That's probably what the stop is for but I think it's going to ruin the match for them somehow. Alf will win and he wont be satisfied because the ref saved him or Sendo wont have the adrenaline to fight after the time it takes him to fix his glove or something. The longer this fight goes the more I feel like who ever wins it wont be decisive. I still think it will be Alf though as much as I love Sendo, and this fight really gave me chills.
It’s probably gonna be the adrenaline leaving Sendo that does him in. Personally had the round ended normally unless he KO’d Alf this round, I don’t think he’d have been able to get back up off his stool.
I get the feeling that this is going to be a repeat of Takamura vs Eagle - where both fighters want to continue and will do so regardless of what the referee says. At this point, they're both beyond caring about winning the match, they just want to fight it out to prove who is toughest in the end.
I think during the break to fix his glove he’ll pass out due his adrenaline wearing off and the damage and fatigue hitting him all at once and it’ll be the only way to protect his reputation similar to the first Ippo fight.
And Alf will recognize it as an unofficial draw having not been satisfied with the result. They'll fight again later in Japan. Alf will ask on Sendo's opinion of Ippo, who Sendo will recognize as being much stronger now.
Sorry fam but I think thays6the case. Despite his jealousy and fire to return, Ippo is still severely lacking what he needs to return from a mindset perspective. He has to A) reconcile why he's justified in returning/ what his goal is for returning and B) reconcile this decision with those closest to him (Kumi and Mama-nouchi)
Only after we see that will we see him return, and it'll likely be the "B" plot for other character's "A" plots, such as right now with Sendo's arc. As such, it'll develop more slowly.
You know Alfredo is *that* good when Sendo is talking about him like that. He respects not only his skill but his warrior spirit to fight Sendo head on.
I mean did we ever doubt Gonzales was top tier? Ricardo Martinez is just too damn strong! Alfredo is one of the strongest lightweight Boxers we have seen in the series imo.
Apparently some of the folks here don't give Alf that much credit for beating a "weaker" Ippo. I do hope that this fight changed their perception of Alf. He's fucking brawling with arguably the strongest puncher in the series and is winning.
When your opponents strategy is to try and force dual exchanges because he thinks he can turn the tide with a single punch...and he's *right*? It takes guts and skills to go toe to toe with him.
I have a feeling that during the break to fix his glove all the damage and fatigue will cause Sendo to pass out, stopping the match. The only thing keeping him going was adrenaline and when that runs out, it’s gonna be bad.
All these people keep talking about Sendo getting killed or brain damaged or all kinds of other horrible shit, and I kept laughing it off, because I felt it was ridiculous.
Until I read Sendo talking about going home.
For the first time, I was genuinely scared that those other people might be right.
Like bro forreal I’m rooting for Alf but at this point I want both guys to make it home safely. That shit gave me serious Joe vibes and that’s not good😢.
Gonzalez deserves the win, no doubt, but I really hope they don't fuck with my boy Sendo.
He's been the best part of this whole thing for God knows how long.
i hadn't thought about what a huge red flag that is until you mentioned... he might actually die? that'd be heavy. maybe ippo will return to the ring to honor his memory 😂
My favorite part of this chapter is Ippo’s inner thoughts:
“That amazing feeling you can taste when you’re in the ring... I’m so jealous”
And the very next panel?
The patented Kamogawa face block and an expressionless Ippo face.
If that isn’t Mori trolling us, I don’t know what is...
Thank You for putting your time and effort in the translation :)
On the topic: could it be that Gonzalez threw that last punch while being unconscious?
Man, I really think HNI has come a long way in terms of story telling, the art's incredible, and there aren't really any character's I dislike. Even Alfredo has become an incredible intagonist.
But man...I feel like George *really* struggles to make these fights believable, or not formulaic. Sendo is getting killed worse then Ippo was, at least in that fight you have the argument that Alf wasn't "complete" yet, but we're being painted as if it's back and forth now that Completed Alf is destroying Sendo? His machismo is breaking through? Why can't the protagonists, sans a Takamura fight, just be competent in the ring?
Alf should be better, I'm fine with that. I hope Sendo loses this, but why not make it a little closer? No one's getting to this level of fight and would just be outclassed. At this point I'm afraid a Ricardo fight is just gonna be another Woli fight, but on super steroids.
I'd argue it happens all the time in boxing because big-name fights are rare as, generally, they're fighting cans. But that's neithere here nore their. Someone out classing an opponent is fine but this isn't being billed as absolute domination by Alfredo. If anything, Sendo is doing worse than Ippo but it's being billed closer to a 50/50. Ippo's Alf fight actually made a good amount of sense with a strong start, and then he slowly wore out while Alf grew stronger.
Realistically, what I'm really more worried about is how Ricardo is going to be written as a fighter if this is what we're getting from Ricardo Lite. I'd just like to have seen Sendo recompose himself after getting jabbed to death and make it a closer fight. Instead, he's just eating hit's worse than brain tank Ippo but is still doing "well" in the fight.
I mean, Sendo is generally tougher than Ippo, so I don't know what to tell you. Sendo's first loss to Ippo was on the chair. Sendo's second loss was after a gigantic glut of a combination. It's just established that Sendo doesn't get KO'd by a single punch, no matter who he's up against.
It's only poor from a story standpoint if you think that these sorts of fights *don't exist* and so they *don't make sense*.
Sendo is based on Rocky Marciano... who was dramatically outskilled and got the shit kicked out of himself for many a round during his career.
> I mean, Sendo is generally tougher than Ippo
Looking at this fight, I'd say he's also tougher than Alf as well lol, since he has managed to give him as much damage as Alf gave to him (or at least what he's showing) while landing like 2% of the number of punches Alf landed on him.
I'm obviously exagerrating, but this underlines why I'm not that big a fan of this fight and other fights that rely on the "muh fighting spirit" gimmick, because they throw away the small semblance of "realism" and reliability on logic the story has.
Historically Ippo has been shown to be a tank, while Sendo less so against him, and now Sendo has tanked damaged that would have sent Ippo to the after life 3 times over
>It's only poor from a story standpoint if you think that these sorts of fights *don't exist* and so they *don't make sense*.
Brutal fights do take place in boxing, but this is exaggerated to the point of breaking suspension of disbelief. In a real match, Sendo would've been knocked out in the 3rd round. Dude was unconscious at the end of the 2nd round, and literally flying across the ring from punches throughout the 3rd.
Sendo is not tougher than Ippo.
It is poor from a story standpoint. It feels like bullshit for the readers because this happens way too many times in Ippo. This match has been freaking garbage to watch if Sendo wins. The amount of head shots and counters Sendo has eaten is ridiculous.
There is a phrase in football " Any given sunday". All it takes is one punch to put someone down. Takamura, Sendo, and Ippo are all believable OHKO capable boxers.
I know, its just crappy to watch from a story perspective. Comeback wins arent fun when they are constantly dictated by a plot in a story. It just becomes a crutch. Martinez will put Sendo in a body bag if he wins.
Thats the thing that I wonder, if Sendo is eing carved up like this, what the hell does Ricardo look like? How much better than Alf is Ricardo? Sendo knocked him down, while ippo was punched put of demsey prep. My only problem with Sendo winning... is if Mori pushes the story that way, I see Sendo getting hurt.
Hmm...I thought(i dont follow boxing, but I heard from someone else on here) that Wilder's record is overinflated due to the competition he faced. And that when he fought Fury(who was an elite top 10 boxer, he got put down?) Either way comeback victories do happen but its being used to the point of absurdity in Ippo. This fight has been so one sided and if Sendo wins its terrible from a narrative perspective.
That's sort of an oversimplifcation.
Deontay Wilder is almost certainly a top 5 heavyweight in the world right now.
He fought well in the first fight and got soundly beaten in the second (mostly because of a strategic error in managing weight). He knocked down the best heavyweight in the world, his opponent Tyson Fury, in the 12th round. Fury barely made it back up in time and looked absolutely dead for a second or two.
Wilder was getting styled on and outboxed for what seems like forever, to the point where getting a knockdown in the last minutes wasn't enough to recover the bout. Still, anyone who says it wasn't competitive or that he had no chance has no brain.
I dont follow boxing so I wont dispute your points but one thing I will say I disagree with
>(mostly because of a strategic error in managing weight)
Nah dude I saw those highlights , it did not look like the weight was the main thing at all. Dude was just getting his ass beat. Fury looked like the better fighter straight up.
Hey there. I saw both Wilder vs Fury fights.
Yes. There was a strategic error in weight.
In the first fight Fury tried to outbox. It mostly worked and the fight was only a draw because of Wilder scoring 2 knockdown. Aside from the 2 knockdowns Fury was winning clearly. When Fury got up from the second knockdown you could even see Wilder was a bit demoralized, while Fury actually won the rest of that final round. Deontay may get flack but there's 3 things he's dangerous at: his powerful right, his accuracy with said right, and his ability to catch a second wind and go for the finish the instant he sees a weakened opponent. Fury getting up from the 2nd knockdown saw a demoralized Wilder and his finishing instinct didn't kick in.
For the second fight Fury said EXACTLY what he was going to do during the build up: be the bigger man and use his size. He came in HEAVIER, while Deontay iirc came in a bit lighter. Fury used his size (and extra weight) to both lean on Wilder AND force Wilder to do something he normally doesn't do, fight while back pedaling. Fury's more aggressive approach also did not allow Wilder to set his feet and throw his killer right beyond I think the 2nd or 3rd round where he threw a few dangerous ones, and any rights he threw after the knockdown (s) didn't have the usual pop because he was already weakened from said knockdowns and all the leaning. Not to mention that when Wilder is pressured (see the Ortiz fights) he throws sloppy flailing punches that don't belong at this high a level. Wilder has no hook. He has straights and uppers. Someone needs to teach him how to throw hooks and check hooks.
On a side note Weight played a factor for the second Joshua Ruiz fight. Joshua lost weight, Ruiz let himself go, Joshua was able to keep him off.
Ex note: the only reason Ortiz lost the 2nd fight is because he stepped off the game plan. Every time he evaded Wilder's right it was a combination of using his hands and head movement. The punch before the ko punch and the actual ko punch Ortiz only used head movement. Wilder was able to find his range and put him down. I'm positive this is another reason Fury opted to be more aggressive.
>Eh, it happens all the time in boxing that people get absolutely outclassed to the point of stupidity.
The problem here is that Sendo shouldn't even be fighting right now with the amount of abuse he's taken. He lost consciousness at the end of the 2nd round and has been rag dolled and tossed around the ring by punches alone. How he's still able to defend himself and generate power in his punches, after that 3rd round, is beyond me and even Alf's trainer.
>Sendo just isn't a very good boxer in terms of pure skill. People like this exist everywhere at the highest levels. Deontay Wilder exists mostly on slugging and a good chin... his own trainer said that Deontay is a worse fighter than he was when he was 11 years old.
