Class-A Tournament - Part 1

It was June 30th, his birthday. Knowing his sister, there'd be a cake waiting for him at their house or something equally frivolous. Mashiba Ryou glowered as he walked home. Even though he had to go up a weight-class, it wasn't like he could eat something like that. If he could've maintained his weight while working his warehouse job, then he'd still be a feather-weight. A chance to get back at that little punk Makunochi: it wouldn't happen now. For how long did he have his eye on Kumi? At least her virtue wasn't at risk. He'd watched every "date" they had. If Makunochi had so much as laid a finger on her...

But he hadn't, and Kumi was happier now-a-days. Annoyingly happy. Insisting that Makunochi was HIS friend! Ryou loved his little sister, but her lack of awareness drove him insane. The tall boxer turned onto the street where his house was. Riding the train would've been quicker, but walking was cheaper. They only had so much money coming in, and paying for two rail passes was an extravagance they couldn't afford. Kumi needed one. She wasn't a boxer. Walking so many miles every day would be too hard on her. The trains were full of perverts, but it was still safer for her.

At his house he noticed that the lights inside were off, but there was still a faint flicker that could be seen through the windows. Kumi had the lights off, but had bought him a cake and lit the candles already. With a sigh, Ryou opened the door.

"Surprise!" *pop* String fell on top of his head while confetti hit him in the face.

"S-Surprise." That voice! He was here with his sister in the dark! When the lights came on, Mashiba saw his little sister by the switch. Makunochi was sitting in the living room with a guilty look on his face.

"Ryou-nii-san! Happy Birthday!"

"Come and sit down."

"Now blow out the candles and make a wish." Ryou knew what he'd wish for, if such a childish game would actually work.

"..."

"RYOU! Blow them out!" Mashiba had been glaring at the uninvited guest across the table. However, at his sister's insistence, he took a deep breath and blew out the 21 candles that adorned the white frosting of the cake.

"Here, a piece for you. And a piece for you. And a piece for me." Kumi had cut 3 pieces, and had served both him and Makunochi. She was chatting happily away, but Mashiba barely paid attention. Makunochi had taken a small bite, but Ryou couldn't afford even that. "Oh! I forgot the juice! I'll be right back!"

"I-I'll go with you!" Makunochi had started to stand up. Like hell he'd go out with her at night!

"No, no, no. I'll be fine. You and big brother can talk about boxing while I'm away!" She smiled as she went out the door. It was so transparent.

"S-So...uh...Kumi-san says you went up a weight class."

"..." Of course she did.

"I-I'm glad I don't have to fight you again."

"..." Of course you are.

"A-Are you going to enter the C-Class-A tournament?"

"..." Of course he was.

"..." What? Did he run out of things to say already?

"..." What was taking Kumi so long?


"E-Excuse me. You're Makunochi right?" Ippo nodded. It was one of the men that had come with the Kumiko Morita. Ippo had wanted to avoid talking with the idol, but instead he found himself in the ring with her again. She had come to the Kamogawa Gym to do a story on boxers. It was going to air on TV, so Ippo couldn't miss it.

"Since it's hard seeing how tough a boxer is by watching, we've decided that I should experience some sparring! My opponent will be the upcoming hope, feather weight class 5th rank, Makunochi Ippo." Morita was in some exercise clothes with head gear and gloves. "Thank you very much!"

"Y-You're welcome." Ippo specifically had wanted to avoid this. He had to be at the gym to be interviewed, but since he had a girlfriend, talking with an idol didn't feel right.

Now he had to spar with her. Morita took her fighting stance, and Ippo could only marvel at how it looked even cuter than when he'd first seen it. There wasn't a good place to attack. Her face was no good, and her chest wouldn't work either. Ippo had learned that the hard way last time. While he was still at a loss for what to do, Morita attacked. Her blows were amateurish, and wide, but her very presence was a distraction. A small sound accompanied each punch she threw. Ippo swayed by habit, and dodged each one. He still had to attack at some point. The idol's attacks were growing more and more frantic, so Ippo reached out and touched her stomach after he ducked under a super wide hook. Morita doubled over and grimaced in pain.

