Warm Soup is Round 157 Jōji Morikawa's Hajime no Ippo manga series.
Details
- Characters Introduced: Takashi Satō
- Title Page Character(s): Eiji Date, Ippo Makunouchi, Alexander Volg Zangief
Summary
At Umezawa's request, Ippo leaves all the the boat to him, in order to watch Date defend his title. At the Kōrakuen Hall, Date easily defeats his opponent, Takashi Satō in the seventh round, but Nakadai asks why he didn't do it when he had the chance in the third round. Date implies that he was waiting for Ippo to arrive. Mesmerised by Date's performance, Ippo goes with Fujii to Date's room, where they take pictures for the reporters. On his way home, Ippo is stopped by a lost foreigner looking for directions, who turns out to be non other than Volg. He asks for help to read a map, and asks Ippo if they can talk for a while. Wanting to know why it is that Ippo always smiles after a fight, Volg asks if he loves boxing. Ippo answers that he does, and asks if Volg does not. Volg replies that he does not like boxing, but he does it in order to pay for his sick mother's treatment. Both fighters say they will be at their best at the time of the match, and Ippo turns and runs away. As he walks, Ippo reflects on the events of the night and hears a group of people talking about a "weird foreigner". Remembering that he never helped Volg getting back home, he runs to help him.