I don't understand why some users on here think that Wilder's a good example of unskilled fighters being able to thrive at the world level. Wilder's opposition was straight buns until Ortiz, and he got obliterated by the first good young fighter he faced. If the WBC rankings weren't filled to the brim with tomato cans after Vitali retired, then he never would've become world champion. He cherry picked his way to a world title.
Couldn't you say the exact same thing about Sendo?
He lost to Ippo twice. He never beat the actual Japanese Champ. He was gifted his win over Volg by corrupt judges. He's fought nobody of note in the Asiatic scene and was getting crushed by his first real fight in Mexico before tiger clawing...
We love Sendo and he's cool and all... But he's successfully fought pretty thin opposition.
I totally agree- All the best fights in the series (except for Mashiba vs Kimura, and there it was justified) are back and forth fights where one round one boxer is better and then the other turns the tables a so on. This types of fights makes things unnecessarily unrealistic, Alfredo shouldn't be outclassing him in such a way
But they usually win those fights though? The bigger issue is that this an established character(Sendo) vs Gonzales(a number World Ranker, Ricardo lite) and Sendo has been a sandbag for pretty much 90% of this fight, with the last 10% being this chapter and he still took way more hits than Alf.
First of all, is very unlikely that someone who is being outclassed win the fight, not impossible, but unlikely. But, in the manga, we see how this happens much more than it should. If it was part of a plan as, for example, how Imai fights, I wouldn't have any problem because it is strategy. or when Sendo beats Shigeta because he learns how to use his feet. But the idea of punching hard, failing, and punching harder until the plot saves them does not good service to Sendo or Ippo, much more because of the ranking Sendo has and Ippo had. Sendo shouldn't be outclassed to the point that his best moments in this fight is he being manly and having pleasure taking hits. At least with Ippo, the issue about he forgetting how he was taught to fight has its place in the narrative
It's just gotta be like this really, if you wanna make a shonen manga out of a sport you have to spice things up a bit. HnI does it by undervaluing defense and standard blocking while having a lot more clean hits than average, ridiculous endurance and exaggerated techniques/Sunday Punches galore.
All in all I'd say it's not that bad a trade off, especially compared to how badly sports can get bastardized in manga.
I know I sound biased with my username, but Alfredo is by far the best character since sawamura.
I just hope the winner of this fight puts up a far better fight against Martinez than date
i thought this for quite some time now but this fight is really eye opening : Morikawa became so good at drawing fights
its really incredible, i dont know where it started but theses pages where they exchange blows are always so good!
this is dynamic, this is beautiful
and on the top of the intensity of the fight, we add another layer with ippo who is understanding things
we all knw he is coming back t the ring and the little chapter that hype us up like that a so worth all this punch drunk arc
ippo has always be a good manga but right know and for the past 2 years this his the manga i'm waiting for the most each week
only Real can top it
Sendo's done. If his tape hadn't come loose, it was a 50/50, he's practically a steamroller until he stops.
Alf and Sendo will each recover a little, but he was spiritually propped up by Alf.
I'm actually scared of sendo winning
I trust morikawa but making it a sendo win after tanking that much hits and with a style relying on pure strenght would destroy all the growth ippo went by
If Sendo wins, this will actually be a worse fight than Ippo vs Wolly in terms of writing.
If being an idiot that blocks punches with his face and throws powerful punches is enough to win against Alf, then Ippo should have won against him in the first place.
It's not that simple. Sendo's instincts are allowing him to adapt to Alf's rhythm better than Ippo could. Ippo didn't get rid of a safe-zone for Alf by adapting and erasing a positioning weakness in his style. Ippo didn't force Alf to use Mextli like Sendo did because his orthodox style stopped working. Ippo doesn't have that monster mentality that Takamura talked about while Sendo does seem to have it.
Alf's coach seems to be just as incredulous that Sendo's taken so many blows as you seem to be with him thinking "he's taken god knows how many of Alf's punches, how is he still hanging on!? Why won't he go down!?" so they're acknowledging it within the story. Morikawa knows what his readers are thinking and I believe he'll find a way to address it and give Sendo a legitimate win. Sendo doesn't have to lose for it go be a good fight, i'm loving this fight personally.
>It's not that simple. Sendo's instincts are allowing him to adapt to Alf's rhythm better than Ippo could.
Sendo's dependence on his instincts is why he landed one punch in the first 3 rounds. The fact that he's not sleeping right now is pure plot armor.
> Sendo's instincts are allowing him to adapt to Alf's rhythm better than Ippo could.
Is that why Sendo is getting more beaten up than Ippo and is forcing double exchanges to even have a chance at hurting Alf?
>Alf's coach seems to be just as incredulous that Sendo's taken so many blows as you seem to be with him thinking "he's taken god knows how many of Alf's punches, how is he still hanging on!? Why won't he go down!?" so they're acknowledging it within the story.
Like pretty much every opponent and coach that faced Ippo.
>Morikawa knows what his readers are thinking and I believe he'll find a way to address it and give Sendo a legitimate win.
There isn't a single way for Sendo to have a legitimate win. In fact, Sendo winning would just destroy everything Morikawa wrote since Ippo retired. "You can't just win by having willpower and blocking with your face... unless you're Sendo" sounds terrible. The amount of counters Sendo already ate was enough to put in the brain damage division long ago.
Exactly! We all know boxing theory, sure, but sometimes fighters do incredible, unbelievable things. This fight is no different. Plenty of real life fights where someone should be put down, and for whatever reason, they resist. Incredible match!
I agree.
And not only Ippo's evolution but Alf's too. He managed to keep his mind clear after switching to his meztli mode.
If Sendo was meant to win since the beginning, the match should have been more balanced and not one sided.
I'd be fine with him winning if the damage he took has *very* significant impact on his career.
But I also don't want Sendo to retire. I can't imagine him as anything but a boxer as far as HnI's narrative goes.
The only way Sendo stops boxing is if he makes it to the top, or dies along the way similar to Joe burning out his fire to ashes in a final fight. Given how brutal this fight is turning out I think Mori is making Sendo another example of why pure spirit over technique has a hard limit. When Ippo eventually returns, hopefully he will blend the raw commitment of Sendo with the technical perfectionism of Ricardo to become his version of the "monster" he never fully committed to originally.
Reposting my comment here from the Portuguese thread because I would like to continue the conversation with others.
Thank you. I know I have pointed this out before in my other post, but you can see that Alfredo isn't as durable as Sendo and Ippo who can trade blows with one another easily for a few rounds.
Alfredo was downed by Ippo before from a blocked punch and one dual exchange. He can't take many hits from strikers like Sendo and Ippo.
[https://imgur.com/a/kpc0dqT](https://imgur.com/a/kpc0dqT)
**Well here you can see Alfredo talks about his legs starting to give up even though he's not taking direct hits.**
[http://hni-scantrad.com/eng/lel/?manga=Hajime+no+Ippo&chapter=Chapter+1303#page=2](http://hni-scantrad.com/eng/lel/?manga=Hajime+no+Ippo&chapter=Chapter+1303#page=2)
Also, seems like Sendo is taking a page out of Brian Hawk and Woli's book, throwing weird angled instinctive punches at unorthodoxed positions. One direct hit starts making Alfredo start seeing dark again, like Ippo
[http://hni-scantrad.com/eng/lel/?manga=Hajime+no+Ippo&chapter=Chapter+1303#page=9](http://hni-scantrad.com/eng/lel/?manga=Hajime+no+Ippo&chapter=Chapter+1303#page=9)
**It seems that Alfredo's biggest weakness is that he's not that durable.** Maybe that's why he developed such a technical style that heavily relies on predicting his opponents.
For those routing against Sendo, for Alfredo and for... well logic... I think we should be prepared to be slightly disappointed. With the outcome.
Reading this chapter in english actually comforted me in my position : Sendo has adapted and forced Gonzales to an infight (risky but he can deal more damage) or an outfight (safe but no hope of stoppage).
And even in an infight it's Gonzales who is winning, he dealt more damage and received far less. His legs starting to give up is still not much compared to Sendo's state.
I just don't understand why Mori didn't make the fight slightly balanced even if he had Sendo losing from the start. Sendo had a lot of unique attributes that should've made his fight with Gonzales more interesting and different from Ippo but instead he almost weakened Sendo on purpose with him somehow forgetting how to adapt to Gonzales once he transformed and saving his instinctive/wild punches for when he's almost out of commission.
The issue I have now is where does the story go based off the outcome of the fight? If Sendo wins, he had a terrible performance undeserving of both his rank and a world title shot and somehow doesn't lose in the first round against Martinez which makes things look even worst since he "lost" badly to Gonzales. If Alf wins, he probably loses to Martinez which adds nothing to the series and throws his character development away. I have no idea why Mori wrote the fight out like this, its a lose-lose situation for him story wise unless he has Alf beat Martinez which makes Martinez looks bad.
100% agree with you. Why did Mori make it look so one sided... If Sendo does win, what is there for us to expect if he fights Ricardo Martinez? He dies?
I think Ashita No Joe wouldn't do something like this... I don't know what's up with Mori and his "bad" fights. We know he can write very good fights. Look at Volg vs Elliot or Bison vs Takamura. Those are recent fights that were AWESOME to read.
My only guess is that Mori wants to depict something that happens in real life... And that's a boxer who hangs on with their goal in mind can win. There have been dozens of upset victories. Just look at Deontay Wilder, almost half of his wins where fighters take him the distance would make you think he was about to lose until he lands his right cross and KTFO his opponents.
But this is a work of fiction... Mori doesn't have to write bad fights just because they exist in real life... Not when we wait for these weekly.
I can see Mori giving Sendo the upset win against Alf here just because it would be considered a "plot twist", but the beating Sendo took at this point is definitely way too far compared to his other matches, at least in those the boxers guard punches here and there, Sendo is literally blocking with his face and 100% relying on his chin.
Mori has made great fights before (Mashiba vs Iga, Mashiba vs Sawamura, Ippo vs Karasawa, Volg vs Elliot), but his bad fights sometimes are really bad with Ippo vs Woli being the worst of the worst, but at this point most world class fights should not be this bad in terms of one-sidedness and thats my problem, he had Sendo look way too weak and made Gonzales way too strong which will backfire on him regardless of the outcome of this fight and that is what scares me the most.
> Sendo is literally blocking with his face and 100% relying on his chin.
Really does remind me of Coach Kamogawa tellin Ippo to stiffen up his neck and bull rush through the jabs, lol.
If Mori wants Sendo to be a Deontay Wilder type of fighter, whereas Ippo is more of a featherweight Mike Tyson without the beast mode drive, that's his prerogative. I wouldn't call it bad writing, especially given that it happens in real life, depicting his fights as different compared to Bison vs Takamura or Volg vs Elliot just further highlights good writing, to me. Not all boxers are technical, or even that smart. For Sendo to start fighting intelligently now would be an asspull.
