A Casual Down is Round 771 of Jōji Morikawa's Hajime no Ippo manga series.
Details
- Title Page Character(s): Ippo Makunouchi, Malcolm Gedo
Summary
Only thirty seconds into the match, Gedo has taken a down. The audience is excited, thinking that Ippo has won. Itagaki, Aoki, and Takamura think Gedo is pretty fragile, but Kimura mentions it not quite over yet. Gedo is able to stand and wants the referee to stop counting, but his legs are still weak. Mari thinks the fight is close to being over, before she got the chance to ask Fukui and Tsukahara for their opinion on Gedo. Fukui mentions he hopes it is enough to beat Gedo. Gedo finally gets the referee to stop counting, and the fight resumes. Ippo charges toward Gedo again. His corner wants him to run away, but Gedo knows what he needs to do since he isn't some four round rookie. Kamogawa wants Ippo to finish it off before Gedo cooks up something to prolong the match. Ippo is thinking about how to finish him with fast and compact punches. Gedo isn't too worried about the situation and stuck out both of his hands and starts charging Ippo. They think Gedo is trying to clinch Ippo, but Ippo starts to throw an overhand right that cross over Gedo's arms but Ippo misses. All of a sudden, Gedo disappears, which shocks Ippo. He wonders where Gedo is when he notices Gedo leaning against the ropes far away. Kamogawa wonders why Ippo didn't follow Gedo's movement. Gedo knows the damage isn't gone yet, so plans to hang back for now. He start to think that he didn't enter boxing just because he liked the money, but also remember his nickname too. "The Magician". Fukui mentions to Mari, that he hoped Ippo finished it fast since the longer it takes, the more Gedo will capitalise on it with his cunning since he known as "the Magician".