Future - Part 3.5: All Japan Rookie King Tournament: Rocky of Naniwa Arc

All Japan Rookie King Tournament - Ippo Makunouchi VS. Takeshi Sendō

Yamaguchi giving Ippo a shot.

The next day, Ippo and Sendō arrive to the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium for their match. In Ippo's waiting room, due to Ippo being unable to clinch his fist hard enough to punch, Yamaguchi, who arrived to Osaka, gives Ippo a shot containing pain killers to smother the pain. Meanwhile, in Sendō's waiting room, despite being informed that Ippo was downed in his recent spar, Sendō still does not want to underestimate Ippo, as he is always strong in the ring. The match is about to begin as Ippo and Sendō walk to the ring, with the cheers for Sendō vastly outnumbering Ippo, leaving Umezawa, Takemura, and Matsuda feeling threatened if they cheered for Ippo. In the ring, Kamogawa informs Ippo to not worry about the surroundings, as his only opponent is Sendō. Kamogawa asks Ippo about the shot, which Ippo answers that he has no idea as he can not feel his fist.

Ippo lands his first right on Sendō.

When the match begins, Sendō immediately knocks Ippo's guard away with two jabs. Ippo backs away to the ropes from the pressure Sendō emits. Knowing that being defensive will not cut it, tries to strike with a left, but Sendō immediately hits back making Ippo go back to blocking. Ippo gets closer to Sendō and stops at close range as he decides that he has to use his right to defeat Sendō. Ippo tries to aim his right by throwing a left jab, however he gets hit by a right from Sendō. Kamogawa tells Ippo to strike with a body blow to stop his movements only for Ippo to be hit by one. After getting hit by another body blow, Ippo notices Sendō stopped his movements, and lands a right, discovering that he felt no pain after throwing his right. Ippo, now knowing his right fist is safe to hit with, goes on the offence, making Sendō defensive. After hitting Sendō with an uppercut, the first round ends. With Ippo surprised that Sendō's punches are different from the videos, Kamogawa informs him that Sendō must be thinking the same, as his right is fine. Sendō is thrilled that Ippo "woke up" and that he experienced a punch he had dealt to others before.

Sendō hits Ippo with a Low Smash.

When the second round begins, Sendō throws a left Smash, which hits Ippo's guard. Sendō then gets in a crouching position and hits Ippo with an uppercut from below. After dodging another Smash, Ippo gets close to Sendō, making him unable to use his Smash due to it being a middle-range technique. After taking a breather from the close-range brawl, Sendō steps back and motions for a Smash. Ippo attempts to counter Smash's uppercut with a hook, a tactic he trained for to go against Hayami's short uppercut, but fails when it turns out to be a feint. Sendō then lands a right straight that gets shoulder blocked. Sendō immediately uses the Low Smash that barely hits Ippo, who has to hold onto the ropes to stay up. Before Sendō is able to deliver the seemingly final hit, the referee gets between them, ending the second round with Ippo being saved by the gong. When asked to sit down by his cornermen, Ippo informs them that if he sat down, he would not be able to stand back up. He also has something left to do, so he can not afford to sit down. As Ippo leaves the corner, Kamogawa remembers the same words Ippo spoke when he fought against Miyata.

Ippo hits Sendō in the temple.

Right as third round begins, Sendō becomes shocked when he sees Ippo dropping his usual Peek-a-Boo Style for Sendō's more opened stance, creating a mirror image. Angered at the thought of someone trying to use the Smash on him on their first try, Sendō attacks as Ippo dodges and tries to measure the distance. Ippo then hits Sendō with the punch that downed Miyata in the second spar, which Sendō initially thought was the Smash due to the punch being similar to his own Smash. The two fighters then exchanges punches at the same time that leads to them both being off balance. They then launch punches again, this time with Sendō being the only one hit with Ippo's one centimetre punch, resulting in Sendō's first down in the match. Sendō stands back up, thrilled at Ippo's power. Sendō's damage becomes clear as he wobbles from a jab. Leaning on the rope, Sendō switches places with Ippo by grabbing him and pushing him into the rope and delivers a strong body blow, almost toppling over from his own recoil. After both fighters exchange multiple punches with each other, Ippo lands a direct right at Sendō's temple. Sendō does not react at all and begins to strike Ippo directly multiple times. As the gong to end the third round sounds, Sendō continues to beat Ippo's unguarded head and body, as both Sendō and the referee are unable to hear the gong due to the crowd's cheering. After ten seconds of the gong ringing, the referee notices and ends the round.

Sendō, unconscious.

After Kamogawa forces Ippo to sit down, Ippo wonders why his punches aren't working and how Sendō is still standing after the right to the temple. Despite knowing that he took the most punches, Ippo claims he still has not lost, wanting to continue. Yanaoka praises Sendō's performance, and, as the announcer calls for seconds out, Sendō appears to not be listening as he remains seated. The referee ends the match after looking at Sendō, who is revealed to be unconscious and unable to move. Yanaoka notices Sendō was unconscious after taking a clean hit to the temple and only moved due to the cheers. Ippo is shocked as his hand is raised as the victor of the All Japan Rookie Tournament, becoming the Rookie King. Ippo walks away from the ring after feeling like the win was a dream and imagining Sendō still sitting down, waiting to fight Ippo. In the waiting room, Sendō wakes up and want to know how he lost, which Yanaoka just claims it was a splendid match. Ippo, after hearing that Sendō claimed "today I've lost", feels that he really won.