Death Battle!

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Spoiler: 

When Makunouchi Ippo was only a child, his father died in a boating accident while saving all others onboard, leaving him to wait by the sea, believing he would keep his promise that he would come back.
Well, this is already off to a clichéd start. Sad, but clichéd.
He only started to go come back to his normal life when he found his father’s hat, floating in the waves, believing that this was him keeping his promise. However, it did give him the inspiration to try and become as strong as his father was. He would get the chance to follow this idea when saved from some regular bullies by Takamura Mamoru, who takes him off to nurse him as he had been left unconscious.
Long story short, Ippo manages to send a sandbag into the ceiling with a single punch, showing promise in the field. Yeah, I know, no s**t. He earns his respect, gets put in the ring with a prodige out fighter, lasts three rounds to everyone’s surprise, and earns the respect of Genji, the gym’s owner.
He ends up training for three months before rechallenging this boxer, winning through a powerful uppercut just landing on the chin, causing Miyata, the opponent, to lose control of his legs temporarily. He leaves and they promise to fight each other in the finals of the upcoming Rookie King tournament, to decide who truly is the best fighter.
Of course, due to plot, that didn’t happen. Instead, a controversial foul caused him to lose a match in the semi-finals, and...well, they haven’t fought again yet. So...there was no real reason to bring him up here in the long run. Huh.
Ippo would continue to get stronger, constantly working on improving his technique, constantly advancing in the ranks until becoming the Japanese featherweight champion, the unofficial pacific champion, and ultimately moving on to the world stage.
I know it sounds like we’re skipping a lot, but the manga reached 1000 installments in 2012, and we’re not actually Death Battle, so please excuse us for saying “F**k that”.
Ippo’s usual training, like his opponent, is vastly classical except for a few things. His nightly routine includes hitting a tyre with a sledgehammer 100 times with each arm and then 100 times with both, in order to improve his core strength. He also has other unique training techniques, but those are used in order to train in a certain technique to help him fight an upcoming opponent.
Such as hammering a log into a hill just to increase his punching strength. You know, average things.
Otherwise, he just routinely builds upon his basic techniques. His punches contain so much power that his opponent outright stated that, after being hit, “You need a while to recover”. This power is channeled through signature techniques such as the Gazelle Punch, where he springs downwards and then jumps up, using the momentum for a powerful uppercut.
The Tornado Jolt has become such a signature for him that it earned him the name of the Wind God. He twists his waist to add power to his strike, causing a devastating stationary punch while leaving him in the right position to fire off a second punch. His own version of sakki, Courage, is a feint punch which buys him some recovery time.
However, undoubtedly his most iconic technique is the Dempsey Roll. This has him constantly weave in the shape of an infinity symbol, dodging the attacks thrown at him, building up momentum constantly. He transfers this into punches, which he throws during his weaves. These gain power with each loop, making it a highly effective finisher.
This constant onslaught of blows can break blocks, take down almost anyone who doesn’t back off or somehow counter it, and gives the feeling of going to pick up a live hand grenade. God damn, it’s almost perfect.
Actually, it’s far from it. The Dempsey Roll relies on getting in a rhythm in order to build up the momentum. The steadier the rhythm gets, the easier it is to dodge or counter, either by trading blow for blow or just stepping back so that he doesn’t escape your field of view. Also, due to the momentum, any counter punch can theoretically deal double damage.
But when something is broke, you fix it, first with the anti-anti-Dempsey. Just before he strikes, he stops dead, faking out the foe and opening them up for a straight, powerful facial strike. This can be used several times in a row in order to get the clean shot Ippo wants, but it causes strain on his legs and lower back, to such an extent to which it could potentially shorten his career if used too much.
Which is why it was improved upon yet again, to what may very well be it’s greatest possible level. The Free Form Dempsey Roll mixes it up completely, adding in uppercuts and other punches while ducking, bobbing, and weaving in an unpredictable manner. Not only is it unpredictable, but it is also said to be uncounterable.