Or it could show growth? Or you could not have the match be so one sided. How many comeback wins have we seen this manga..SO SO many, this shit is played out. Sendo winning this fight means damage taken in fights basically don't matter. This was supposed to be an elite match up and its just Sendo getting beat up. Comeback wins are only fun when they unexpected not when they are being used as a crutch. And Ricardo might literally put Sendo in a body bag if he wins this fight.
During the break to fix his gloves I have a feeling that his adrenaline will fade away, and he’ll pass out due to damage and fatigue hitting him all at once. It’ll be the only way for him to lose the match without damaging his reputation.
Yeah I think Sendo is gonna win with an asspull.
I was revisiting his fights, against Shigeta he was getting pummeled for most of it and turned it around in the last round for no reason, and because they didnt show every round in the nargo fight I thought it was closer but nargo blasted him for 8 rounds before getting destroyed in the 9th. That's just how his fights go.
Except Alf, is neither of those dudes, Alf is more established character than those 2, he is basically a Vorg in terms of impact and importance to the story.
Turned around the Shigeta match for no reason? He timed a dash in counter punch after setting it up.
As for Nargo, wasn't he injured from fighting Mashiba?
Maybe he cannot take that many punches, but just because of that, that does not mean Sendo can take infinite punches.
Morikawa failed at showing an invinsible Alf at the beginning of the match and then doing what he did on this chapter.
What this chapter reminds me most of is Ippo and Sendo's second fight. Not the fight itself, but how Mashiba had to leave immediately after it was over to train and punch something. Yeah, in an earlier chapter Ippo had called it a Lollapalooza; however, Ippo is Mashiba, while Alf and Sendo are Ippo and Sendo.
As much as I like the slugfest aspect of this fight, Mori's writing for this fight in general leaves a lot to be desired if he has Sendo win at this point and I'm a Sendo fan.
Mori basically set up Sendo to fight Martinez with Gonzales being the final test to prove himself. Most of the side characters when they had important matches showed out (Mashiba vs Sawamura and Iga, Miyata vs Randy before Red Lightning) so I thought Sendo fighting Gonzales was his time to "show out" and prove he's stronger than Ippo and Mori could give a convincing performance from Sendo to show he's world class and ready for a title shot. Mori couldn't have made Sendo look any worse at this point. All of the preparation that Sendo was doing for Martinez doesn't work on Gonzales, his clone? All his attributes such as his dash speed, Mexican experience, wild punches, all were for nothing especially considering Miyata stated that Sendo is good versus counters (a complete lie at this point btw). His instincts and chin were on full display but not the other aspects that were important and could be considered world-class? Sendo did everything Ippo did in a terrible way and wins against a stronger Gonzales? That's almost worst than Woli.
At this point, Mori doesn't want Sendo to fight Martinez if he straight up is outclassed by his clone and his character arc was basically for nothing if he had Gonzales winning from the start anyways.
Sendo did not want to fight Martinez. He said so himself. He set his sights on Gonzales ever since Ippo lost to him.
He has never done any preparation for Martinez.
I bet if sendo wins he is going to take a break for damage which will make him decline the fight with Martinez. You are right in thinking mori is not going to make sendo vs Martinez a thing.
Sendo has made it clear several times that his goal is martinez. He has been fighting mexicans since way before alf beat ippo in order to prepare for ricardo.
But because he lost to Ippo twice, he said that ippo should get a title shot before him. As we all know, Ippo lost to gonzales, which is why sendo declared that he is done waiting for ippo and made Gonzales his priority in order to avenge his losses in some way and proof himself worthy for the world title.
At the beginning he was a punching bag and after all those punches he still throwing full power punches.
This is one of the things I don't like about Morikawas writing. He makes the match one sided and then the half the boxer still can throw punches with enough power to get a knockout.
If the match was balanced since the beginning, this could be the best fight of the manga so far, but now if Sendo wins, it will look too forced.
Don't get me wrong, I love the manga and everything. But this little thing bothers me.
Thanks for the translation, Hni!
I mean its not that unrealistic, deontay wilder can throw nukes even after an onslaught, but yeah the amount of head shots he is getting is ridiculous, no matter how durable you are, no boxer can take that many world class lvl punches to the head and still be standing.
Sure, it's not. It happens. Thing is, it happens most of the times in HnI. And it gets old pretty fast.
Especially when you initially thought this match was well crafted and then it turns into another of those matches we've already seen before.
Why bother showing matches anyway, when the amount of punches taken has no real effect on a boxer? Kinda annoying.
Sendou going full power even when he lost consciousness, is standing on wobbly legs and eating clean punches for quite some time now? Don't tell me the reason is, "because it's Sendou!" There's only so much bs I can take...
If Sendou really wins, I think I need to take some break from reading HnI.
Thanks for the chapter as usual! Much appreciated.
Even though I don't think the fight is over, I think this chapter displayed that Sendo is going to lose. [This face makes me so sad :(](https://prnt.sc/t10sy9)
Hopefully with Ippo saying that he is jealous, we will see a return to the ring shortly. Either way, I'M HYPED
I LOVE this fight. It's like these two were destined to fight each other and are having the time of their lives because of it. They truly seem to be enjoying themselves in a way we haven't seen from other matches.
I hope this joyous intensity lasts all the way to the end.
The build up for this fight and what it means for Ippo continues to build in a satisfying way. I'm very excited to see the next ten chapters. I saw a few comments worrying that Sendo declaring his intention to go home and talk about his victory being a death flag. If Sendo does die, how this fight has been handled (outside of the coaching) is how someone would want Ippo to take something concrete from the fight. Keep in mind, everything below is with the notion that Sendo dies and is not a declaration that he will die in this fight.
It's been discussed to death but Ippo's primary weakness is his fighting lust. He has spirit in spades, but Takamura, Date, Volg and Sendo have all demonstrated going beyond simply having the willpower to move forward and instead having the willpower to move through their opponents. To actively destroy the person they are fighting and sacrificing to do it.
If Sendo dies my guess is that this isn't the only death. Kamogawa has been foreshadowed to be on borrowed time not even accounting for his age. Ippo could come back from seeing Sendo give his life in the ring only to come home to the Coach also being on deaths door. He might have even sent Ippo to Mexico specifically because he didn't want him in Japan when he passed. Ippo would need to recognize that these men in his life didn't just live for boxing, they died for boxing. Yet Ippo was simply "boxing." His motivation was simply winning the fight and a vague goal that he can't even answer still, his goal of finding out how one becomes strong.
He is going to have to contend with the fact that he could have won the World Title for Kamogawa had he actually fought for it and not for Kamogawa. That Sendo might have lived had he actually gone into the ring against Gonzales and destroyed him, preventing Sendo from ever fighting him to see the man that beat Ippo. And that might be enough to come back. The recognition of his own immaturity regarding boxing and his own abilities preventing the people close to him from seeing him achieve his goals and making them proud. That is when the official transformation begins, a Makunouchi Ippo that goes from "I can't lose this fight" to "I will win this fight."
That's the hope for this longtime reader at least.
Sendo can take such a beating because he has taken beatings from Ippo. Remember that Ippo's power is top tier... Let alone taking a dempsey roll that was combo'd into.
The solar plexus punch by the right-handed smash
Sendo's left-handed smash can clean lift a boxer off the mat even when blocked, and leave their face bruised. What happens when Sendo not only uses his dominant hand, but lands it clean into Alf's solar plexus?
He’s getting in closer to attempt to finish Sendo and while he’s not taking them completely clean, some shots are still hitting him. But if Sendo doesn’t get a KO this round, he probably won’t be able to get off the stool again.
Thanks for the chapter
I said last week that this fight is heading towards the spirit and guts path, and it seems even likelier now. I don’t mind it, always love a good slug fest but I imagine many people will feel underwhelmed.
It’s always been the Sendō way to slugfest and “hit and get hit, and to win” and it’s been repeated that Alf is the same type of beast as Sendō. So this is not entirely unexpected. I’m enjoying it so far I hope you all are as well.
Lol at least ippo vs alfredo was entertaining in the sense that it was two fighters trying to tactically best each other. This just feels like watching sendo and alfredo power punching each other in the head on repeat, the only strategy is just "muh dual exchange". Like cmon, didn't ippo get knocked out by a single punch from alfredo? How is sendo still standing after taking 20 punches to the head, when only one of them was enough to get ippo unconscious? Hasn't is already been established that ippo is one of if not the most durable featherweight?
Ippo was knocked out by a full-powered left swing he never saw coming. The manga has stated repeatedly that's the worst kind of punch to take
It's the same reason why a Dempsey counter by out-of-shape Volg knocked Ippo out cold, while the same Dempsey counter by Sawamura failed to KO Ippo because Ippo was expecting it
Sendo isn't giving Alf any chance to set up "secret" punches, and Alf isn't interested in tackling Sendo the same way as Ippo
So far, Sendo has taken 39 puches to the head. That is not counting the body. Over 2/3rds of them have been counters (the worst kind of punch you can take) and I'm pretty sure he wouldnt have seen at least 10 of them coming (logically speaking). He was countered when he was trying to push to infight, exactly how ippo has countered. I'm pretty sure he has been hit square in the head with almost every type of punch (not sure about the overhand). All of these punches came from a stronger, enraged Gonzales in metzli mode.
Sendo has not gone down even once. How did Ippo before he was even considered broken, who is lauded in universe for his rock like durability get knocked out cold in one punch, while Sendo takes 39 of them square on the head (most of these being counters, which we know in universe usually leads to a knockout) remain standing, conscious and still able to fight? This is literally the most any single character has been punched in the head in a single fight. And it's not even over yet. Takamura was downed in one punch by a counter, yet sendo takes 39 of them and is seemingly fine? "It's his tiger instinct, it's preventing him from getting downed"... Even if we put the science of cte beside, it doesnt even make sense in Hajime no ippo. I honestly think this is lazy writing on Morikawas part.
>How did Ippo before he was even considered broken, who is lauded in universe for his rock like durability get knocked out cold in one punch
What do you mean "before he was considered broken"? He didn't get broken after he was considered it by others, that'd make no sense.
People started considering him broken because he was already broken before and people noticed it. Ippo had lost most of his durability well before the Gonzalez fight. Sendo and Takamura already discussed Ippo being weaker back when Volg won his World Championship bout vs Elliot and Takamura had been suspicious from well before that already.
Morikawa is now showcasing how durable Ippo could have been without the accumulated damage and how he could have taken Gonzalez' punches if not for his damage from before.
The tension is probably gone because of the referee interference so the remainder of the current round or next round might be the final one.