"Morita-san!" Ippo hadn't put any power behind that punch. Could he have hurt her? Quickly he moved to check. In the background Takamura, Aoki, and Kimura were angrily shouting threats at him.

"Owwwwwwwww...*hee*hee* gotcha!"

"Huh?"

Kumiko's uppercut took him completely off-guard. The blow wasn't strong, but the surprise caused him to lose balance. With a dull thud, Ippo fell backwards to a sitting position.

"Yay! I got a knock-down!" Morita was jumping up and down and smiling. Ippo was about to get up to congratulate her when he was grabbed from the side and pulled out of the ring.

"I'm next!"

"No me!"

"I'm going to spar her!"

The gym was deteriorating into chaos again so Ippo excused himself. After another half hour of "sparring", Kumiko had started the interviews. Ippo was still nervous, but tried to answer as clearly and politely as he could.

"So what's your next goal?"

"W-well, I-I'd really like a chance to fight with Date-san again."

"Again?"

"I-I-I meant spar with him."

"Oh? So not a fight in the ring?"

"I just want to have a match with him while I can. Date's going to challenge the world, so if I don't get to fight him now...then I'll have missed my chance."

"What about the title?"

"T-The title? Well, honestly I hadn't thought that far ahead...sorry."


Today was the day of the pro-test. Yamada thought he'd passed the written part, but sparring was next. It was nerve-wracking. The other boxers all looked so confident in their abilities. A review might help, so he'd hung back in the bathroom. A jab. Sway to the left, then a hook. It was no use, he wasn't that good. Yamada remembered his first day at the gym. There had been a large number of applicants, and Takamura had made them all run for so long. When Senpai had passed him, he said that he knew Yamada could do it and to not give up. Senpai had always been there. An un-catchable figure out in front, but also a friend by his side helping. More than anything Yamada wanted to be helpful to Senpai. If he could only be a useful sparring partner, but Senpai had Kimura and Aoki to spar with. They were more experienced and in higher weight classes, so Yamada couldn't hope to perform better than they did. Senpai had also fought so many great boxers already. So to give him a good spar, Yamada had to at least perform nearly as well as his old opponents. Ozuma's hook, Hayami's speed, Mashiba's flicker, or Sendou's strength - there was no hope of matching any of them.

"Yamada."

"S-Senpai!" Senpai had come to the bathroom. Probably to check on him. Even while taking the pro-test he was causing Senpai to worry. "I thought I'd review a little."

"It'll be fine. You've worked hard. Trust in your training."

"Y-Yeah, but I'm still so far behind everyone."

"You may be behind people who've been doing this for years, but trust me you're definitely at the level for a professional."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Don't be fooled by the skill level of people who've been amateurs for years. They may have more practice, but the pro-ring is different. So let's go to the ring ok?" After they'd left the bathroom, Ippo continued talking. "Now breath deeply." They both did. "This will be more like a spar than a match, but there will be a few differences. First there's a referee, but don't worry about him. Concentrate on your opponent. Oh yeah, there's also some resin. You only want a little on the bottom of your feet. So be sure to not apply too much!"

"Ok Senpai!"


The door to Kamogawa's gym opened and his ranked boxers walked through.

"C-Coach..I-I did it!" Yamada was his typical shy self, but there was only one thing he could mean.

"I see! Then you passed! Wonderful!" As usual, Yagi was full of energy. For now there was something more pressing.

"Yagi-chan, do you have the copies ready?"

"I have them right here." Yagi passed sheets of paper out. "Yamada-kun just finished, so now it's your turns!"

"Good. Sendou entered." Ippo was studying the sheet.

"That's right. You're lucky to have so few competitors. There were more, but most dropped out when Volg signed up. Now there are just four others: Sendou Takeshi, Saeki Takuma, Suzuki Toshio, and Volg Zangief. You also have a first round buy. You and Saeki will fight in the semi-finals, and Volg will fight the winner between Sendou and Suzuki."