While in the ring, Makunouchi utilizes the Peek-a-Boo style, constantly blocking his stomach and face in such a way which only reveals his eyes upwards to his opponent.
It does come at the cost of less rotation ability and forces him to face his opponent head on, but as he fights almost exclusively as an in-fighter this works. While he can quickly dodge many face jabs through his headslips, he often opts to tank these blows, which he can do highly effectively and without being worn out too much.
Like a true man.
In fact, at least as far as Japan is concerned, his durability is completely unmatched. So, too, is his determination.
Just like Frisk, he never fails to lose his optimism about succeeding, and constantly pushes himself on. Outside of the sport, he’s constantly training and can only think about his next bout. Inside the ring, the guy will never back down, often keeping himself up through sheer willpower and even going on autopilot just to be able to not lose.
When he’s truly angry, he takes on the Brawling Stance, decreasing his defence for much more punishing offence, as well as letting the opponent know they’ve f**ked up massively by pushing the usually easygoing Ippo so far.
There’s also his trump card, the Fighting Spirit. When things get serious, Ippo’s instincts take over, and not out of necessity. This leads to him fighting at his highest potential, with the greatest possible speed, endurance, and power.
While he was in his brawling stance, Ippo was able to launch a punch so powerful, he sent a man several weight classes above him flying backwards, so it’s safe to assume this same power is usable while under the influence of the Fighting Spirit.
The guy’s a boxing machine. No, seriously, everything is pointing to him being a literal boxing machine. Was he meant to be a new Punch-Out!! opponent, but he got lost, and ended up getting his own anime by accident?
The same could be asked about his mentor in his heyday, Kamogawa Genji. He constantly boxed, up until his final bout against a sadistic and xenophobic American, which occurred in the years shortly after World War Two. To say he was determined to win the match and honour his friend, who had been comatosed in his match with the same guy, would be an understatement.
You know how we said Ippo hammered a log into a hill? This guy did the same with his BARE HANDS. To top it off, he managed to beat the heavyweight American with just two punches! Sure, he kind of destroyed his hands in the process and ruined any chance he had of actually boxing professionally again, but hey. He did what he loved, and in the most metal way possible.
As Ippo’s aide, he works mainly as an inspirational speaker, encouraging Ippo and recommending tactics of assault in the intervals between rounds. He also has the utmost trust in Ippo and the other boxers under his guidance, willing to let him go out into another round and refusing to throw the towel when they could be facing career threatening injuries, simply because he knows they wouldn’t want him to.
Not exactly the best impression to give off to most people. But while undying faith in his proteges is Genji’s fatal flaw, Makunouchi has his own, and many of them, to boot. Ippo’s victories largely come from him being able to prepare for his foes by watching their matches, and working out strategies to counter their techniques. If he hasn’t prepared for something that comes up, it can lead to a big problem.
While he can switch up his attacking technique, he can tend to be highly predictable, with a trend of always stepping forward and attacking head on. He also isn’t used to shorter foes or those outside of his weight class, only facing one in each category. His most fatal flaw has to be his weakness to counters, however. Many of his techniques, once learnt, can be easily countered, most notable with the early stages of the Dempsey Roll.
Cross counters are especially a pain for him, although he has worked to be able to dodge these. But even with these flaws, he is a highly record of 23 to 2, with each one of those 23 wins being by KO, and one of those losses being from the very first time Ippo ever stepped in the ring.
He has taken down every type of boxer, from counter specialists to someone who faced the Dempsey Roll head on and matched it blow for blow. He is also highly lucky, being able to accidentally perform certain techniques, or even go through everything he does without any major injuries.
Plot convenience is a powerful thing, Ranger. But be it for his nigh perfect record or his luck, Makunouchi Ippo’s name will go down in Japanese boxing history.
Takamura-san, what is strength? What does it feel like to be strong?

