Yes!
After becoming champion and defending my title a few times,
I think I'm beginning to understand what it means to be strong...
Dad.
Dad!
Hiroko, Ippo!
The Strongest Challenger
Well, I'm off.
Have a good day. Be careful!
Sure thing!
Hey, Ippo!
Wait, Dad!
Here, you forgot this!
Oh, thank you!
Just wait, I'll bring back a huge haul!
Dad, when you get back, I'll help you!
You will, huh?
It's a promise, then!
Yup, promise!
When's Dad coming home?
Hmm, maybe a week or so?
Be a good boy and he'll be home in no time!
Sakuma, where are you?!
Makunouchi, get on the raft!
Hurry!
You idiots! Sakuma's still on the boat!
Sakuma, where are you?!
Answer me!
Sakuma!
Makunouchi...
You okay?
Forget about me, it's too late!
Don't say that!
My leg's trapped! I'm done for!
Don't you quit on me.
Forget it, Makunouchi.
Save yourself!
Don't give up! We're all going home together!
Get him!
Hurry up! Get on the raft!
Move!
Makunouchi!
I will make it home!
Hiroko, Ippo...
Ippo!
He was the best.
Makunouchi was the pride of all fishermen.
Thank you.
Kazuo-san would consider that the greatest of compliments.
I'm the one who should be thanking him!
Why, if it isn't Ippo!
Mister Sakuma!
Can you show me how to do something?
I sure can. What do you wanna know?
Teach me how to tie a clove hitch!
A clove hitch?
You gonna moor a ship to the dock?
I wanna learn how to do it before my dad gets back.
I promised to help him when he comes home!
When he gets back... you...
Show me!
F-Forget that! How about an amusement park?
I'll take you anywhere you want to go.
Let's go somewhere fun!
Thank you, but I promised him.
Listen, Ippo...
I know you're young, so maybe you don't understand,
but your father...
He said he'd come home.
Dad keeps his promises.
He's out there doing the best he can on his own,
but he'll come back!
A-Anyway, you don't want to worry your mother!
Let's get you home!
No!
Dad's coming back. I have to wait for him!
Ippo.
I'm gonna wait a little longer.
Let's go home.
Mom, look!
I learned to tie a bowline knot!
Dad will—
Just come home now, Ippo!
There's no point in waiting anymore! Your father's not...
Dad keeps his promises.
I know he'll come back!
I'm going—
Ippo!
Oh no, I have to get Ippo!
What happened? You're soaked!
He kept his promise.
Dad...
Dad came home.
We have to live on, together.
The Makunouchi Fishing Boat
What kind of carpenters are you? It's all crooked!
You were rushing us!
Every fisherman here's gonna give you idiots a lashing if you do shoddy work!
Mister Sakuma!
Hey, Ippo!
Look, mom got her boating license!
"Boat operator."
Nice work, Hiroko-san!
Thank you. I finally got it on the third try.
We'll show you where all the best spots are.
Your boat'll have a reputation for guaranteed hauls!
Thank you so much.
Let's go, Ippo!
You're heading out to sea right away?!
We'll do our best!
He'll be with us, too.
Yeah... you're right.
C'mon, Mom, let's go!
Wait a minute!
C'mon, c'mon!
Nope, I'm too worried!
Let's go with them!
I'm in!
Port side, check.
Aren't you done yet?! Hurry up!
Deck, check.
Makunouchi Fishing Boat
It's moving!
Here we go, Ippo!
Yeah!
The Makunouchi Fishing Boat...
has set sail!
Ippo!
Mom!
Let's be strong, Ippo!
Yeah, we'll be strong!
I'm going to become even stronger... until I finally catch up to Dad.
First, I have to focus on my next defense.
I will destroy the Dempsey Roll!
So we've finally got a challenger
who claims he can beat the Dempsey Roll.
Ippo-kun's fourth title defense is against
the Ryukyu warrior, Shimabukuro Iwao.