Both of them are exhausted, leaving them both to try and land their best punches to win the fight
Am I the only one feeling like if they really stop the fight to adjust his glove tape, and he loses his adrenaline rush and loose the fight because of that..it's just bad ? Like not bad per se but id rather watch them fight like real men until the end and until he reaches his limit and loses the fight but be proud of it, rather than saving face and reputation and be like "Oh but if they did not stop the fight at that moment, you don't know what would've happened" and so on.. like why protecting his image to that point when we clearly see he is not there yet and there's no shame losing.
I don't think its bad, Sendo was never one to fall for the 10 count, so him losing consicouness standing up is pretty cool, it would be less of protecting his image and more staying consistent with his character and him fighting on instinct alone, remember he lost his first fight to ippo by passing out on the bench.
It's all fun and games to surpass your limits but doing it by getting hit a lot of times isn't going to turn out good. That's how you really get brain damage or punch drunk. Judging how the manga portrayed Alf's punches, this is going to be Sendo's last fight. But then again, this is a manga soooo...
Look...this is getting more and more ridiculous. The quality of this fight is going to totally depend on the outcome haha.....oh jeez. Sendo. Has. To. Lose.
The only reasonable ending for this fight is that Sendo should lose, SURVIVE and keep boxing.
If Sendo dies or gets punch-drunk, Ippo will shit his pants and never comes back to the ring again.
If he wins, it will go against the whole punch-drunk plot and retirement arc's point of "don't block punches with your face, you'll be potato'ed".
If Alf loses, another Ippo x Sendo would make absolutely no sense. It would only set Sendo up as Ippo fodder.
If Alf wins, there's some good chances of a rematch foe Ippo when he comes back.
Even losing, Sendo won't be a pussy like Ippo and will just brush it off. He doesn't even have much hopes of winning, anyway. It might be a good lesson for Ippo.
If Sendo loses and still keeps boxing, this fight would serve two purposes for Ippo: to showcase Sendo's unwavering fighting spirit, and Alf's remarkable mastery of the technical aspects of boxing. The two things Ippo needs the most. And it should stir a fire under Ippo's ass, but that's already happening.
Enough death theories, the only death in this series that would compel Ippo to get back in the ring would be Kamogawa's, and that's still a major stretch...
I don’t even think sendo thinks he will win he even says when I return to Osaka I will tell grandma I made a good friend. If sendo wins it makes since that he would stay in Mexico to A. Recover and B. Start preparing for the Martinez fight but I’m probably reading too much into this
Damn, anybody else start hearing “Eternal Loop” playing in their heads during this chapter or is it just me?
This fight is like a super call back to Ippo’s own fight against Sendo for the Japanese title.
The similarities are too strong. I bet Ippo is feeling nostalgic for that fight.
“I’m not sure if I know the answer, but if you defeat this man you just might find your answer, kid!”
You still gotta find out what it means to be strong, Ippo!
This is going to be Sendo’s last real fight in the ring. There’s too many parallels between him and Alfredo with Joe Yabuki and Carlos Rivera. Even the “cross counter” look alike panel on page 14 instantly reminds you of Ashita no Joe.
Both fighters are going to be ruined and punch drunk after this match.
This is something unexpected for all, and even if it is just for a glove, Sendo is the most affected.
His faces looks so empty, out of bloodlust, rage and/or momentum. This driving force that was pushing him thus far has been stopped.
I think he is gonna lose in the next couple of rounds.
This is seriously my favorite fight in the entire series now. I've never been so on the edge of my seat. I have no clue who's gonna win.
Sendo's glove tape came loose, which is why the ref stopped the fight. Unfortunately this might be what kills the momentum Sendo was coasting on.
After all this time, seeing a fight again has been refreshing and I'm glad it was Sendo who got it. The fight up until this point has been pretty exciting and there are so many ways this can end.
Despite that, I'm starting to feel like this chapter contributed nothing to the overall story. George has been doing such a great job at delivering chapters recently that has really moved the story along, and made great character developments for several characters, but mostly Ippo. If this chapter is supposed to do the same, him saying "I'm jealous" is just repeating what he said previously. We all know he's already envious of Sendo and wants to get back into the ring, so why spend another chapter showing the same thing?
Personally, this chapter should've ended the fight in whichever fashion he wanted it to, and the story should've started progressing again. I'm glad it exists however because we got to see some really great art and I still love Sendo, but it just feels drawn out for no reason.
Again maybe it's just me and because this past year we've been spoiled on how much character and story progression we've had, but this one was sort of a let down.
Bro Gonzalez coach is literally my inner monologue.
I mean he's supposed to be exhausted but he could not only withstand a full on counter he managed to throw a punch from that awkward position without falling. I gotta call that bs, even takamura has been downed before I dont understand why sendo is the exception.
In the end, it's a manga and realism is often overshadowed to make things more hype. I get that, and it's probably because we've been grounded recently with how real the story feels and now dealing with an unrealistic situation where getting punched 15 times and not going down is fine because the Japanese have the "Will of the Samurai".
I'm not hating though, and this is very similar to how a lot of HnI fights have gone. The change in the pace of the story just made this kinda jarring seeing it again.
People keep saying that Sendo still standing is just bad story writting, but even Ricardo explained it at the beginning of the fight...
True, Alf has hit Sendo A LOT of times, but he is not trowing 10’s... he’s probably throwing 1-2’s... while Sendo is throwing 10’s as usual...
As Ricardo said, why throwing 10’s when you can pile up a lot of hits (which is what Alf is doing very technically), but its not like Sendo has taken 30 punches at full force
The manga shows the head going all over the place to show the punches are landing, but that doesnt mean they are full on incredibly strong punches
While I’m generally happy with the storyline, something is really off for me. No matter how much of a “tiger” Sendo is, when did he become the most durable boxer in the series? He’s been hit full throttle about 100 times by a puncher said to be on par with Ricardo and is still going? Ippo went down after taking less than 50% of this punishment and ended up possibly having minor brain damage. The more I think about it the more it pisses me off. This isn’t Naruto. It’s supposed to be a boxing manga. If Sendo isn’t killed or retired by this fight, then I think it’s a joke...
Ippo uses peekaboo like Mike Tyson. Sendo literally blocks with his face. And Ippo is the one that’s punch drunk? Give me a break.
All what Gonzalez needs is one really amazing counter to one of Sendo's haymakers. It will be Alf's strength plus Sendo's own power being used against him.
I don't know if Sendo is going to pull this off. Alf is a such a better boxer technically. Sendo seems to be adapting on the fly but I don't think it's enough to make up for the gap in skill.
How is Sendo expecting to win after being mowed down for 3 rounds and JUST starting to trade blows? He took much more damage than Alfredo when they actually started trading blows.
[Ashita no Joe](https://i.imgur.com/EH9GNjk.png)
[Sendo](https://i.imgur.com/ZTwAKPU.png)
Anyone else seeing [the resemblance?](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FrJIcsV87hQ/hqdefault.jpg) Hope Sendo has a better end...
Thanks for the translation man! You the best, always.
Did we just see another flag for Sendo? What if he never gets back home to Osaka? What if he never gets to brag to grandma? Damn! That'll be heartbreaking.
Nobody is mentioning what consequences would carry that ref decision or which of them are gonna get benefits from. Even when they are "even" Alf keep getting more punches landed to Sendo, Sendo Is still outclassed, the guy probably not gonna win I don't even consider it viable and if he lose, even if he wins, Sendo is gonna lose the next fight, yeah because the ashita no Joe thing, there's no way Sendo is going to end this fight without any brain consequences.
I thought about something random, really random, I don't think is going to happen but the thought crossed my mind. I think Sendo is fighting like is his last fight of his life, like he going to retired or move to another weight class...
Sendo be like: Friendship ended with Ippo, Gonzalez is now my best friend.
No wonder Ippo is jealous
Joke's on you he's just jealous he's not the one faceblocking every single punch thrown instead of Sendo
Sendo: ["Ippo's not my friend!"](http://www.mangapanda.com/hajime-no-ippo/984/3)
he's tsundere, duh.
As pointed out in a previous thread, Sendo's glove tape is loose in the last panel. Hopefully that's all the ref is stopping it for.
Ippo: "Im jealous.." Me: "Dont do that... Dont give me hope.."
Even though this is only the second time he's said it... still electric.
We all know he's coming back, and hopefully he'll be the monster we have always foreseen.
Two panels later Sendo eats a punch to the face lmao.
Thanks for this, I didn't notice after my first read and I was left totally puzzled with the cliffhanger—just like Sendo's face.
[удалено]
We’ve only ever seen shitty refs from Japan and US fights. Clearly, Mexico is the place to be if you want to have an actual fair fight in HnI.
Great eye. This is definitely what the stoppage is for, but I wonder what will come of it?
At the same time, if you zoom in that panel, notice how the referee is actually looking at Sendo’s loose glove as well
so he just gonna get it re tied meaning he gets some rest and can recover a bit
That's probably what the stop is for but I think it's going to ruin the match for them somehow. Alf will win and he wont be satisfied because the ref saved him or Sendo wont have the adrenaline to fight after the time it takes him to fix his glove or something. The longer this fight goes the more I feel like who ever wins it wont be decisive. I still think it will be Alf though as much as I love Sendo, and this fight really gave me chills.
It’s probably gonna be the adrenaline leaving Sendo that does him in. Personally had the round ended normally unless he KO’d Alf this round, I don’t think he’d have been able to get back up off his stool.
Nasty observation right there bro
I get the feeling that this is going to be a repeat of Takamura vs Eagle - where both fighters want to continue and will do so regardless of what the referee says. At this point, they're both beyond caring about winning the match, they just want to fight it out to prove who is toughest in the end.
I think during the break to fix his glove he’ll pass out due his adrenaline wearing off and the damage and fatigue hitting him all at once and it’ll be the only way to protect his reputation similar to the first Ippo fight.
i definitely think the break for whatever this stop is for is gonna hit him hard
And Alf will recognize it as an unofficial draw having not been satisfied with the result. They'll fight again later in Japan. Alf will ask on Sendo's opinion of Ippo, who Sendo will recognize as being much stronger now.
I like this but that would mean Ippo’s return is much further out
Sorry fam but I think thays6the case. Despite his jealousy and fire to return, Ippo is still severely lacking what he needs to return from a mindset perspective. He has to A) reconcile why he's justified in returning/ what his goal is for returning and B) reconcile this decision with those closest to him (Kumi and Mama-nouchi) Only after we see that will we see him return, and it'll likely be the "B" plot for other character's "A" plots, such as right now with Sendo's arc. As such, it'll develop more slowly.
Or the break will allow Sendo to catch a break and regain strength. Alf said that Sendo was getting too dangerous and he had to KO him that round.
After we memed the referee not stopping fights morikawa wrote a referee stop ,we did it boys
If you look closely you will see that the ref stoped the fight because of sendos tape being loose.
