A Step Towards the World is Round 982 of Jōji Morikawa's Hajime no Ippo manga series.
Details
- Title Page Character(s): Ippo Makunouchi, Manabu Itagaki, Wanpo
Summary
At the Makunouchi Fishing Boat, Ippo is excited to hear from Itagaki that Volg has a world title match in Las Vegas, United States of America against the IBF junior lightweight champion coming up. However, once he hears that it is in one week, and it was announced the previous day, Ippo is worried about Volg since he doesn't know how he will prepare for the world title match in only one week. After learning that Volg is a stand-in since the original challenger hurt himself during training, Ippo wonders why Volg accepted the match when there is only a week to prepare. When Ippo goes to the Kamogawa gym and does mitt practice with Kamogawa, Kamogawa informs Ippo about Volg's boxing history in the USA, where he became ranked first in three separate occasions and became known as the "unofficial champion" in the USA. After Ippo asks why Volg couldn't request a title match when he was ranked first, Kamogawa explains that the champions ignore some matches where there are dangerous opponents and opponents who don't bring money for the promoters. As Ippo wonders why they sent a challenge to Volg with only a week left before the fight, Kamogawa replies that they most likely doubt Volg can win without a chance of doing training and weight management so that the champion can be seen as the one who defeated the ultimate challenger and that Dankichi told him that it is their best chance for a title match. Ippo notices how Volg has always fought in these kinds of matches where he is pushed into a corner, fighting alone and frustrated, planning to cheer for Volg until his voice goes out as he wants to see him as a world champion. Sendō goes to Tokyo to meet up with Ippo. Once they meet up, Sendō, tells Ippo that he came to watch Volg's world title match with him.
| World Contender | |||||||||||||||||||
| Proud Wolf | |||||||||||||||||||
| Manga Volumes | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 101 | 102 | 103 | |||||||||||||||||
| Manga Rounds | |||||||||||||||||||
| 982 | 983 | 984 | 985 | 986 | 987 | 988 | 989 | 990 | 991 | ||||||||||
| 992 | 993 | 994 | 995 | 996 | 997 | 998 | 999 | 1000 | 1001 | ||||||||||
| 1002 | 1003 | 1004 | 1005 | 1006 | 1007 | 1008 | 1009 | ||||||||||||