Towards the Longed For is Round 353 of Jōji Morikawa's Hajime no Ippo manga series.
Details
- Title Page Character(s): Ippo Makunouchi, Naomichi Yamada
Summary
Ippo is determined to teach Yamada the lesson Date taught him, losing. Yamada's coach believes Yamada has at least one broken rib and is ready to throw in the towel. Yamada's mother recalls the time when Yamada stated that he will retire after his match against Ippo, as he is his final goal, his own world title match. Yamada then stands up, Aoki and Kimura notice that Ippo's face did not change, so he expected Yamada to get up. Takamura recognises that Ippo has taken Date's place, but whether or not he has a grasp of Date's baton will be decided now. Then, Kamogawa states that this fight will have a big impact on Ippo, as a soft boxer is unacceptable if he wishes to aim higher. Yamada attacks with a one-two and a liver blow that hits Ippo's guard. Ippo then attacks with a one-two and a Liver Blow of his own that lands directly. Ippo then connects another Liver Blow and an uppercut, Ippo recognises Yamada's strength and hits with a devastating right to the face. As Yamada falls, he wishes that Ippo continues winning and become a world champion and that fighting against him is his pride. Ippo tries to catch him as he falls, but the referee goes in-between him and signals the end of the match, with Ippo winning and defending his JBC featherweight title for a second time.
| Proof of Power Arc | |||||||||||||||||||
| Manga Volumes | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 38 | 39 | 40 | |||||||||||||||||
| Manga Rounds | |||||||||||||||||||
| 341 | 342 | 343 | 344 | 345 | 346 | 347 | 348 | 349 | 350 | ||||||||||
| 351 | 352 | 353 | 354 | ||||||||||||||||
| Anime Rounds | |||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | ||||||||||||||||