Winner Takes All Arc

Winner Takes All Arc
Information
Volumes	79-83 (5 Volumes)
Manga Rounds	755-790 (36 Chapters)
Chronology
Previous	Destined Boxer Arc
Next	Red Lightning Arc

The Winner Takes All Arc, also known as The Philippine Magician Arc, is the thirty-fifth story arc in the series and the fourth in the Survival Match of Asian Champions Saga.

For the second fight against a national champion in his quest to become the unofficial OPBF champion, Ippo fights the Filipino champion "The Magician" Malcolm Gedo. Gedo's focus is only on the money, and someone fights with magic tricks. The two champions will fight in a winner takes all for 3 million yen.

Summary

Baron Kurita the Freelance Trainer

Baron getting hit by a body blow from Ippo while doing mitt practice with him.

Later, Ippo, Itagaki, and Kimura are surprised to see Isamu and Hiroshi hitting the sandbags. Hiroshi is hitting the sandbag with heavy punches, while Isamu is using Flicker Jabs. Itagaki tries to teach them how to use the orthodox style, but the duo doesn't want to. Aoki, overseeing their training, explains to his gym mates how Isamu and Hiroshi go to a really prestigious private school and are geniuses at school. As Ippo is amazed that just like him, those two are trying something coming from a place that had nothing to do with boxing, wishes them good luck on becoming pro boxers. However, the duo don't want to, as Aoki explains that they simply want to practise boxing for fun. As the duo runs away after making Itagaki mad, they are stopped by Baron Kurita who claims that he is a freelance trainer, who was asked by Kamogawa to look after things while he is away. He claims that he will take them to be a world champion if they follow him. He convinces everyone to go through his harsh training after deeming the boxers unpolished gems. As the boxers went through his training, Baron calls up Ippo to get him to sign a contract, earning Ippo the right to be trained under Baron, promising him that he will take the world title together as "Team Baron". Ippo asks him to do mitt practice with him, which Baron accepts, thinking that he is being tested. Before doing mitt practice, Baron explains that he holds the mitts differently to make them harder to hit. During the mitt practice, Baron keeps increasing the speed of the mitt positions to keep Ippo off balance while mocking Kamogawa. When he places a mitt at his body, he gets hit by Ippo's body blow due to his body blows requiring two mitts to stop. Baron tries to get Ippo to stop, but Ippo isn't listening to him and only paying attention to the mitt's placement, causing Baron to get knocked out of the ring by another body blow.

After exclaiming that that doesn't count, Ippo claimes that he will never abandon Kamogawa, declining Baron's request of joining him. Takamura arrives to the gym and makes Baron run away after he revealed how Baron was just trying to steal Ippo to increase his poor representation. He is chased by Aoki and Kimura, and eventually gets caught and beaten up by the two. Baron gets the two to sympathise with him after he told them that the reason he quit boxing and got poor representation was because his stomach was hurting from having to spar and get beaten by Takamura everyday. As he walks away, Baron claims that his comment on calling Aoki and Kimura unpolished gems was a lie, and that he will come back and get his revenge one day.

Kyōsuke Fukui's Test

Tsukahara telling Kamogawa, Yagi, and Ippo about Fukui's fixed match against Gedo.

At the Kamogawa gym, Yagi gets a phone call from the police about Kamogawa, requesting for Yagi to go to the police station. Yagi starts running out of the gym, but Ippo, Takamura, Aoki, Kimura, and Itagaki starts following him as they overheard the phone call. Yagi tells everyone to not follow him, but decides to bring Ippo because he would be lonely going there by himself. Ippo and Yagi takes a train to Sendai, Miyagi, where the police station is. On the way there Yagi explains that Kamogawa was the one who cause the incident as he was supposed to speak with an old friend and get tapes of Ippo's next opponent as the man's boxer fought him. When they arrive to the police department, they meet Kamogawa, who got released and the victim of Kamogawa's cane assault, coach Tsukahara of the Tsukahara gym. As Yagi and Ippo apologises to Tsukahara, he pleads for Kamogawa's forgiveness, much to Ippo and Yagi's shock. Ippo, Yagi, Kamogawa, and Tsukahara go to a restaurant as they listen to Tsukahara's story how he refused a fixed match when Ippo's next opponent offered, but the man did it after freelance trainer Baron made a deal with him. He revealed that his boxer Kyōsuke Fukui retired afterwards and pleads to Ippo for him to beat his next opponent, Filipino champion Malcolm Gedo before leaving. Kamogawa notes to Ippo that for one to lose a fight on purpose, Gedo must have first rate skills along with being rotten to the core.

