I want Takuma to win, but to have a hard time. Sure, this chapter make us sympathize with him more, but in the end, it feels like fighting someone as strong as Takuma and losing in a hard fight while still in school is enough to get praise.
Although if Takuma loses in a hard battle, I would also think it's fine. Takuma would get really fired up and go harder on his training and Maruo would become a "new kind" of genius(which would really bring us to a properinterview about him).