The combatants are set.
It’s time for a Death Battle!

Spoiler: 

The crowd was buzzing with excitement, a feeling which was only amplified when the announcer made his presence known. “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!” He had to pause for a moment, otherwise his following words would have been drowned out by the cheers from the crowd. When things had settled down slightly, he continued. “It is the match of the century! Representing the United States of America, at a height of one meter seventy and weighing in at one hundred and seven pounds, the Bronx Bruiser, LITTLE MAC!” The cheers became deafening as all the spotlights turned to a figure in a pink tracksuit and green boxing gloves walked into the arena, being backed by a much larger black man, his coach, Doc Louis.

“You hear that, Mac?” Despite speaking loud and being close by, Mac struggled to hear Doc, even when they were at his corner, away from the stalls. “They’re all cheering for you, son. Let’s give them a reason to be excited.” Mac, having taken off his pink clothing to reveal a black vest and green shorts, nodded.

“And in the other corner, representing Japan, coming in at one meter sixty four and a hundred and twenty six pounds, the one they call the Wind God, MAKUNOUCHI IPPO!” The cheers reached the same volume as another figure came in on the other side of the arena, this one in nothing but his shoes, his red boxing gloves, and his stylized shorts. He was followed by an old man who was shorter than him, was bald on the top of his head, and had a tuft of grey hair on the lower centre of his forehead. Upon entering the ring, the boxer started jumping on the spot, tilting his head from side to side, eager for the match to start.

“Listen, Ippo.” Genji spoke, causing Ippo to turn and face him. “As you could guess, we’re not fighting Mr. Sandman today. The USA withdrew him and gave us this guy instead, for some reason. Due to how late it was, I couldn’t find out anything about him in time for this match.” Ippo turned away from his mentor and looked at his opponent, who was shadow boxing while his coach simply grinned. “Be careful. We have no idea what this guy can do.” Ippo nodded, giving a “hmph” of confirmation, and walked forward to the centre of the ring. Mac did the same, and the referee gave them the usual pre-fight talk.

“We are literally seconds away from the match of a lifetime!” The announcer cheered, as the referee, who had finished telling the two fighters to fight cleanly (Mac was visibly relieved to see this process in action), told Ippo and Mac to get back to their corners. A few tense seconds passed. Then, a shrill ringing pierced what was essentially silence compared with the earlier noise level. “And there’s the bell!”

FIGHT!

As soon as the combatants registered the noise, they both rushed forward, meeting each other in the center of the arena. This is where the immediate similarities ended, however, as while Mac took his usual orthodox stance, Ippo wasted no time in swinging out a right jab. Mac was taken aback by this sudden attack, and could only raise his gloves to block as the punches rained down on him.

“Ippo doesn’t hold back with his attacks, but the American champion doesn’t move an inch!” The announcer relayed, even though everyone could clearly see that that was occurring. Ippo, while not showing it, was perplexed as to how someone, anyone, could be taking this many hits from him without moving. It was just after he thought that when Mac made his move. As Ippo swung in for yet another jab, Mac swerved to the left, allowing the fist to go clear past him.

“Wha-?” Ippo thought, as his opponent had seemingly vanished into thin air. His eyes moved downwards, and he was the boxer down there, right fist coming up at a faster rate than the rest of his body. Just after the half second that transpired in, Little Mac’s fist made contact with Ippo’s left cheek, dazing him and forcing him to step backwards.

“Mac counters, and is taking his turn to pummel upon his opponent!” Just as he always had, Mac took full advantage of his opponent’s daze, sending a quick flurry of punches straight at him, not allowing him room to gather his thoughts. Ippo raised his fists over his face to protect it, only to receive a jab to the stomach, winding him. Ippo launched a left in retaliation, making clear contact with Mac’s side. The American showed recognition of the hit through his facial expression, and stopped his onslaught of attacks in response to it, but still didn’t move from his spot in the center. Ippo paused, daring Mac to make the next move. Mac waited, wanting Ippo to provide him with an opening. “The two boxers freeze in the middle of the ring! Who knows what they’re thinking?” The crowd, after a few seconds of this pause, were eager to show their disappointment.