Ippo defeating Fukui.

The next day, while Ippo, Kamogawa, and Yagi take a train back to Tokyo, Ippo wonders how it is even possible for Gedo to hold back without getting hurt and without anyone who's watching realising it, especially against a Japanese ranker. When the trio goes to the Kamogawa gym, they are greeted by Aoki, Kimura, and Itagaki who stayed at the gym overnight to wait for Kamogawa's return. As everyone goes into the gym, Kamogawa notices a note on his office door that says "interrogation room". Irritated, Kamogawa finds Takamura setting in his chair asking Kamogawa to confess everything before his execution. Kamogawa responds by throwing a couch at him. Shinoda informs Ippo that he has a visitor. Ippo sees the visitor, who claims to be a Japanese ranker and has come to test himself against Ippo in a spar. Kamogawa recognises the visitor as Fukui, who he believes has come to make memories before retiring. After Fukui expresses how he has always wanted to fight in a title match, Kamogawa tells Ippo to spar against him for three rounds and with the 8 oz. gloves like in a real match. Kamogawa orders Ippo to show Fukui the difference between his positions by knocking him out in one round, or Ippo will be kicked out of the gym. Kamogawa also tells Fukui how Tsukahara is a failure of a coach, and if he wants to stick up to Tsukahara, he needs to show Ippo his grit and survive all three rounds. The spar begins. and Ippo quickly defeats Fukui in the first round by knockout. After Kamogawa comments at Fukui that no matter how many boxers the failure Tsukahara trains, they all end up like that, not even able to survive one round, Fukui runs out the gym as Ippo chases him. Kamogawa goes to the rooftop and discusses with Yagi about the spar. Yagi assumes that Kamogawa played the bad guy in hopes to get Fukui not to retire. Kamogawa notes how fearsome Gedo must be to be able to fool everyone by faking his defeat against a Japanese ranker.

When Ippo catches up to Fukui, he tries to get him to go back to boxing, thinking it would be a waste if he retired after seeing his potential, however, Fukui can't get over his match against Gedo. Fukui then warns Ippo about Gedo's "magic", as his sense of distance was distorted during the whole match for an unknown reason. As Fukui leaves, Ippo asks him if he was sure he wants to quit boxing. Fukui answers that he won't end it and he will prove himself to Kamogawa, who called his coach a failure, and hopes to see Ippo again in the ring again. Ippo realises that Kamogawa was only insulting his coach in order for him to continue boxing.

Magic

Ippo, Kamogawa, and Yagi discussing about the decision to accept the match against Gedo.

Ippo, Kamogawa, and Yagi reviews Gedo's video on his match against Fukui. They watch Gedo's high levelled defensive and manoeuvring abilities, along with Fukui being surprised when he hits Gedo, which Ippo reveals that it is his "magic" to disrupt one's depth perception. Ippo wishes to find out what it is and deal with it himself, requesting to fight him. As Kamogawa agrees with Ippo's decision to accept the match with Gedo, Yagi tries to get them to think first since they don't have a plan and are emotional. After Ippo and Kamogawa disagrees, Yagi, seeing how the two can't forgive Gedo for throwing his matches and wants to teach him a lesson, decides to accept the match against Gedo. While doing roadwork, Ippo informs Itagaki that he will be fighting Gedo. Knowing that Ippo doesn't know how Gedo's magic that disrupts depth perception works, Itagaki jokes that Gedo's arms might be able to extend. Thinking about what Itagaki joked about, Ippo decides to ask Kumi for help. The two eat at the Kahuna Pasta House, and Ippo asks Kumi from a medical perspective if someone is able to extend and shrink back their arms. Kumi doesn't think so, but she does know that some people can dislocate their joints easily, making their arm extend further than it normally would. Ippo wonders if it is possible for someone one to do it regularly, but Kumi thinks someone might be capable of doing it, however the stress over time would become a chronic problem. She is disappointed to learn that Ippo was asking because it is related to boxing. While Ippo is worried about not figuring out Gedo's "magic trick", Kumi is worried about how their relationship hasn't gotten any tighter in the years they spent together. By the time she got home, Kumi decides to not worry about it, as she prefers their slowly strengthening relationship. Upon entering her house, Mashiba complains how the sweater Kumi washed has gotten tighter, causing the two to argue.

Takamura's extending arm magic trick with a cane.