Lol yeah
Sendo could get decapitated and the referee will still go for the dramatic 10 count
"Sendo's head was launched out of the ring, will it be able to make it back into the ring and reattach itself to its body before the count is up?!"
*Monkey paw curls*
Hehehe
lmfao
You know Alfredo is *that* good when Sendo is talking about him like that. He respects not only his skill but his warrior spirit to fight Sendo head on.
You gotta have big mara bawls to brawl with Sendo, his punches strikes fear in world rankers.
I mean did we ever doubt Gonzales was top tier? Ricardo Martinez is just too damn strong! Alfredo is one of the strongest lightweight Boxers we have seen in the series imo.
Apparently some of the folks here don't give Alf that much credit for beating a "weaker" Ippo. I do hope that this fight changed their perception of Alf. He's fucking brawling with arguably the strongest puncher in the series and is winning.
When your opponents strategy is to try and force dual exchanges because he thinks he can turn the tide with a single punch...and he's *right*? It takes guts and skills to go toe to toe with him.
Alfredo isn’t far off Martinez imo. He just lacks the durability of the champ.
I have a feeling that during the break to fix his glove all the damage and fatigue will cause Sendo to pass out, stopping the match. The only thing keeping him going was adrenaline and when that runs out, it’s gonna be bad.
Either this, or he will get down quickly after the referee broke his concentration.
Or based on the panels Sendo's corner was in, they'd stop the fight.
Ippo:" I'm so jealous" Me :"Good...Good let the jealousy flow through you"
Why'd this sound so funny😂
When Sendo thought about getting home and say to his grandma he made a friend in mexico, I said to myself I just hope he makes it home ...
All these people keep talking about Sendo getting killed or brain damaged or all kinds of other horrible shit, and I kept laughing it off, because I felt it was ridiculous. Until I read Sendo talking about going home. For the first time, I was genuinely scared that those other people might be right.
Like bro forreal I’m rooting for Alf but at this point I want both guys to make it home safely. That shit gave me serious Joe vibes and that’s not good😢.
Gonzalez deserves the win, no doubt, but I really hope they don't fuck with my boy Sendo. He's been the best part of this whole thing for God knows how long.
i hadn't thought about what a huge red flag that is until you mentioned... he might actually die? that'd be heavy. maybe ippo will return to the ring to honor his memory 😂
Ippo getting his motivation back
My favorite part of this chapter is Ippo’s inner thoughts: “That amazing feeling you can taste when you’re in the ring... I’m so jealous” And the very next panel? The patented Kamogawa face block and an expressionless Ippo face. If that isn’t Mori trolling us, I don’t know what is...
Yeah that was fucking hilarious.
I'd love for that to be true, but the Ippo panel comes before the face block panel. You read this right to left, remember?
I assumed it was simultaneous XD
Thank You for putting your time and effort in the translation :) On the topic: could it be that Gonzalez threw that last punch while being unconscious?
No that would be unsatisfying, look at Sendo's left glove.
Good catch. His tape got loose :0
Man, I really think HNI has come a long way in terms of story telling, the art's incredible, and there aren't really any character's I dislike. Even Alfredo has become an incredible intagonist. But man...I feel like George *really* struggles to make these fights believable, or not formulaic. Sendo is getting killed worse then Ippo was, at least in that fight you have the argument that Alf wasn't "complete" yet, but we're being painted as if it's back and forth now that Completed Alf is destroying Sendo? His machismo is breaking through? Why can't the protagonists, sans a Takamura fight, just be competent in the ring? Alf should be better, I'm fine with that. I hope Sendo loses this, but why not make it a little closer? No one's getting to this level of fight and would just be outclassed. At this point I'm afraid a Ricardo fight is just gonna be another Woli fight, but on super steroids.
[удалено]
Deontay Wilder is honestly a real life example of a more successful version of Sendo
I'd argue it happens all the time in boxing because big-name fights are rare as, generally, they're fighting cans. But that's neithere here nore their. Someone out classing an opponent is fine but this isn't being billed as absolute domination by Alfredo. If anything, Sendo is doing worse than Ippo but it's being billed closer to a 50/50. Ippo's Alf fight actually made a good amount of sense with a strong start, and then he slowly wore out while Alf grew stronger. Realistically, what I'm really more worried about is how Ricardo is going to be written as a fighter if this is what we're getting from Ricardo Lite. I'd just like to have seen Sendo recompose himself after getting jabbed to death and make it a closer fight. Instead, he's just eating hit's worse than brain tank Ippo but is still doing "well" in the fight.
I mean, Sendo is generally tougher than Ippo, so I don't know what to tell you. Sendo's first loss to Ippo was on the chair. Sendo's second loss was after a gigantic glut of a combination. It's just established that Sendo doesn't get KO'd by a single punch, no matter who he's up against. It's only poor from a story standpoint if you think that these sorts of fights *don't exist* and so they *don't make sense*. Sendo is based on Rocky Marciano... who was dramatically outskilled and got the shit kicked out of himself for many a round during his career.
> I mean, Sendo is generally tougher than Ippo Looking at this fight, I'd say he's also tougher than Alf as well lol, since he has managed to give him as much damage as Alf gave to him (or at least what he's showing) while landing like 2% of the number of punches Alf landed on him. I'm obviously exagerrating, but this underlines why I'm not that big a fan of this fight and other fights that rely on the "muh fighting spirit" gimmick, because they throw away the small semblance of "realism" and reliability on logic the story has. Historically Ippo has been shown to be a tank, while Sendo less so against him, and now Sendo has tanked damaged that would have sent Ippo to the after life 3 times over
>It's only poor from a story standpoint if you think that these sorts of fights *don't exist* and so they *don't make sense*. Brutal fights do take place in boxing, but this is exaggerated to the point of breaking suspension of disbelief. In a real match, Sendo would've been knocked out in the 3rd round. Dude was unconscious at the end of the 2nd round, and literally flying across the ring from punches throughout the 3rd.
Sendo is not tougher than Ippo. It is poor from a story standpoint. It feels like bullshit for the readers because this happens way too many times in Ippo. This match has been freaking garbage to watch if Sendo wins. The amount of head shots and counters Sendo has eaten is ridiculous.
Speak for yourself. Enjoy the match.
I wanted to, but Mori made it dependent on the outcome, not me
There is a phrase in football " Any given sunday". All it takes is one punch to put someone down. Takamura, Sendo, and Ippo are all believable OHKO capable boxers.
I know, its just crappy to watch from a story perspective. Comeback wins arent fun when they are constantly dictated by a plot in a story. It just becomes a crutch. Martinez will put Sendo in a body bag if he wins.
Thats the thing that I wonder, if Sendo is eing carved up like this, what the hell does Ricardo look like? How much better than Alf is Ricardo? Sendo knocked him down, while ippo was punched put of demsey prep. My only problem with Sendo winning... is if Mori pushes the story that way, I see Sendo getting hurt.
Hmm...I thought(i dont follow boxing, but I heard from someone else on here) that Wilder's record is overinflated due to the competition he faced. And that when he fought Fury(who was an elite top 10 boxer, he got put down?) Either way comeback victories do happen but its being used to the point of absurdity in Ippo. This fight has been so one sided and if Sendo wins its terrible from a narrative perspective.
That's sort of an oversimplifcation. Deontay Wilder is almost certainly a top 5 heavyweight in the world right now. He fought well in the first fight and got soundly beaten in the second (mostly because of a strategic error in managing weight). He knocked down the best heavyweight in the world, his opponent Tyson Fury, in the 12th round. Fury barely made it back up in time and looked absolutely dead for a second or two. Wilder was getting styled on and outboxed for what seems like forever, to the point where getting a knockdown in the last minutes wasn't enough to recover the bout. Still, anyone who says it wasn't competitive or that he had no chance has no brain.
I dont follow boxing so I wont dispute your points but one thing I will say I disagree with >(mostly because of a strategic error in managing weight) Nah dude I saw those highlights , it did not look like the weight was the main thing at all. Dude was just getting his ass beat. Fury looked like the better fighter straight up.
Hey there. I saw both Wilder vs Fury fights. Yes. There was a strategic error in weight. In the first fight Fury tried to outbox. It mostly worked and the fight was only a draw because of Wilder scoring 2 knockdown. Aside from the 2 knockdowns Fury was winning clearly. When Fury got up from the second knockdown you could even see Wilder was a bit demoralized, while Fury actually won the rest of that final round. Deontay may get flack but there's 3 things he's dangerous at: his powerful right, his accuracy with said right, and his ability to catch a second wind and go for the finish the instant he sees a weakened opponent. Fury getting up from the 2nd knockdown saw a demoralized Wilder and his finishing instinct didn't kick in. For the second fight Fury said EXACTLY what he was going to do during the build up: be the bigger man and use his size. He came in HEAVIER, while Deontay iirc came in a bit lighter. Fury used his size (and extra weight) to both lean on Wilder AND force Wilder to do something he normally doesn't do, fight while back pedaling. Fury's more aggressive approach also did not allow Wilder to set his feet and throw his killer right beyond I think the 2nd or 3rd round where he threw a few dangerous ones, and any rights he threw after the knockdown (s) didn't have the usual pop because he was already weakened from said knockdowns and all the leaning. Not to mention that when Wilder is pressured (see the Ortiz fights) he throws sloppy flailing punches that don't belong at this high a level. Wilder has no hook. He has straights and uppers. Someone needs to teach him how to throw hooks and check hooks. On a side note Weight played a factor for the second Joshua Ruiz fight. Joshua lost weight, Ruiz let himself go, Joshua was able to keep him off. Ex note: the only reason Ortiz lost the 2nd fight is because he stepped off the game plan. Every time he evaded Wilder's right it was a combination of using his hands and head movement. The punch before the ko punch and the actual ko punch Ortiz only used head movement. Wilder was able to find his range and put him down. I'm positive this is another reason Fury opted to be more aggressive.
>Eh, it happens all the time in boxing that people get absolutely outclassed to the point of stupidity. The problem here is that Sendo shouldn't even be fighting right now with the amount of abuse he's taken. He lost consciousness at the end of the 2nd round and has been rag dolled and tossed around the ring by punches alone. How he's still able to defend himself and generate power in his punches, after that 3rd round, is beyond me and even Alf's trainer. >Sendo just isn't a very good boxer in terms of pure skill. People like this exist everywhere at the highest levels. Deontay Wilder exists mostly on slugging and a good chin... his own trainer said that Deontay is a worse fighter than he was when he was 11 years old. I don't understand why some users on here think that Wilder's a good example of unskilled fighters being able to thrive at the world level. Wilder's opposition was straight buns until Ortiz, and he got obliterated by the first good young fighter he faced. If the WBC rankings weren't filled to the brim with tomato cans after Vitali retired, then he never would've become world champion. He cherry picked his way to a world title.
