Hajime no Ippo - The First Step - Ch. 1463 - Head and Fist

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I'm kind of over Mashiba fighting against dirty boxers. I thought we buried this plot point in one of his previous fights
Mashiba also had fought dirty during those fights. I bet that this is going to be the fight where he finally fights like a real boxer. This is the fight where Mashiba will no longer cheat and, finally, become a monster.

And how is he going to do it? By fighting his reflection. What he could have become, if not for his sister.
 
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Mashiba will probably have inner thoughts about going dirty like Rosario. I'm kind of bored with this fight. The way it is being written, it looks like Mashiba would destroy him if he didn't play dirty, which for me misses the point of the challenge of a champion. Mashiba is not like Takamura, who obliterates everyone. For me, it should have been a fight that truly challenges him fair and square.
 
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Mashiba also had fought dirty during those fights. I bet that this is going to be the fight where he finally fights like a real boxer. This is the fight where Mashiba will no longer cheat and, finally, become a monster.

And how is he going to do it? By fighting his reflection. What he could have become, if not for his sister.
I just went and looked at a couple of the other fights and no, Mashiba did not fight dirty a single time, ever since he came back from his suspension after the Sawamura match.

In Mashiba's OPBF lightweight title match against Aaron Domingo, Domingo once he was on the backfoot headbutted Mashiba several times, scoring a down and gaining an advantage. Mashiba grew angry and almost lost it, however he remembered all the people who supported him despite and throughout his suspension and fought/won clean and legal.

And then in his fight before this current one against Juan Garcia (Garcia fights clean throughout the whole match) Mashiba was pushed to the brink and considers fouling to get an advantage, but his inner monolog reveals that now he would rather lose a fight than betray the expectations of everyone who supports him. He struggles throughout the fight, much like Ippo did in his fights, and ultimately wins clean.

These two fights, against one cheating and one clean fighter, already covered what you described and completed Mashiba's fouling character arc.
Having another test of this old character flaw of his just feels like padding, even though Rosarion is described as a bad sportman.

To top it off this fight doesn't need it. It was amazing so far and Rosario gave off Takamura vibes. Absolute asshole outside of the ring, but a great boxer inside. Would have been a great challenge for Mashiba overcoming someone like that.
 
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ironic, because as far as i know, Dragon Ball is near sacred in Mexico. and here he is desecrating it.

maybe he roleplay as vegeta when controlled by majin buu?
even got some kind of symbol on his forehead.
Rosario is from Puerto Rico, not Mexico. Puerto Rico is a territory of the US.

I wonder if this is a subtle nod to Toriyama.
It could be, he revealed Rosario's signature hairstyle before Toriyama's death so he had to have the match start that way, but he might've had this hair planned since soon after the passing.
 
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Rosario is from Puerto Rico, not Mexico. Puerto Rico is a territory of the US.


It could be, he revealed Rosario's signature hairstyle before Toriyama's death so he had to have the match start that way, but he might've had this hair planned since soon after the passing.
My bad then.
 

r_r

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Honestly I don’t think what Rosario is doing to be that dirty, I think it’s actually kind of smart. If my natural stance and style allows me to get close and position my legs to cut off a path of retreat for the opponent, why wouldn’t I (granted I don’t all the rules of boxing, so this could just be illegal). Now the leading with the head, while inherently can lead to a headbutt, it’s smart to give Mashiba something else to think about besides just the punches. But, it’s very much a double edged sword tactic because when he leads with the head you know a punch is coming, if you get his timing down you can avoid it and light him up. And this is where he uses his southpaw stance to cut off the Mashiba’s retreat, forcing him to block instead of dodging and allowing Rosario to follow up with a combo. Rosario is a dirty fighter but also a very smart fighter.
 

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