“What are you doing?”

“We came here to see a fight, not a staring contest!”

“Just knock him out already!”

Makunouchi obliged the viewers, once again thrusting out his arm, only for Mac to lean out of the way. He twists his body, building up momentum for a second hit, one which Mac only just dodged. He repeated this process, each punch flying with incredible speed, each one narrowly being avoided by the American. “Ippo lets loose a series of Tornado Jolts, but Mac dodges each one!” Ippo let loose one last punch, before Mac came back with a body blow.

“Again…” Ippo winced at the powerful blow, but didn’t let it stop him from twisting once more and sending a Tornado Jolt straight into Mac’s face. The Bronx boxer gasped, and took a step back from the sheer force of the blow. Ippo didn’t waste any time, instantly following this successful hit with a series of blows, forcing a dazed Mac to stagger back in response to the attacks, never getting enough leeway to dodge.

“And he’s up on the ropes!” The announcer shouted in near disbelief. “The near immovable Little Mac is at the mercy of his opponent!” Mac raised his fists, blocking a couple of Ippo’s punches, before noticing a sudden lull in strikes. He looked through the small gap between his gloves, and saw that his opponent had seemingly disappeared. Just like when Ippo lost sight of him, though, the opponent was still extremely close, and just outside of his field of view. Makunouchi sprang up, going straight through Mac’s misplaced defence and dealing a powerful uppercut. “The Gazelle Punch!” The announcer and crowd screamed at the signature move’s use. Little Mac was leaning on the ropes, having been blown backwards by the Gazelle Punch. Ippo, keen to score an early knockdown, started winding up for another Tornado Jolt. At the last second, Mac ducked underneath the punch, and while Ippo was at the height of his turn, just before he started going into the follow-up Jolt, he launched his own punch. While many put it down as a trick of the lights in the stadium, some of the people more closely watching could see a flash of yellow, with a star briefly appearing between the two boxers. Mac immediately let loose his star punch, his whole body turning as his fist flew vertically, meeting Ippo’s chin on the way. The blow blew Ippo back, giving Mac plenty of room to get his breath back quickly, and then rush back into the fray.

“Where did that power come from?” Ippo questioned, having never felt anything quite as strong as the punch that had just hit him, especially not from someone so low in the weight classes. He put his face close to his upheld hands, and rushed forwards to meet Mac, bobbing from side to side as he did so, leaving a visible air trail in the shape of an infinity symbol.

“Makunouchi Ippo already goes into the Dempsey Roll! That last blow must have made him keen to end this match early!” Mac watched all he could, but found it impossible to keep track of Ippo’s quick movements, constantly evading his vision. While he had tensed himself up, the first blow took him by surprise, a punch which caused flashbacks to Mr. Sandman right on the left cheek, followed swiftly by one on his right, with no time for Mac to even break away. With every swing, the punches seemed to be getting harder, until ultimately it became too much for Mac, with him crashing to the floor.

“One, two…” The referee came in and started counting as the crowed cheered, ecstatic at them being given such a quick knockdown. “Three, fo-” The referee looked at Mac, who was now firmly on his feet again, and then waved for the match to continue.

“H-He looks just as he did at the start of the match! Did the Dempsey Roll do nothing?” Ippo thought, slight worry setting in at the apparent ineffectiveness of his finishing move. Just then, the bell rang, signalling the end of the first round, and for the boxers to go back to their corners.

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Spoiler: 

Ippo walked back to his and sat down on the stool, taking some of the water he was given. Genji got in the ring and stood in front of him.