"W-Wow Senpai! I never expected to get to see a rematch between you and Sendou-san! But what about Mashiba-san?"

"He had to move up to the Junior Light bracket." Ippo replied immediately. Since the talk around the gym was he was seeing Mashiba's sister it wasn't a surprise he knew something like that. In fact, given the kid's timidness, having him fight his girlfriend's brother probably wouldn't have turned out very well.

"What? Why didn't you tell me something like that? That monster's in my bracket now? Ippo! How could you do this to MEEE?!" Kimura didn't seem to be taking the news very well. He'd grabbed the brat's shirt and was shaking him back and forth. After he'd calmed down a bit, Kimura and Aoki both lamented their brackets. Ippo seemed excited though.

"What's with all the sighing people! You two should learn something from Ippo." Takamura didn't have to worry about a tournament since he was already the champion. "I know! The weather's been nice, so lets go the annual training camp. It'll give the worthless weaklings some more confidence."

"I can go this time." "It sounds good." "It'll be a nice chance to increase our power." Kamogawa listened to everyone else agree to Takamura's idea. They wouldn't get any work done if he left them alone. Unless Yagi-chan was under the weather again, he'd be able to go with them and limit their shenanigans.


"Stop! Back to the center of the ring and do it again!"

Kimura sighed. The training trip hadn't been very much fun so far. With the coach around there weren't any opportunities for...recreation. Sure, they got a nice view when they did their beach running, but that was over way too soon. Ippo had the 'Speed Star' Saeki as his next opponent, so Kimura was spending a lot of time sparring with the kid. The two of them returned to the center of the ring.

*ding*ding*ding*

The coach rung the bell and Ippo dashed forward. He was quick. Kimura fired off some jabs to try and keep him at bay, but Ippo was constantly weaving his upper body. This time Kimura tried circling to the right. He was taller than Ippo, and had a better reach, but as soon as he started his counter-clockwise movement Ippo had cut him off. There was just enough room between him and the ropes to tempt someone into moving past, but Kimura wasn't falling for that trick again. Ippo excelled at straight dashes, but his ability to shift to the right or the left was amazing. It must be because he had such a short center of gravity.

Kimura threw some more punches, but none of them hit. A feint to the right was followed by his real movement back and to the left. Ippo wasn't fooled. His kouhai charged forward at an angle and claimed more of the ring. Even with the 16 oz gloves, Ippo's punches hurt! Kimura didn't want to get into his range. The next second he felt a now familiar feeling at his back. He'd been cornered. Ippo advanced slowly. Could he make a break to the left? The right? Trying to time his movement to when Ippo was swaying to the other side had seemed like a good idea, but the last time it had resulted in him getting hit with a body blow that Ippo had thrown in the middle of cutting him off.

"All right that's enough!" Oh, thank you coach! Kimura silently apologized for regretting that the old man had come with them.

"Thanks for the spars Kimura-san!" Ippo had removed his head gear and was giving him a shallow bow.

"No problem Ippo. Your ring sense is really amazing!" Most boxers that just charged forward were super easy to fake out, but Ippo hadn't been falling for anything. It seemed that as soon as Kimura had thrown a punch that Ippo was suddenly in his space.

"It's only because we spar so often. I've gotten a pretty good sense of your rhythm by now."

"Heh, if only I could get a sense of yours."

"I'm just really grateful to have you to spar against! Saeki is a really skilled out-boxer, so getting to practice against someone like you really helps!" It was hard to be upset with just how easily Ippo had managed to corner him all those times when he was so ernest with his gratitude. "Who's your first opponent in the tournament? Perhaps I could try mimicking his style or something."

"Nah, he's an out-boxer. I'll work with Aoki. It would be nice to have someone who was an out-boxer here aside from me though." At the very least they could spend time with Ippo and try and curtail his in-human stamina.