At the Kamogawa gym, Aoki, knowing Ippo is fight Gedo, who is called a magician, showed the gullible Ippo some magic tricks to see his reaction. Takamura arrives to the gym with a wooden cane as he hear the gym members talking about magic tricks. Takamura decides to demonstrate an extending arm magic trick by using a trick with the cane by sticking it under his sleeve and letting the cane fly out while throwing a punch, hitting Aoki. After Aoki gets mad, Takamura swings the cane at him and accidentally hits Kamogawa with it. Kamogawa tells him to get rid of it, causing Takamura to throw the cane at Aoki before running off. Yagi realises that the cane was a present for Kamogawa since the police took Kamogawa's cane since he used it as a weapon on Tsukahara. Kimura thinks Takamura should have just been straight forward and beat around the bush like that. Hearing Kimura say that, Ippo decides that he should just forget about Gedo's magic tricks and if his arm extends, he just has to avoid it and keep moving forward.

Ippo's Spar Against the Grim Reaper

Ippo sparring against Mashiba.

At the Kamogawa gym's office, Kamogawa learns from Yagi that Gedo's side gave the okay and said that they would be good for tomorrow. Surprised, Kamogawa assumes that they must be after Ippo's world ranking, however, Yagi reveals that they didn't know who Ippo was and are only focused on the prize money, which makes Kamogawa furious. Later, Ippo goes with Kamogawa on a train to spar at a different gym against someone with long range in a nearby weight class. Ippo is horrified when Kamogawa takes him to the Tōhō gym to spar with Mashiba, who doesn't even want to see Ippo's face. Ippo is shocked to learn from the gym's coach that Mashiba's comeback match is an OPBF title match. The spar begins with three rounds and both boxers wearing headgear. Mashiba uses his Flicker Jabs to keep Ippo away. When Ippo slips past the Flicker Jabs, Mashiba is hit by a body blow. After missing a Chopping Right, Mashiba retreats and baits Ippo to chase him in order to land a right uppercut. Mashiba becomes shocked as Ippo uses his Dempsey Roll to chase Mashiba while dodging his Flicker Jabs. After a dual exchange against the Dempsey Roll and being hit in the face, Mashiba retaliates with a right uppercut. Mashiba acknowledges Ippo's evolution since the last time they fought, deeming Ippo's use of the Dempsey Roll a style that suits him.

After the three round spar, Mashiba tells his coach how even though Ippo was barely conscious, he still aimed for a dual exchange, wondering why he is so worked up. When his coach informs him that the Kamogawa gym is cautious about Gedo, Mashiba thinks it is odd that the Kamogawa gym thinks there is a chance Ippo could lose, before wishing for Ippo's loss as he feels the pain from the spar. Ippo admits to Kamogawa that he lost and believes the right uppercut was designed to defeat him. Ippo apologises to Kamogawa and Yagi, thinking that the spar was not of any use, however, Kamogawa disagrees. Kamogawa notes that he knew the Dempsey Roll wouldn't work on Mashiba due to his height. As Ippo expresses his amazement about Mashiba's right uppercut he used, Kamogawa mentions that he prepared the right uppercut just for him since Mashiba still remembers the black mark that Ippo left on him in the Rookie King tournament. Kamogawa is pleased with what he saw in the spar, as Ippo's body reacted before his mind as he went forward despite the danger. Later, after hearing from Mashiba that he beat Ippo in a spar, Itagaki meets Ippo while he was doing roadwork to check on him. Seeing how Ippo isn't badly injured, Itagaki assumes Mashiba was exaggerating, however, Ippo disagrees.

Going for Broke

Gedo talking to Kamogawa about the prize money for his match against Ippo.

When Ippo and Itagaki go to the Kamogawa gym, they learn from Aoki and Kimura that Kamogawa and Yagi are talking to someone in his office and Kamogawa is furious. The four run to the office and peeks through a crack at the door and listens. Gedo's only thing on his mind is the fight money, and, when Kamogawa asks him if he knows who he is fighting against, Gedo purposely mispronounces Ippo's name as "Ippon Malnouchi," making Kamogawa angry. Upon asking how much money will be going into the match, Kamogawa claims it would be one million yen before raising it to two million yen when Gedo asked him to repeat it. Kamogawa's conditions for the match are that it would be in one month at the Kōrakuen Hall in a winner takes all. Gedo gleefully accepts and, when he opens the office door, Ippo falls down since he was leaning on it to listen to the conversation. Gedo helps Ippo up off the floor, not knowing who he is. Kamogawa orders Ippo to hit Gedo so hard he will never forget his face or name in their match. At the Monthly Boxing Fan, as the staff becomes worried that they won't be able to get the coverage of Ippo's next match that is one month away due to the sudden announcement, Fujii plans to head out to the Kamogawa gym, however, his assistant informs him that Mari already left. When Fujii finds out from his assistant that the opponent is Gedo, and hears of his record, he thinks that it is unremarkable. Believing that Ippo's match won't draw many fans due to Gedo's recent lost against a lower JBC ranker, he is shocked to see the match poster that claims that the winner would win two million yen. At the Kamogawa gym, Mari asks Yagi about the two million yen deal, believing that it is for promotional purposes to draw in fans. Yagi answers that it wasn't to hype the match, as there is a lot to lose if they do lose. After Takamura asks about Gedo's arm extending, Mari wonders what he means, and if Gedo has a special technique.