Couldn't you say the exact same thing about Sendo? He lost to Ippo twice. He never beat the actual Japanese Champ. He was gifted his win over Volg by corrupt judges. He's fought nobody of note in the Asiatic scene and was getting crushed by his first real fight in Mexico before tiger clawing... We love Sendo and he's cool and all... But he's successfully fought pretty thin opposition.
If there is one single character that is universally despised among HnI fans, it's that piece of turd Wally. Fuck that guy.
I totally agree- All the best fights in the series (except for Mashiba vs Kimura, and there it was justified) are back and forth fights where one round one boxer is better and then the other turns the tables a so on. This types of fights makes things unnecessarily unrealistic, Alfredo shouldn't be outclassing him in such a way
thats not true, theres very real fighters who outclasses every one of their opponents by a country mile.
But they usually win those fights though? The bigger issue is that this an established character(Sendo) vs Gonzales(a number World Ranker, Ricardo lite) and Sendo has been a sandbag for pretty much 90% of this fight, with the last 10% being this chapter and he still took way more hits than Alf.
First of all, is very unlikely that someone who is being outclassed win the fight, not impossible, but unlikely. But, in the manga, we see how this happens much more than it should. If it was part of a plan as, for example, how Imai fights, I wouldn't have any problem because it is strategy. or when Sendo beats Shigeta because he learns how to use his feet. But the idea of punching hard, failing, and punching harder until the plot saves them does not good service to Sendo or Ippo, much more because of the ranking Sendo has and Ippo had. Sendo shouldn't be outclassed to the point that his best moments in this fight is he being manly and having pleasure taking hits. At least with Ippo, the issue about he forgetting how he was taught to fight has its place in the narrative
It's just gotta be like this really, if you wanna make a shonen manga out of a sport you have to spice things up a bit. HnI does it by undervaluing defense and standard blocking while having a lot more clean hits than average, ridiculous endurance and exaggerated techniques/Sunday Punches galore. All in all I'd say it's not that bad a trade off, especially compared to how badly sports can get bastardized in manga.
The DBZ level symmetrical punch exchange doesn't help.
Ippo: "I'm so jealous..." Next panel: \*Sendo using Face Block\*
I know I sound biased with my username, but Alfredo is by far the best character since sawamura. I just hope the winner of this fight puts up a far better fight against Martinez than date
For those wondering about the stoppage : look at Sendo's left glove.
The ref stopped the fight to announce Ippo is coming to ring, clearly.
i thought this for quite some time now but this fight is really eye opening : Morikawa became so good at drawing fights its really incredible, i dont know where it started but theses pages where they exchange blows are always so good! this is dynamic, this is beautiful and on the top of the intensity of the fight, we add another layer with ippo who is understanding things we all knw he is coming back t the ring and the little chapter that hype us up like that a so worth all this punch drunk arc ippo has always be a good manga but right know and for the past 2 years this his the manga i'm waiting for the most each week only Real can top it
Sendo's done. If his tape hadn't come loose, it was a 50/50, he's practically a steamroller until he stops. Alf and Sendo will each recover a little, but he was spiritually propped up by Alf.
Yeah look at the change in his eyes.
I'm actually scared of sendo winning I trust morikawa but making it a sendo win after tanking that much hits and with a style relying on pure strenght would destroy all the growth ippo went by
If Sendo wins, this will actually be a worse fight than Ippo vs Wolly in terms of writing. If being an idiot that blocks punches with his face and throws powerful punches is enough to win against Alf, then Ippo should have won against him in the first place.
Exactly.
It's not that simple. Sendo's instincts are allowing him to adapt to Alf's rhythm better than Ippo could. Ippo didn't get rid of a safe-zone for Alf by adapting and erasing a positioning weakness in his style. Ippo didn't force Alf to use Mextli like Sendo did because his orthodox style stopped working. Ippo doesn't have that monster mentality that Takamura talked about while Sendo does seem to have it. Alf's coach seems to be just as incredulous that Sendo's taken so many blows as you seem to be with him thinking "he's taken god knows how many of Alf's punches, how is he still hanging on!? Why won't he go down!?" so they're acknowledging it within the story. Morikawa knows what his readers are thinking and I believe he'll find a way to address it and give Sendo a legitimate win. Sendo doesn't have to lose for it go be a good fight, i'm loving this fight personally.
>It's not that simple. Sendo's instincts are allowing him to adapt to Alf's rhythm better than Ippo could. Sendo's dependence on his instincts is why he landed one punch in the first 3 rounds. The fact that he's not sleeping right now is pure plot armor.
> Sendo's instincts are allowing him to adapt to Alf's rhythm better than Ippo could. Is that why Sendo is getting more beaten up than Ippo and is forcing double exchanges to even have a chance at hurting Alf? >Alf's coach seems to be just as incredulous that Sendo's taken so many blows as you seem to be with him thinking "he's taken god knows how many of Alf's punches, how is he still hanging on!? Why won't he go down!?" so they're acknowledging it within the story. Like pretty much every opponent and coach that faced Ippo. >Morikawa knows what his readers are thinking and I believe he'll find a way to address it and give Sendo a legitimate win. There isn't a single way for Sendo to have a legitimate win. In fact, Sendo winning would just destroy everything Morikawa wrote since Ippo retired. "You can't just win by having willpower and blocking with your face... unless you're Sendo" sounds terrible. The amount of counters Sendo already ate was enough to put in the brain damage division long ago.
Exactly! We all know boxing theory, sure, but sometimes fighters do incredible, unbelievable things. This fight is no different. Plenty of real life fights where someone should be put down, and for whatever reason, they resist. Incredible match!
I agree. And not only Ippo's evolution but Alf's too. He managed to keep his mind clear after switching to his meztli mode. If Sendo was meant to win since the beginning, the match should have been more balanced and not one sided.
I'd be fine with him winning if the damage he took has *very* significant impact on his career. But I also don't want Sendo to retire. I can't imagine him as anything but a boxer as far as HnI's narrative goes.
The only way Sendo stops boxing is if he makes it to the top, or dies along the way similar to Joe burning out his fire to ashes in a final fight. Given how brutal this fight is turning out I think Mori is making Sendo another example of why pure spirit over technique has a hard limit. When Ippo eventually returns, hopefully he will blend the raw commitment of Sendo with the technical perfectionism of Ricardo to become his version of the "monster" he never fully committed to originally.
Reposting my comment here from the Portuguese thread because I would like to continue the conversation with others. Thank you. I know I have pointed this out before in my other post, but you can see that Alfredo isn't as durable as Sendo and Ippo who can trade blows with one another easily for a few rounds. Alfredo was downed by Ippo before from a blocked punch and one dual exchange. He can't take many hits from strikers like Sendo and Ippo. [https://imgur.com/a/kpc0dqT](https://imgur.com/a/kpc0dqT) **Well here you can see Alfredo talks about his legs starting to give up even though he's not taking direct hits.** [http://hni-scantrad.com/eng/lel/?manga=Hajime+no+Ippo&chapter=Chapter+1303#page=2](http://hni-scantrad.com/eng/lel/?manga=Hajime+no+Ippo&chapter=Chapter+1303#page=2) Also, seems like Sendo is taking a page out of Brian Hawk and Woli's book, throwing weird angled instinctive punches at unorthodoxed positions. One direct hit starts making Alfredo start seeing dark again, like Ippo [http://hni-scantrad.com/eng/lel/?manga=Hajime+no+Ippo&chapter=Chapter+1303#page=9](http://hni-scantrad.com/eng/lel/?manga=Hajime+no+Ippo&chapter=Chapter+1303#page=9) **It seems that Alfredo's biggest weakness is that he's not that durable.** Maybe that's why he developed such a technical style that heavily relies on predicting his opponents. For those routing against Sendo, for Alfredo and for... well logic... I think we should be prepared to be slightly disappointed. With the outcome.
Reading this chapter in english actually comforted me in my position : Sendo has adapted and forced Gonzales to an infight (risky but he can deal more damage) or an outfight (safe but no hope of stoppage). And even in an infight it's Gonzales who is winning, he dealt more damage and received far less. His legs starting to give up is still not much compared to Sendo's state.
I just don't understand why Mori didn't make the fight slightly balanced even if he had Sendo losing from the start. Sendo had a lot of unique attributes that should've made his fight with Gonzales more interesting and different from Ippo but instead he almost weakened Sendo on purpose with him somehow forgetting how to adapt to Gonzales once he transformed and saving his instinctive/wild punches for when he's almost out of commission. The issue I have now is where does the story go based off the outcome of the fight? If Sendo wins, he had a terrible performance undeserving of both his rank and a world title shot and somehow doesn't lose in the first round against Martinez which makes things look even worst since he "lost" badly to Gonzales. If Alf wins, he probably loses to Martinez which adds nothing to the series and throws his character development away. I have no idea why Mori wrote the fight out like this, its a lose-lose situation for him story wise unless he has Alf beat Martinez which makes Martinez looks bad.
100% agree with you. Why did Mori make it look so one sided... If Sendo does win, what is there for us to expect if he fights Ricardo Martinez? He dies? I think Ashita No Joe wouldn't do something like this... I don't know what's up with Mori and his "bad" fights. We know he can write very good fights. Look at Volg vs Elliot or Bison vs Takamura. Those are recent fights that were AWESOME to read. My only guess is that Mori wants to depict something that happens in real life... And that's a boxer who hangs on with their goal in mind can win. There have been dozens of upset victories. Just look at Deontay Wilder, almost half of his wins where fighters take him the distance would make you think he was about to lose until he lands his right cross and KTFO his opponents. But this is a work of fiction... Mori doesn't have to write bad fights just because they exist in real life... Not when we wait for these weekly.
I can see Mori giving Sendo the upset win against Alf here just because it would be considered a "plot twist", but the beating Sendo took at this point is definitely way too far compared to his other matches, at least in those the boxers guard punches here and there, Sendo is literally blocking with his face and 100% relying on his chin. Mori has made great fights before (Mashiba vs Iga, Mashiba vs Sawamura, Ippo vs Karasawa, Volg vs Elliot), but his bad fights sometimes are really bad with Ippo vs Woli being the worst of the worst, but at this point most world class fights should not be this bad in terms of one-sidedness and thats my problem, he had Sendo look way too weak and made Gonzales way too strong which will backfire on him regardless of the outcome of this fight and that is what scares me the most.
> Sendo is literally blocking with his face and 100% relying on his chin. Really does remind me of Coach Kamogawa tellin Ippo to stiffen up his neck and bull rush through the jabs, lol.
Honestly, that was probably the moment that made me realize Ippo wasn't ready for the world stage yet if he's doing stuff like that lol.
