@Rozzak Well he pretty much wrecked Rihito, and beat Sekibayashi even before the tournament, so while he certainly wasn't a favorite to win he was still (low) top class. Far below fighters like Kanoh, Kuroki, Wakatsuki, Julius, Hatsumi, etc, but above Ryuki and significantly above current Koga. Plus, they're seeing his uncontrolled Advance, which was always impressive even to the aforementioned top tier fighters who could have dealt with it in a fight.