Gedo accepting Ippo's offer of an extra five hundred thousand yen if he defeats him by knockout.

Gedo arrives back to Japan, and Ippo trains with Kamogawa until the day of the weigh-in arrives. At the Kōrakuen Hall, the weigh-in between Ippo and Gedo commences. After Ippo passes his weight check, Gedo barely fails his. He tries to get Kamogawa to pay him thirty thousand yen, promising to lose more pounds in time for the reweigh-in, however, Kamogawa sees the scheme and has him take his clothes off and weigh himself again, which he passes. Kamogawa offers another five hundred thousand yen if he wins by knockout, raising the prize money to two million, five hundred thousand yen. Afterwards, Gedo goes to the ring, telling Ippo to come see him. Gedo offers a deal to Ippo, where he will let Ippo win by knockout for three million yen. Ippo refuses, and wants Gedo to take boxing seriously, since one mistake can make one lose their life. Gedo reveals to him how he was shot twice when he pickpocketed in the streets when he was young and poor, making him believe that the boxing ring is the safest place in the world. Ippo offers Gedo an extra five hundred thousand yen if he defeats him by knockout, making Gedo to be able to win three million yen if he wins by knockout. Gedo accepts the deal, and Ippo comments to not think it will be easy.

Winner Takes All - Main Event - Japanese Champion Ippo Makunouchi vs. Filipino Champion Malcolm Gedo

ippo arriving to the ring in his match against Gedo.

On the day of the match, Ippo realises he does not have the extra five hundred thousand yen, but with the help of his mother and friends, he was able to gather five hundred thousand yen. At the Kōrakuen Hall, Aoki, Kimura, Takamura, and Itagaki are surprised by how many people arrived to see the match and chanting "3 mil" since it is just a match between a world ranker and a national champion and the poster only says two million yen prize, as the three million yen prize was only announced the day before. After Gedo appears in the ring, Ippo walks to the ring, remembering how in all his matches, him and his opponent would put their lives on the line in the ring, but Gedo would lose for money, something Ippo can not forgive. At the ring as Ippo and Gedo's match is about to start, Fujii notes to Mari how there is a slim chance that if Ippo loses, not only the money will be lost, but also his ranking and cheers, making Ippo pressured to win. Gedo offers to let Ippo win for another five hundred thousand yen, however, Ippo only glares at him.

Ippo having trouble against Gedo's disappearing tactic.

When the match begins, Ippo immediately attacks Gedo, and downs him after he grazed Gedo's temple with a left hook. Mari approaches Fukui and Tsukahara to ask what kind of fighter Gedo is. She learns that Fukui wants Ippo to win quickly, since the longer it takes, the more Gedo will capitalise on his cunning, which is why he is known as the "magician". When Gedo gets up, he begins to use a trick against Ippo by holding his fist out at Ippo's eye level, then with Ippo's attention on his fist and throwing a punch, Gedo escapes into Ippo's blind spot, seemingly disappearing to Ippo. Ippo has trouble with this tactic until Kamogawa yells to watch Gedo's feet, successfully hitting him in the body once he tracks where he would go from looking at his feet. The first round then ends shortly after. At Ippo's corner, Kamogawa explains to Ippo about how Gedo was feinting at close range to escape into his blind spot, but he now understands it and with Ippo having fought boxers with faster hand speed than his, Ippo should be able to close in. At Gedo's corner, when Gedo admits that Ippo's punches are dangerous and wants to avoid direct hits, Gedo's coach asks him if he will be able to dodge his punches, to which Gedo answers that he is the magician. As Gedo gets ready for the second round, he tells his seconds that they would get 20% of the prize money.

Ippo getting hit by a right uppercut.