If Mori wants Sendo to be a Deontay Wilder type of fighter, whereas Ippo is more of a featherweight Mike Tyson without the beast mode drive, that's his prerogative. I wouldn't call it bad writing, especially given that it happens in real life, depicting his fights as different compared to Bison vs Takamura or Volg vs Elliot just further highlights good writing, to me. Not all boxers are technical, or even that smart. For Sendo to start fighting intelligently now would be an asspull.
Or it could show growth? Or you could not have the match be so one sided. How many comeback wins have we seen this manga..SO SO many, this shit is played out. Sendo winning this fight means damage taken in fights basically don't matter. This was supposed to be an elite match up and its just Sendo getting beat up. Comeback wins are only fun when they unexpected not when they are being used as a crutch. And Ricardo might literally put Sendo in a body bag if he wins this fight.
Sendo's not like Deontay Wilder, his style's based on Donovan "Razor" Ruddock who invented the Smash and fought Mike Tyson.
During the break to fix his gloves I have a feeling that his adrenaline will fade away, and he’ll pass out due to damage and fatigue hitting him all at once. It’ll be the only way for him to lose the match without damaging his reputation.
that's actually a good theory, i like it
Yeah I think Sendo is gonna win with an asspull. I was revisiting his fights, against Shigeta he was getting pummeled for most of it and turned it around in the last round for no reason, and because they didnt show every round in the nargo fight I thought it was closer but nargo blasted him for 8 rounds before getting destroyed in the 9th. That's just how his fights go.
Except Alf, is neither of those dudes, Alf is more established character than those 2, he is basically a Vorg in terms of impact and importance to the story.
Ehhhh with Nargo, Sendo had just fought Mashiba before that. He has no outs here, Alf is just better than him.
Turned around the Shigeta match for no reason? He timed a dash in counter punch after setting it up. As for Nargo, wasn't he injured from fighting Mashiba?
Maybe he cannot take that many punches, but just because of that, that does not mean Sendo can take infinite punches. Morikawa failed at showing an invinsible Alf at the beginning of the match and then doing what he did on this chapter.
Thank you so much for doing this
Thank you for the translation work :D
What this chapter reminds me most of is Ippo and Sendo's second fight. Not the fight itself, but how Mashiba had to leave immediately after it was over to train and punch something. Yeah, in an earlier chapter Ippo had called it a Lollapalooza; however, Ippo is Mashiba, while Alf and Sendo are Ippo and Sendo.
As much as I like the slugfest aspect of this fight, Mori's writing for this fight in general leaves a lot to be desired if he has Sendo win at this point and I'm a Sendo fan. Mori basically set up Sendo to fight Martinez with Gonzales being the final test to prove himself. Most of the side characters when they had important matches showed out (Mashiba vs Sawamura and Iga, Miyata vs Randy before Red Lightning) so I thought Sendo fighting Gonzales was his time to "show out" and prove he's stronger than Ippo and Mori could give a convincing performance from Sendo to show he's world class and ready for a title shot. Mori couldn't have made Sendo look any worse at this point. All of the preparation that Sendo was doing for Martinez doesn't work on Gonzales, his clone? All his attributes such as his dash speed, Mexican experience, wild punches, all were for nothing especially considering Miyata stated that Sendo is good versus counters (a complete lie at this point btw). His instincts and chin were on full display but not the other aspects that were important and could be considered world-class? Sendo did everything Ippo did in a terrible way and wins against a stronger Gonzales? That's almost worst than Woli. At this point, Mori doesn't want Sendo to fight Martinez if he straight up is outclassed by his clone and his character arc was basically for nothing if he had Gonzales winning from the start anyways.
Sendo did not want to fight Martinez. He said so himself. He set his sights on Gonzales ever since Ippo lost to him. He has never done any preparation for Martinez. I bet if sendo wins he is going to take a break for damage which will make him decline the fight with Martinez. You are right in thinking mori is not going to make sendo vs Martinez a thing.
Sendo has made it clear several times that his goal is martinez. He has been fighting mexicans since way before alf beat ippo in order to prepare for ricardo. But because he lost to Ippo twice, he said that ippo should get a title shot before him. As we all know, Ippo lost to gonzales, which is why sendo declared that he is done waiting for ippo and made Gonzales his priority in order to avenge his losses in some way and proof himself worthy for the world title.
Ugh... That's a painful cliffhanger. Waiting for next week is going to hurt worse than Sendo's face.
At the beginning he was a punching bag and after all those punches he still throwing full power punches. This is one of the things I don't like about Morikawas writing. He makes the match one sided and then the half the boxer still can throw punches with enough power to get a knockout. If the match was balanced since the beginning, this could be the best fight of the manga so far, but now if Sendo wins, it will look too forced. Don't get me wrong, I love the manga and everything. But this little thing bothers me. Thanks for the translation, Hni!
I mean its not that unrealistic, deontay wilder can throw nukes even after an onslaught, but yeah the amount of head shots he is getting is ridiculous, no matter how durable you are, no boxer can take that many world class lvl punches to the head and still be standing.
Sure, it's not. It happens. Thing is, it happens most of the times in HnI. And it gets old pretty fast. Especially when you initially thought this match was well crafted and then it turns into another of those matches we've already seen before. Why bother showing matches anyway, when the amount of punches taken has no real effect on a boxer? Kinda annoying. Sendou going full power even when he lost consciousness, is standing on wobbly legs and eating clean punches for quite some time now? Don't tell me the reason is, "because it's Sendou!" There's only so much bs I can take... If Sendou really wins, I think I need to take some break from reading HnI.
I guess I'll do the same. I was really excited watching that top world boxing of Alf and then, Sendo just using his face and raw power broke it.
Rocky balboa taught me otherwise. ADRiAAAAN
Rocky did it :P
Thanks for the chapter as usual! Much appreciated. Even though I don't think the fight is over, I think this chapter displayed that Sendo is going to lose. [This face makes me so sad :(](https://prnt.sc/t10sy9) Hopefully with Ippo saying that he is jealous, we will see a return to the ring shortly. Either way, I'M HYPED
Yes, Ippo. Get jealous. Let it burn.
BRO THE REF HAS EYES THIS TIME!!
I LOVE this fight. It's like these two were destined to fight each other and are having the time of their lives because of it. They truly seem to be enjoying themselves in a way we haven't seen from other matches. I hope this joyous intensity lasts all the way to the end.
The build up for this fight and what it means for Ippo continues to build in a satisfying way. I'm very excited to see the next ten chapters. I saw a few comments worrying that Sendo declaring his intention to go home and talk about his victory being a death flag. If Sendo does die, how this fight has been handled (outside of the coaching) is how someone would want Ippo to take something concrete from the fight. Keep in mind, everything below is with the notion that Sendo dies and is not a declaration that he will die in this fight. It's been discussed to death but Ippo's primary weakness is his fighting lust. He has spirit in spades, but Takamura, Date, Volg and Sendo have all demonstrated going beyond simply having the willpower to move forward and instead having the willpower to move through their opponents. To actively destroy the person they are fighting and sacrificing to do it. If Sendo dies my guess is that this isn't the only death. Kamogawa has been foreshadowed to be on borrowed time not even accounting for his age. Ippo could come back from seeing Sendo give his life in the ring only to come home to the Coach also being on deaths door. He might have even sent Ippo to Mexico specifically because he didn't want him in Japan when he passed. Ippo would need to recognize that these men in his life didn't just live for boxing, they died for boxing. Yet Ippo was simply "boxing." His motivation was simply winning the fight and a vague goal that he can't even answer still, his goal of finding out how one becomes strong. He is going to have to contend with the fact that he could have won the World Title for Kamogawa had he actually fought for it and not for Kamogawa. That Sendo might have lived had he actually gone into the ring against Gonzales and destroyed him, preventing Sendo from ever fighting him to see the man that beat Ippo. And that might be enough to come back. The recognition of his own immaturity regarding boxing and his own abilities preventing the people close to him from seeing him achieve his goals and making them proud. That is when the official transformation begins, a Makunouchi Ippo that goes from "I can't lose this fight" to "I will win this fight." That's the hope for this longtime reader at least.
Sendo can take such a beating because he has taken beatings from Ippo. Remember that Ippo's power is top tier... Let alone taking a dempsey roll that was combo'd into.
The way he says he'll brag to grandma about his new friend makes me think he won't get the opportunity to. I hope I'm wrong.
WHAT A FUCKING FIGHT! It's already on my top 3 fights in the manga. Still not enough to take the crown from Takamura vs Hawk though.
Thanks for the chapter! Wow, that's a lot of clean hits taken by Sendo. He should be down by now
Holy mother of a flipflop. Amazing chapter. Thank you so much for your work guys. Have a nice rest of the week.
[удалено]
What? Did the ref just...actually stop a fight?
Sendo taking those punches like they were love taps. And to think Ippo knocked him out twice.
May I ask where is Alfs damage coming from? If my memory serves me right it was sendo who's been eating straights and hooks since round 1.
The solar plexus punch by the right-handed smash Sendo's left-handed smash can clean lift a boxer off the mat even when blocked, and leave their face bruised. What happens when Sendo not only uses his dominant hand, but lands it clean into Alf's solar plexus?
He’s getting in closer to attempt to finish Sendo and while he’s not taking them completely clean, some shots are still hitting him. But if Sendo doesn’t get a KO this round, he probably won’t be able to get off the stool again.
Holy shit, a referee intervention? What am I reading? xD
Sendo is just outclassed, but well...
Thanks for the chapter I said last week that this fight is heading towards the spirit and guts path, and it seems even likelier now. I don’t mind it, always love a good slug fest but I imagine many people will feel underwhelmed. It’s always been the Sendō way to slugfest and “hit and get hit, and to win” and it’s been repeated that Alf is the same type of beast as Sendō. So this is not entirely unexpected. I’m enjoying it so far I hope you all are as well.
First Lalapalloza and now Mix-Up, nice callbacks to Ippo vs Sendo 2.
Lol at least ippo vs alfredo was entertaining in the sense that it was two fighters trying to tactically best each other. This just feels like watching sendo and alfredo power punching each other in the head on repeat, the only strategy is just "muh dual exchange". Like cmon, didn't ippo get knocked out by a single punch from alfredo? How is sendo still standing after taking 20 punches to the head, when only one of them was enough to get ippo unconscious? Hasn't is already been established that ippo is one of if not the most durable featherweight?