"The coach is going to work with Yamada and Aoki now, so do you want to do some road work?"

"Sure!" Now running on the beach was something that Kimura could get into. He and Ippo went and got changed. "You're not wearing those are you?" Ippo was putting on his leg weights.

"Why not?" If he had to ask...

"Just don't run beside me ok? I don't want the girls to associate us. Some of us don't have girlfriends!"

"O-OK..."

The fact that Ippo was doing his road work wearing those things was pretty impressive. He was also able to run in the sand pretty well, but there were limits. Just looking at him made Kimura tired. It was also strange to see something like that at the beach. Ippo had always been pretty oblivious to a lot of things Kimura was sure that he'd run around the beach dragging a tire on a rope if he could find one. How did he manage to get a girlfriend in the first place!


Ippo had finished helping train Yamada. His kouhai was going to be busy picking up tennis balls for a while, so Ippo decided to work on the new technique he'd discovered. It had all finally become clear in the Sendou fight. The key to a strong punch was to put your weight behind it. The method to sway to the side of an opponent was to shift your weight. If you combined those two things you'd be able to attack while dodging. Ippo had been practicing the motion for months already. Dashing through the un-even bars at the park had originally helped him with ducking. He kept it up to aid in his weight-shifting, but the back and forth motion of that combined with punches was exactly what he'd wanted. After the Rookie King Final, Ippo had gotten the motion down when Kamogawa-sensei saw him practicing in the gym. His coach had talked to him about a fighter named 'Jack Dempsey'.

Dempsey had been a boxer in America in the 1920s. He'd had more than 50 knock outs over the corse of his career as a heavyweight boxer. His most famous move was the 'Dempsey Roll'. It consisted of moving the head and torso in a figure 8 pattern. This was an extension of the swaying that Ippo already employed. The motion served to make him a harder to hit target. In the middle of the movement a hook was thrown. By alternating hands, a continuous barrage of high-power punches resulted. In addition, the figure 8 motion was a vast improvement over a standard side-to-side movement. It brought the body lower, providing the defensive aspect. More importantly, the curved motion preserved momentum. While you could throw a right hook by shifting to the left and be in a position to shift back to the right with a left hook, it was up to the boxer himself to halt his movement. This would ultimately limit how many punches could be thrown since each would cost an enormous amount of stamina. In contrast, the Dempsey Roll let haymakers be thrown constantly without nearly the same detrimental effect.

Ippo felt proud of coming up with a champion-level technique on his own. He'd been "learning" punches and other moves almost instantaneously thanks to his previous exposure to them. This was something different. It was a move that he'd developed without any advantage from Tree-sama's assistance. Kamogawa-sensei had warned him about using the move. The Dempsey Roll put a lot of strain on the lower body. If Ippo wanted to use it then he'd have to train more. In addition to his road work, Ippo was performing all sorts of exercises designed to strengthen his legs - squats, lunges, weights, swimming. The presence of the ocean to swim in and sand to run on was really quite convenient.

In the gym he was only allowed to use the Dempsey Roll for 5 minutes every day. Coach was right. After each session with the heavy bag, Ippo felt sore in muscles he didn't even know he had. Ippo would master the Dempsey. It might be the technique that would give him an advantage in his match with Date. Of course, he still had to earn that match, and the Class-A tournament was filled with incredibly powerful boxers.


"S-Senpai?"

"What is it Yamada-kun?"

"I thought we could do some sparing now."

"Sure. Let me get ready. I'll be in the ring in a bit."

"O-OK!"

Yamada got in the ring after putting on his headgear and gloves. He nervously went over the fight to come in his head. His Senpai had a big tournament coming up, and Yamada hoped he could be of at least a little help. Jab. Jab. Sway. Even though he and Senpai had sparred several times in the past, this time made him feel more nervous than the pro test had. At that time, the only thing that he could screw up was his own life. Failing to help Ippo out would be much worse.

"Let's go!" Senpai was ready.