In the second round, just when Ippo begins to gauge Gedo's punching range and figures out his trick from the first round, he gets hit outside Gedo's punching range, thinking his arm just extended. He continues to be unable to get close to Gedo, getting thrown off by his lefts that are hitting him outside of Gedo's range until the second round ends. At the corner, since Kamogawa figures Ippo couldn't gauge his distance, he instructs Ippo to aim for dual exchanges. In the third round, Ippo does as ordered and, after a successful dual exchange, he gets to his favourable range at Gedo's chest. However, when he was about to hit Gedo, he is hit by a right uppercut. Ippo attempts to do another dual exchange, but he can not reach him even though he is hit as the third round comes to an end. In Ippo's corner, Kamogawa advises to Ippo to not give up as he will find a chance as the fight has just begun. At Gedo's corner, when Gedo notes how strong Ippo is, his coach asks him if he thinks that he doesn't think he can win by knockout, however, Gedo claims he will be able to. Ippo is unable to get a good hit on Gedo from the fourth to the sixth round, and is repeatedly hit with counters and uppercuts when he gets close. Mari wonders what is happening. Fukui reveals to her that it is his depth perception, which has been became distorted for Ippo at some point and it has caused him to have the disadvantage the whole time. Mari is worried that Ippo will slowly lose after Tsukahara explains that Ippo is like a high performance machine that lost it's crucial sense of depth perception. When Takamura mentions that Aoki and Kimura will be thieves if Ippo loses due to them taking money from their jobs to give to Ippo for his bet, the four Kamogawa gym members tries to find a hint to tell Kamogawa to help Ippo. After Aoki figures out the hint with keywords "range," "swell," "shake," Itagaki informs Kamogawa about it. While Kamogawa claims he doesn't know anything about magic, he does know a magic punch. After the sixth round, Ippo is told two things from Kamogawa: to keep his neck pulled in as tight to his shoulders as possible, and to stop Gedo's movement when he closes in, which Ippo gathers that he should throw a liver blow.

Ippo using the Heart Break Shot on Gedo.

In the seventh round, Ippo is at first pushed back by Gedo's lefts. However, after remembering Date telling him that his fists are light, Ippo feels that Gedo's fists are light as they are fists that only hold onto money and that they do not hurt. Ippo keeps his neck tight and charges toward Gedo, getting to his chest. After dodging a right uppercut, Ippo delivers a liver blow. The punch does not stop Gedo's movements as it only grazed him, leading Ippo to charge forward with his neck tight against Gedo's lefts again. When Ippo gets to Gedo's chest, he perfectly dodges the right uppercut, however, Gedo quickly blocks his chin and his body. Remembering Date and how Kamogawa told him to stop Gedo's movements, Ippo aims for Gedo's heart, and hits him in the heart. Gedo's time isn't paused long enough, as Ippo's follow-up punch only grazes Gedo, however, Gedo immediately backs himself into the ropes from fear after seeing Ippo's punch. Ippo gets to Gedo's chest and delivers two body blows as Gedo blocks his heart by reflex. As Gedo retreats, Ippo becomes unable keep his neck tense and his vision becomes distorted. After getting hit with Gedo's lefts and his eyes become swollen almost shut, the seventh round ends. At the corner, Ippo's swollen eyes are healed after Kamogawa, having placed his hands in a bucket of ice for forty seconds, placed his icy cold hands on them. At Gedo's corner, Gedo believes that he won't be covering his heart by instinct anymore, as he still has some magic left that will prevent Ippo from getting too close to him.

Ippo defeating Gedo.

In the eighth round, Ippo charges toward Gedo, knowing he can take a few hits while getting close. To his surprise however, Gedo's punches becomes more damaging due Gedo clinching his fist and not extending his range with unclenched fists and loose-fitted gloves. Ippo is pushed back to the ropes as he holds a tight guard to his head. His guard gets broken and, after getting hit with a left, Ippo dodges a right as the punches that Gedo throws were no longer confusing him. Being able to see and dodge Gedo's punches, Ippo hits him with multiple body blows, making Gedo go to the ropes. After Ippo stops Gedo from escaping the ropes, and dodges a right uppercut, Ippo hits Gedo with a liver blow that causes him to go down. When Gedo gets up, Ippo and Gedo's fists soon collides, with Gedo's fist being flung away. After hitting Gedo with a right, both boxers gets hit in an exchange. Ippo then hits Gedo with combinations until Gedo goes down from a right uppercut. The referee immediately ends the match, resulting in Ippo's victory. Kamogawa comments on how devastating an opponent Gedo and should make Ippo realise how big the world is was before walking Ippo out of the ring. In the changing room, Ippo thanks everyone for their help with his match before going to the health room via Takamura carrying him after his face begun to swell as the cooling effect Kamogawa put on him after round seven wore off.

Trivia

• "The Philippine Magician Arc" (フィリピンの魔術師編), name taken from Best Bout Ippo Makunouchi VS. Malcolm Gedo.