are ignored by Sisphar. After Ippo's hand gets blown back from a close range Jolt Blow, he goes down when he is hit by a Tornado Jolt as the gong to end the first round sounds. It is declared a slip, however, as he got hit by Sisphar's inner elbow due to sticking his head forward as it hit to disrupt the point of impact as a reflex from training to do it to Miyata's counters. In Sisphar's corner, his coach tells him that Ippo's spirit should be broken, advising for him to crush his body as well, however, Sisphar knows that his spirit isn't broken due to the way he avoided a direct hit from his Tornado Jolt. In Ippo's corner, Ippo is told by Kamogawa how he doesn't have his usual advantage of close range fights, but there's is only one thing he can to do.

In the second round, Ippo takes the advice and does the only thing he can do: move forward. Ippo is able to land hits, however, they are not enough as, after he realises that Sisphar can repeatedly throw full powered punches, he takes a hit and loses consciousness for a small period of time. Ippo begins to lose hope, throwing halfhearted punches as he did not expect the repeated full powered blows. He is hit by another full powered blow and barely catches his fall, while bruises surface on his shoulders, as Ippo has been having Sisphar hit his shoulders to reduce the power. Ippo and Sisphar has a dual exchange, which hurts Ippo the worse. As Ippo is sliding down at the corner from the damage of the dual exchange, Sisphar was about to land another punch. However, the gong ending the second round sounds and Ippo's impending fall was saved due to Yagi's timely arrival of the chair catching his fall. At Sisphar's corner, the coach is surprised that Ippo went for dual exchanges. Since he realises that Ippo keeps getting knocked back, making it hard for Sisphar to land a finishing blow, he tells Sisphar that he needs to corner Ippo to finish him off. Ippo notices how he stopped Sisphar's charging after the dual exchange and believes that dual exchanges are the only option, which Kamogawa agrees. In the audience, Takamura explains to his gym mates that Sisphar and Ippo are rock in terms of janken, and that Ippo needs to throw rock harder than Sisphar to win.

Ippo knocking out Sisphar with an uppercut from his Dempsey Roll.

In the third round, Ippo and Sisphar have dual exchanges and exchanges at the centre of the ring, with Ippo throwing his punches differently to that of the Jolt Blow, which damages Sisphar more than Ippo's usual punches. After the third round, at the corner, Sisphar decides that he will have to not hold back and to take Ippo's future away because he hasn't given up on the world stage, as his scars prove. At the other side, Ippo is instructed by Kamogawa to use uppercuts rather than left and right hooks like Sisphar in order to change the rhythm. In the fourth round, after a lengthy exchange session between the two, Ippo attempts to throw an uppercut after a hook, however, Ippo brings his body up too soon and the two boxers' foreheads collided, causing severe bleeding above their eyes. Sisphar's experience of fighting in situations like so makes Ippo get hit while being unable to hit back due to his vision being affected by the blood. Ippo is launched back by an attack and saw something in the lights on the ceiling. Ippo motions the Dempsey Roll and, instead of a constant figure-8 motion, Ippo moves his body up from below, aiming for Kamogawa's mitt in the ceiling's light, landing an uppercut on Sisphar. Sisphar goes down from the uppercut and the referee immediately stops the match, making Ippo the winner. While a stretcher arrived to get Sisphar, he is able to walk out alone.

Outside the venue, Sisphar's coach is worried about Sisphar's head being fractured since he fell badly, however, Sisphar claims that he has never felt better. He also realises that he has been stuck in a nightmare ever since his lost against Miyata, as what he thought was God, was the devil he has been seeing in the spotlights, believing that he was being sent to a path of self-destruction. Because of the realisation, Sisphar reveals to his coach hat he will be retiring from boxing. The coach believes that there may be a God above the ring after all after realising that a God must have told Sisphar that he was walking a path towards self-destruction, however, he also believes that the God that told Ippo to keep fighting must have a grim face. Kamogawa scolds Ippo for being pulled in by Sisphar and throwing only hooks. Takamura predicts that if Ippo can control the uppercut he defeated Sisphar with freely and throw it freely, he could combine it with the Dempsey Roll's sideways motion, making it the ultimate free form high speed combination. Takamura thinks that it won't just be an anti-Miyata weapon, wondering how far ahead Kamogawa is looking into the future. Outside the venue, Kamogawa reflects on how the sacrifices of sealing the Dempsey Roll and the daily buildup Ippo undergoes is starting to bear fruit and the glory he saw far away may become visible. Ippo reflects that he has branched off a different path from Miyata in order to find his answer as to what it means to be strong.

Trivia

• The "The Fallen Hero Arc" (堕ちた英雄編) name was taken from Best Bout book Jimmy Sisphar VS. Ippo Makunouchi.