Kamogawa Boxing Gym
Use your hips. Your punches are soft!
Those punches won't even make Shimabukuro flinch!
Keep your hands moving. More rotation!
Wow, they're both fired up.
And here's why.
Destroy the Dempsey Roll?
Ippo's own pain and suffering
are what led him to develop the Dempsey Roll on his own.
If someone manages to stop it...
It'll be a huge blow to him.
I see. No wonder he's going all out.
The Dempsey Roll won me the championship.
I have to keep refining it,
until it's strong enough to beat anyone!
Until it's perfect!
It's been 13 minutes since he went down... any second now...
Shimabukuro, it's almost time to leave.
Are you ready?
Sure am, coach.
I can't wait.
This is my opportunity to see if I really am strong,
or if there are men out there stronger than me.
I heard Makunouchi-kun's the son of a fisherman.
That's correct.
So he's a son of the sea, too.
We'll see who the stronger son is.
I'm going to drag him deep down to the ocean floor.
I'll face the hard-punching champion Makunouchi Ippo head-on
and go blow-for-blow with him at the bottom of the sea.
And that's where I'll win!
I'll crush his trademark Dempsey Roll!
Yeah!
Iwao!
Come back with the belt!
The whole island will be celebrating!
Win the title!
I give you my word!
On my honor as a son of the sea, I'll come back with the big one!
The wait is over, everyone!
Beginning shortly at the Champion's Carnival,
it's the Japanese featherweight title match!
Makunouchi Ippo vs. Shimabukuro Iwao
Senpai!
How you feeling?
Guys!
Whoa, new trunks!
Yeah, my mom and Umezawa-kun made them.
They look good on you, Ippo.
Thanks, Kimura-san!
Give it all you've got, Ippo-kun!
Your fourth defense is the start of a big run for the Kamogawa gym.
Then Aoki's first title match,
Yeah!
Itagaki's Rookie King fight,
and Takamura's first World title defense.
It's up to you to start things off right, kid!
Sir!
Good luck, senpai.
Thanks.
We'll be cheering.
Kick his ass, Ippo!
It'll give me momentum for my title match!
I'll do my best!
Don't worry about minor crap like Aoki's fights.
What?!
Don't screw up before my title defense.
Right.
Okay, kid, let's go!
Yes, sir!
The challenger is now making his way to the blue corner.
Hailing from Okinawa, the sea’s strongest son!
13 fights. 12 wins, all by KO. Only one loss.
Ranked number one in the Japanese featherweight division,
Shimabukuro Iwao!
What is that?
He's a mountain of muscle!
He's so big, he can't even lower his arms!
How do you even get a body like that?!
And now his opponent, heading to the red corner.
16 fights. 15 wins, all by KO. Only one loss.
The champion, Makunouchi Ippo!
Get him, Makunouchi!
Knock him out!
Win!
The two boxers come face to face.
It's a battle between two hard punchers
who've both won all their fights by knockout!
Now that I see them facing off, I can see the height difference.
This is the first time Ippo's had to fight someone shorter than him.
Short or not, Shimabukuro is buff as hell.
Look at how thick his neck is!
He's not gonna be easy to take down.
Will the champion successfully defend his title for the fourth time,
or will the belt be flying down to Okinawa?
Tonight he faces his strongest challenger!
The first match of the Champion's Carnival is about to begin!
There's the bell!
Both men begin by putting up their guards,
but the challenger's guard brings him much lower to the ground!
Shimabukuro-san is angling to beat the Dempsey Roll.
I can't risk using it carelessly.
I'll start by feeling him out.
Things are starting off surprisingly quiet.
The title of Japan's strongest infighter
is on the line in this bout, as well!
The challenger made no bones about his intent to best the Dempsey Roll.
In a pre-fight interview,
he vowed to "drag the champion to the bottom of the sea."
What could he have meant by that?
What pressure...
It's like he's pushing up at me from below.
He's being pretty cautious.
Well, if he won't move... I will!
Shimabukuro makes a move!
