In the end, it's Sendoh's defeat, and Takamura's the remaining Japanese world boxing champ, while Ippo's return is far from happening 😞
Yeah... NGL I stopped yearning for Ippo's return to being a boxer at this point. Morikawa really seems dead set on not letting him back to this.
It's time for other characters to be take the spotlight when it comes to matches, and I'm fine with it. It's not like we had a shortage of genuinely endearing cast members, in the first place.
My guess is, Ippo will stay involved in boxing, just not as a boxer, and will keep getting more involved.
I wouldn't be surprised if he runs a gym or a boxing class for high-schoolers for example, in the late game of the series. He pretty much already has two students, after all