Muddy Tenacity is Round 458 of Jōji Morikawa's Hajime no Ippo manga series.
Details
- Title Page Character(s): Shinoda, Kikumoto Coach, Masaru Aoki, Katsutaka Imae
Summary
As round eight begins, Aoki and Imae immediately go to each other and attack. Both boxers are surprised by their own lack of strength when they hit each other due to being exhausted. Their seconds encourage them to keep punching in their battle of wills. Aoki and Imae proceed to hit each other with huge swings of weak punches while clinching to take breaks until the referee separates them. During the ninth round, their eyes are too swollen to see properly and the move sluggishly. They both fall over after getting tangled up and slowly stand back up. As the audience realise that the match has turned into a mud fight, Tomiko believes that Aoki has the advantage, while Takamura comments that the one who wants the victory the most will win. The final tenth round arrives, with Imae wanting to fight until the end with the confidence he gained by Sachiko, and Aoki wanting to win and become champion to have everyone look up to him. Imae hits Aoki with left jabs before getting hit back by Aoki's left. Kimura wonders who will win if it goes to a decision. Itagaki notes that the beginning went to Imae, while the middle went to Aoki, and Ippo adds how the ending is even so far, so either of them could win. As Aoki and Imae continue slugging it out in close range, Tomiko tells Takamura how she thinks Aoki is cool, since despite not fighting like him or Ippo, he tries his hardest, leaving her to think that no matter the result, there isn't anyone as cool as him in the world. Twenty seconds remain in the tenth round as Aoki gets hit.
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