The two boxers approached. Senpai was swaying like always with a peek-a-boo stance. Yamada assumed a more aggressive stance with his arms parted slightly. Slowly he inched forward. When he was at mid-range he threw the punch he'd been practicing. His left fist rose up and to the right. Throwing the Smash was more difficult than he'd first thought. A 3/4's uppercut seems like an easy concept, but in reality the mechanics were very difficult. With a hook, you threw your arm horizontally across your body. To make it stronger and put your weight into it, you needed to shift to the side. For an uppercut, the punch was thrown vertically aiming at the stomach or head. The weight shift that accompanied it was forward and then to the back. His smash wasn't very good. He couldn't put much power into it. Trying to shift his weight forward and back while also shifting to the side was too much. Yamada could make the motion, but it lacked power. For sparring he hoped it wouldn't matter.

*thump*

His fist connected. It wasn't the first time he'd scored a hit on Senpai, but it wasn't a common occurrence. He couldn't feel any power behind his punch, but that didn't matter. What he wanted was to give Senpai practice in avoiding the smash. Ippo might go up against Sendou again. Takamura had told him that the reason Ippo had taken such a bad hit in the 2nd round wasn't because he made a mistake. His choice in a counter was perfect, but without any practice it couldn't have succeeded. He wasn't as skilled or as strong as Sendou-san, but he could still afford his Senpai some practice. Ippo took a step back and smiled. He lowered his guard to the same one that he'd used to try and counter the smash in his match with Sendou-san. With nearly identical stances, the two boxers approached each other and continued the spar.


"Hi mom."

"I know you said I didn't need to call every night, but I wanted to see if everything was alright with the typhoon."

"That's good."

"Uh-huh."

"Yep, the training camp has been really fun. I think I've gotten stronger! Yamada-kun too! He's really progressing! How's Umezawa-kun doing?"

"I'm glad."

"Yes, I called Kumi-san yesterday."

"Actually I got her brother...Well, I did get to talk to her so it was nice."

"Yes mother..."

"Yes mother..."

"Yes mother..."

"I know it's strange for a son to call home every day, and it's normal to call your girlfriend rather than your mom...but I just wanted to make sure everything was going ok."

"I'll see you tomorrow. I love you too." Ippo hung up the phone.


"Now, out of the blue corner, a man who has 8 consecutive victories! A man proclaimed to have the most destructive punches in his weight class! The immensely powerful: MAKUNOCHI IPPO!"

"And entering from the opposite corner, the former Japanese National Amateur Champion, now a professional boxer! He's called the fastest in the boxing world! The Speed Star: SAEKI TAKUMA!"

"We will now continue the Class A tournament! The Feather-Weight Division Semi-Finals! This match is about to be underway!"

"In the red corner, Hailing from the Kawaii Gym, weighing in at 124 and 1/2 pounds: Saeki Takuma!"

"His opponent, in the blue corner, from the Kamogawa Gym, he weighs 125 pounds: Makunochi Ippo!"

"The match is starting. Will Makunochi's power win or will Saeki's speed prevail?!"

*ding*ding*ding*

The bell rung and the match started. Saeki moved out to the center of the ring. The two boxers approached each other at a controlled pace. Makunochi was swaying side to side with his hands raised in a peek-a-boo style. Actually it was slightly different than what Saeki had seen from his tapes. The powerhouse boxer's gloves weren't even. His right hand was raised up slightly higher than his left. Saeki could only see Ippo's left eye as it glared at him. Makunochi took the first move. He approached at a measured speed, probably trying to get at the right distance to dash in. A jab. It was pretty well polished. Fast. Not much movement beforehand. Still far too slow and straight forward.

Saeki dodged to the left. Makunochi followed. He wasn't that slow, but only one of them was known as the 'Speed Star'. Saeki circled around him, dodging the jab that came every few seconds. There was a pressure at his back. The corner! Makunochi had positioned him without him realizing it. Now the charge would come. Now he'd get the thrill of going against real punches. The thrill that didn't exist except in the pro ring. Instead Makunochi jabbed. It wasn't even a continuos jab. He seemed more concerned with keeping his guard up than throwing punches. Even though his expression had changed, Saeki guessed he was just the timid little thing he'd met at the weigh in.

