[Locke]

Ippo 14.

The rookie tournament begins!

It's weird that this show keeps trying to mirror Ippo in his opponents but I must admit, it works a lot better this time than it did with Oda. Seeing Jason and Ippo be goofs together is hilarious, and it's even more so because we know these are both total badasses at the same time. It's kinda sad that you know Jason is going to lose, because of what we've seen of him, he seems like a great character.

Still, honestly the match wasn't that exciting, until Ippo had to learn the counterpunch. Ippo literally could not win, so he had to take the hits directly to his face, and try and win out mentally rather than physically. That is pretty fucking awesome, especially considering up to this point, Ippo's only real boxing skill has been how heavy his hits are.

Ippo's Mum lets him box, but refuses to go watch? What do you think he does in a boxing ring? Plays monopoly? This isn't the Matrix, of course he's going to get hit! Especially as black people seem to always have super powers in sports anime simply because apparently in these things that is what they're born with.