Here I come, Makunouchi-kun!
A left from the champ!
It feels like I got nailed with a brick. What a hard left!
And another left!
So fast, so powerful!
The champ's jabs feel more like straights!
Atta boy, Makunouchi!
He's got one hell of a left, but it won't be enough to stop Shimabukuro!
Wail on him!
The champ continues throwing lefts, but the challenger dodges!
He's weaving low!
The mountain of muscle makes his way to the champ's chest!
Uh-oh!
A dead end! The pressure backs the champ into the corner!
All the showy outboxing doesn't suit you!
Get ready to fight!
He throws a hard left body blow!
Wait, the champ blocked it!
Now he returns fire! The champ lands his signature liver blow!
The challenger is frozen! Is the champ on the offensive now?
No, he's too low! The champ can't follow up!
A right out of nowhere! What a huge swing!
Watch out!
Don't let him land that!
He'll send you flying!
I can't let him get in on me again!
The champ tries for some breathing room with a quick, tight combo!
Back off, back off, back off!
He's gone?!
Below!
The challenger gets even lower!
That compact stance can only mean one thing!
No, don't let him connect!
The punch is...
A Gazelle punch!
The cross-arm block is blasted apart!
He's so strong!
He can use the Gazelle punch, too?!
No time to stand around shocked, kid!
The challenger immediately follows the Gazelle punch with a barrage!
The champ can only defend. He's trapped in the corner!
A clean body blow!
What do I do?
Things will only get worse if I just block!
Block?
Forget about defense!
The champ moves in!
He's calling for full-on infight!
That's it, Ippo. That's your distance!
Not many people will go toe-to-toe with a power fighter.
Shimabukuro won't be used to fighting this close!
Now it's fifty-fifty odds. Get him, kid!
Sparks fly as the two fighters stick to one another like glue!
Both their heads are knocked this way and that!
They're too close to get a wind up or a big swing,
so how can they still hit so hard?
The power's coming from their hip rotation and weight distribution.
As long as they've got a fist's worth of space,
they can keep throwing those bombs.
They're perfectly even.
It's a battle of wills at this point.
Keep punching!
Move forward!
There's the bell! Round one is over!
You were smart to slug it out. Keep it up next round!
Right!
Don't let him push you around. This is going to stay a battle of wills!
The moment you back down is the moment you lose!
Right!
He's got serious speed.
But we've got the power advantage.
Drive him into the ground, got it?
Right!
Makunouchi-kun is strong,
but he took my invitation to brawl.
Just like I planned.
Round two!
Both men fly out of their corners. They're charging head-first!
Body blow by the champ!
The champ keeps him pinned down at point-blank range!
You're right where I want you, Makunouchi-kun...
Ankle deep in the ocean!
An uppercut interrupts the champ's barrage!
It's a knock-down drag-out fight in the center of the ring!
They switch between offense and defense at a blistering pace!
Neither man pauses for a moment,
nor does the crowd's cheering through this climactic battle!
The champ is managing to throw a few more punches,
but then a brutal strike cuts his attacks short!
If either pauses for a second, he's sure to be pounded into submission!
The tension is thick in the arena!
A war of wills and fists unfolds in the ring,
as these two men compete for the title of Japan's strongest infighter!
Fifth round, and neither man is giving an inch!
Whose fists will finally shatter the stalemate?!
The champ connects with an uppercut! Shimabukuro's head flies back!
He's waning!
Put him away!
The champ follows up!
He rains down blows! He's trying to end it!
Hang on, Shimabukuro!
One more push! Grit your teeth and keep those hands moving!
He's opening!
The champ is met with a right!
Damn it! Why'd he try for a big swing?!
The champ stumbles backwards!
If he'd just kept chipping away, he would've won.
C-Coach.
Ippo-kun's face is turning...
That's...
Cyanosis, due to prolonged hypoxia!
Can't... breathe...
Body feels heavy...
Welcome to the ocean floor.
The Dempsey Roll Destroyed