A dash out of the corner, a dodge, and a sway. Saeki had escaped, but Makunochi was right on top of him again. The kid had a great ring sense. He repeatedly managed to trap his opponent in the corner, but his attacks were a token gesture at best.

*ding*ding*ding*

The round was over. Saeki went back to his corner.

"Well he won that round, but only because you didn't throw any punches."

"Yeah, I was expecting something more than jabs."

"Even though he has twice the number of professional fights as you, he's still far less experienced I'd say."

"Perhaps. Either way it's time to go to the next gear this round. I'll vanish from his sight."

*ding*ding*ding*

The bell rang and Saeki met Ippo in the center of the ring again. Ippo still had that turtling guard up and that annoying sway. It didn't matter though, he wouldn't be able to see the flickers. Saeki would unleash a flurry at his right eye and... Makunochi's eye was completely guarded. His plan to use the flicker's whipping motion to cause swelling wouldn't work if he couldn't target Ippo's eye... Wait, if he couldn't see his eye, then he already had a blind spot! He'd go up a gear and apply pressure. Once Makunochi lowered his guard so he could keep track of him, then he'd aim for the eye.

One. One, two, three.

One, two.

One. One, two, three, four.

One. One.

Ippo's defense was a tough nut to crack, but Saeki had gotten his rhythm. Over and over his punches were thrown. As he got into the flow, Ippo's dodging and swaying had become easier to read. Makunochi refused to drop his guard, but Saeki could now throw punches around his blocks. It was as if his eye was swollen shut, but he guarded his eye while taking punches to the rest of his body. If it hadn't resulted in the same out-come, Saeki would've thought that Ippo had known of his plan for the fight from the very beginning. As it was, he could hit Makunochi at will, and with full-strength punches, not just jabs.

3rd gear.

One. One, two, three.

One, two.

One. One, two, three, four.

One. One.

One, two. One, two. One, two, three.

It was completely one-sided at this point. Did Makunochi think he'd tire out in 6 rounds? He could maintain this speed for an entire match.

One. One, two, three.

One, two.

One. One, two, three...*THUD*

He'd been to the side. He was in Makunochi's blind spot, but something had struck him in the stomach. The pain caused him to almost double over.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooo

It'd taken half of the 2nd round, but Ippo had finally matched his rhythm to Saeki's. Now he'd landed a punch. Saeki'd recover if he gave him a chance, but that wasn't going to happen. Ippo dashed forward, following up with the right body-blow he'd landed. Left, right, left, left. Small quick blows to the gut. He had to knock out Saeki's legs. The Speed Star threw a hook, but Ippo was expecting it. He ducked underneath it to the left while hammering a right body blow into his opponent's stomach. Unlike the last ones, this punch had all his weight behind it. He reversed direction, and threw a full-strength liver blow. It lifted Saeki's body off the ground by a few inches. Ippo reversed direction again, coming down with an overhand right, but Saeki was already on the mat.

"Go to a neutral corner!"

"1!"

"2!

"3!" Saeki was trying to grab the ropes, but he'd collapsed facing away from them. He wasn't moving his legs.

"4!" With a grimace Saeki began to try and stand, but as soon as he bent at the stomach he let out a cry of pain and stopped.

"5!"

"6!"

"7!" Saeki began to move again.

"8!" Slowly he rose to his feet, but halfway up his legs gave out and he went falling back down to the mat. His hands had grabbed the ropes though.

"9!" Saeki was pulling himself up.

"10!" Saeki was now vertical, but only due to the ropes. He wasn't on his feet, and he definitely wasn't in a fighting stance.

K.O. Time 2nd Round: 2 minutes 41 seconds

Macunochi Ippo Victory

Class-A Tournament Semi-Finals

9-0-0 9 K.O.s