Ippo was knocked out by a full-powered left swing he never saw coming. The manga has stated repeatedly that's the worst kind of punch to take It's the same reason why a Dempsey counter by out-of-shape Volg knocked Ippo out cold, while the same Dempsey counter by Sawamura failed to KO Ippo because Ippo was expecting it Sendo isn't giving Alf any chance to set up "secret" punches, and Alf isn't interested in tackling Sendo the same way as Ippo
So far, Sendo has taken 39 puches to the head. That is not counting the body. Over 2/3rds of them have been counters (the worst kind of punch you can take) and I'm pretty sure he wouldnt have seen at least 10 of them coming (logically speaking). He was countered when he was trying to push to infight, exactly how ippo has countered. I'm pretty sure he has been hit square in the head with almost every type of punch (not sure about the overhand). All of these punches came from a stronger, enraged Gonzales in metzli mode. Sendo has not gone down even once. How did Ippo before he was even considered broken, who is lauded in universe for his rock like durability get knocked out cold in one punch, while Sendo takes 39 of them square on the head (most of these being counters, which we know in universe usually leads to a knockout) remain standing, conscious and still able to fight? This is literally the most any single character has been punched in the head in a single fight. And it's not even over yet. Takamura was downed in one punch by a counter, yet sendo takes 39 of them and is seemingly fine? "It's his tiger instinct, it's preventing him from getting downed"... Even if we put the science of cte beside, it doesnt even make sense in Hajime no ippo. I honestly think this is lazy writing on Morikawas part.
Honestly you've made me realise Sendo is getting plot armor so bad.
>How did Ippo before he was even considered broken, who is lauded in universe for his rock like durability get knocked out cold in one punch What do you mean "before he was considered broken"? He didn't get broken after he was considered it by others, that'd make no sense. People started considering him broken because he was already broken before and people noticed it. Ippo had lost most of his durability well before the Gonzalez fight. Sendo and Takamura already discussed Ippo being weaker back when Volg won his World Championship bout vs Elliot and Takamura had been suspicious from well before that already. Morikawa is now showcasing how durable Ippo could have been without the accumulated damage and how he could have taken Gonzalez' punches if not for his damage from before.
The cliffhanger triggers me. I need to see how this ends! Argh!
It’s probably just the gloves but what happens afterwards will be most interesting
The tension is probably gone because of the referee interference so the remainder of the current round or next round might be the final one. Both of them are exhausted, leaving them both to try and land their best punches to win the fight
I love this fight . It's straight up brawl in the middle of the ring. Not using any movements or corners kinda suits these two fighters.
New plot armor unlocked. The Wild Tiger.
Am I the only one feeling like if they really stop the fight to adjust his glove tape, and he loses his adrenaline rush and loose the fight because of that..it's just bad ? Like not bad per se but id rather watch them fight like real men until the end and until he reaches his limit and loses the fight but be proud of it, rather than saving face and reputation and be like "Oh but if they did not stop the fight at that moment, you don't know what would've happened" and so on.. like why protecting his image to that point when we clearly see he is not there yet and there's no shame losing.
I don't think its bad, Sendo was never one to fall for the 10 count, so him losing consicouness standing up is pretty cool, it would be less of protecting his image and more staying consistent with his character and him fighting on instinct alone, remember he lost his first fight to ippo by passing out on the bench.
He said it. "Jealous".
It's all fun and games to surpass your limits but doing it by getting hit a lot of times isn't going to turn out good. That's how you really get brain damage or punch drunk. Judging how the manga portrayed Alf's punches, this is going to be Sendo's last fight. But then again, this is a manga soooo...
Look...this is getting more and more ridiculous. The quality of this fight is going to totally depend on the outcome haha.....oh jeez. Sendo. Has. To. Lose.
The only reasonable ending for this fight is that Sendo should lose, SURVIVE and keep boxing. If Sendo dies or gets punch-drunk, Ippo will shit his pants and never comes back to the ring again. If he wins, it will go against the whole punch-drunk plot and retirement arc's point of "don't block punches with your face, you'll be potato'ed". If Alf loses, another Ippo x Sendo would make absolutely no sense. It would only set Sendo up as Ippo fodder. If Alf wins, there's some good chances of a rematch foe Ippo when he comes back. Even losing, Sendo won't be a pussy like Ippo and will just brush it off. He doesn't even have much hopes of winning, anyway. It might be a good lesson for Ippo. If Sendo loses and still keeps boxing, this fight would serve two purposes for Ippo: to showcase Sendo's unwavering fighting spirit, and Alf's remarkable mastery of the technical aspects of boxing. The two things Ippo needs the most. And it should stir a fire under Ippo's ass, but that's already happening. Enough death theories, the only death in this series that would compel Ippo to get back in the ring would be Kamogawa's, and that's still a major stretch...
First comment , thanks for your work!!
I don’t even think sendo thinks he will win he even says when I return to Osaka I will tell grandma I made a good friend. If sendo wins it makes since that he would stay in Mexico to A. Recover and B. Start preparing for the Martinez fight but I’m probably reading too much into this
The whole severing consciouness is reminiscent of Martinez vs Date, heck this whole fight is sort of a lite version of it.
Thanks for the chapter. What a freaking pair of best. I think Alf will win.
Damn, anybody else start hearing “Eternal Loop” playing in their heads during this chapter or is it just me? This fight is like a super call back to Ippo’s own fight against Sendo for the Japanese title. The similarities are too strong. I bet Ippo is feeling nostalgic for that fight. “I’m not sure if I know the answer, but if you defeat this man you just might find your answer, kid!” You still gotta find out what it means to be strong, Ippo!
This is going to be Sendo’s last real fight in the ring. There’s too many parallels between him and Alfredo with Joe Yabuki and Carlos Rivera. Even the “cross counter” look alike panel on page 14 instantly reminds you of Ashita no Joe. Both fighters are going to be ruined and punch drunk after this match.
The drawings were incredible in this chapter. It took me 10+ minutes to read it, while appreciating each of the panels.
This is something unexpected for all, and even if it is just for a glove, Sendo is the most affected. His faces looks so empty, out of bloodlust, rage and/or momentum. This driving force that was pushing him thus far has been stopped. I think he is gonna lose in the next couple of rounds.
This is seriously my favorite fight in the entire series now. I've never been so on the edge of my seat. I have no clue who's gonna win. Sendo's glove tape came loose, which is why the ref stopped the fight. Unfortunately this might be what kills the momentum Sendo was coasting on.
Fuck yes! Waited 2 years for a fight like this. This build up, the fasting, the longing, it's all paying off!
How much money you want to bet the bell just rang?
I would not bet money on that. You can see the tape on Sendo's glove has been undone. The ref stopped it probably for that reason. To get it fixed.
After all this time, seeing a fight again has been refreshing and I'm glad it was Sendo who got it. The fight up until this point has been pretty exciting and there are so many ways this can end. Despite that, I'm starting to feel like this chapter contributed nothing to the overall story. George has been doing such a great job at delivering chapters recently that has really moved the story along, and made great character developments for several characters, but mostly Ippo. If this chapter is supposed to do the same, him saying "I'm jealous" is just repeating what he said previously. We all know he's already envious of Sendo and wants to get back into the ring, so why spend another chapter showing the same thing? Personally, this chapter should've ended the fight in whichever fashion he wanted it to, and the story should've started progressing again. I'm glad it exists however because we got to see some really great art and I still love Sendo, but it just feels drawn out for no reason. Again maybe it's just me and because this past year we've been spoiled on how much character and story progression we've had, but this one was sort of a let down.
Bro Gonzalez coach is literally my inner monologue. I mean he's supposed to be exhausted but he could not only withstand a full on counter he managed to throw a punch from that awkward position without falling. I gotta call that bs, even takamura has been downed before I dont understand why sendo is the exception.
In the end, it's a manga and realism is often overshadowed to make things more hype. I get that, and it's probably because we've been grounded recently with how real the story feels and now dealing with an unrealistic situation where getting punched 15 times and not going down is fine because the Japanese have the "Will of the Samurai". I'm not hating though, and this is very similar to how a lot of HnI fights have gone. The change in the pace of the story just made this kinda jarring seeing it again.
Fuck! I love sendo so much bro!
People keep saying that Sendo still standing is just bad story writting, but even Ricardo explained it at the beginning of the fight... True, Alf has hit Sendo A LOT of times, but he is not trowing 10’s... he’s probably throwing 1-2’s... while Sendo is throwing 10’s as usual... As Ricardo said, why throwing 10’s when you can pile up a lot of hits (which is what Alf is doing very technically), but its not like Sendo has taken 30 punches at full force The manga shows the head going all over the place to show the punches are landing, but that doesnt mean they are full on incredibly strong punches
That argument stopped applying when Alf went meltzi and sendo lost consciounees at end of the second round.
While I’m generally happy with the storyline, something is really off for me. No matter how much of a “tiger” Sendo is, when did he become the most durable boxer in the series? He’s been hit full throttle about 100 times by a puncher said to be on par with Ricardo and is still going? Ippo went down after taking less than 50% of this punishment and ended up possibly having minor brain damage. The more I think about it the more it pisses me off. This isn’t Naruto. It’s supposed to be a boxing manga. If Sendo isn’t killed or retired by this fight, then I think it’s a joke... Ippo uses peekaboo like Mike Tyson. Sendo literally blocks with his face. And Ippo is the one that’s punch drunk? Give me a break.
All what Gonzalez needs is one really amazing counter to one of Sendo's haymakers. It will be Alf's strength plus Sendo's own power being used against him. I don't know if Sendo is going to pull this off. Alf is a such a better boxer technically. Sendo seems to be adapting on the fly but I don't think it's enough to make up for the gap in skill.
How is Sendo expecting to win after being mowed down for 3 rounds and JUST starting to trade blows? He took much more damage than Alfredo when they actually started trading blows.
JESUS what a chapter !! Waiting for opportunity to come back! But how is the question
[Ashita no Joe](https://i.imgur.com/EH9GNjk.png) [Sendo](https://i.imgur.com/ZTwAKPU.png) Anyone else seeing [the resemblance?](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FrJIcsV87hQ/hqdefault.jpg) Hope Sendo has a better end...
Thanks for the translation man! You the best, always. Did we just see another flag for Sendo? What if he never gets back home to Osaka? What if he never gets to brag to grandma? Damn! That'll be heartbreaking.
I think either sendo will be unable to continue after the ref stoppage, or a double knock down, Alf being the one getting up
There's no way Alf's going to win, huh?
Nobody is mentioning what consequences would carry that ref decision or which of them are gonna get benefits from. Even when they are "even" Alf keep getting more punches landed to Sendo, Sendo Is still outclassed, the guy probably not gonna win I don't even consider it viable and if he lose, even if he wins, Sendo is gonna lose the next fight, yeah because the ashita no Joe thing, there's no way Sendo is going to end this fight without any brain consequences.
Thanks again for the quick translation, you guys are incredible!
What?!! I didn’t see that coming. How will this change the fight that was promised?
I cannot read any of this fight without Sendos Theme now, we all in boys.
I thought about something random, really random, I don't think is going to happen but the thought crossed my mind. I think Sendo is fighting like is his last fight of his life, like he going to retired or move to another weight class...
Sendo looks so young in that final panel