“Listen. You see him right now?” Genji looked over his shoulder, and Ippo looked behind him. Little Mac was staring right at them, certainly not exhausted, but not completely full of energy either. “He may look confident out there,” Genji turned back to Ippo, “But don’t be fooled by the facade. He’s feeling every one of your blows.”

“Alright, Mac, listen.” Doc Louis didn’t go in the ring, nor gave Mac any water, or anything that the other side would expect, but that was how they agreed to do these rounds. Instead, the coach leaned on the ropes, peering over Mac’s shoulder. “When that kid gets in a rhythm, his punches hit like a truck, but they become predictable. Make sure to counter them, you hear?”

“Seconds out!” The referee called. Before he left, Genji had one final word of advice for Ippo.

“That guy is letting you come to him, and is reacting to everything you throw at him. Try staying back, make him make the first move.” The bell rang, announcing the start of the second round, and Mac once more ran forward.

“The second round has started,” The announcer commentated, “But neither boxer seems to have realized that!” Mac had stopped, just half a meter shy of the center, and Ippo hadn’t moved at all. They once again stared at each other, with similar expressions of determination.

“Not this again!”

“What’s the hold up?”

“Now’s not the time to take a pacifist approach, guys!”

“He’s not moving…” Ippo looked at Mac, whose stance and expression hadn’t changed since the start of the match. Another few seconds passed, with neither boxer moving and the audience getting more and more annoyed.

“JUST FIGHT ALREADY!”

“Well if he won’t come to me…” Ippo rushed forwards. “I have no choice but to come to him!” Ippo allowed his knees to bend further than usual, causing him to crouch, before raising them to normal height and creating a running Gazelle Punch. His fist failed to meet its mark, and as he sprang up he could see Mac, who had swerved to the side, glare dead into his eyes, fist wound back.

“Ippo breaks the standoff, but is met with a counter!” The Wind God didn’t hear the announcer, being too busy absorbing punches from Mac. Ippo tried to get off a Wind Jolt, only for Mac to duck under it and follow up with some body blows. Mac charged up, and then delivered a punch to the liver, filled with much more power than any of his normal strikes. Ippo stepped back in shock, only to continue being hit, this time by a series of quick uppercuts. Ippo tried to retaliate, swinging punches at Mac and dodging jabs to the face with his headslips, but he just couldn’t land a hit. A powerful uppercut, a powerful body blow, they just wouldn’t let up. The announcer yelled about how much trouble Ippo was in, while half the crowd encouraged him to break away, and the other half chanted for Mac to launch a star punch, following another burst of yellow light.

At the sight of another left, Mac leant out of the way, only to unexpectedly fall straight into a different punch. Ippo’s feint had worked, resulting in a visible flash of red as Mac lost his stored star, and KO punches for the time being. What followed was an exchange of blows at near blinding speeds, with both boxers attempting to quickly get hits off, Mac still attempting to dodge while Ippo allowed his assault to deter oncoming attacks for him. Ippo started to get low for another Gazelle punch, but Mac punched him early in the maneuver, calling a halt to it while earning him a star. The blow knocked Makunouchi back again, panting. This was when he decided to put his finisher back in action, creating an infinity symbol in the air.

“Ippo goes for another Dempsey Roll!” As the Japanese fighter gained momentum, Mac stayed still, closely watching, working out the timings. Ippo was preparing to start punching, when he stopped all of a sudden. Only after that did the pain register, from a single, strong punch halting the unofficial OPBF champion in his tracks, and causing another flash of yellow light, this time with two stars in it. They were immediately spent, as Mac swung his right fist with so much momentum that he ended up facing behind him while Ippo flew back, falling onto the floor.

“T-The Dempsey Roll has been countered! Just like that!” The amount of noise caused by the announcer and by the crowd matched the level that had occurred when the fighters had entered the arena. Ippo was staring at the ground, trying to collect his thoughts after the huge amount of pain he had been dealt. On the other hand, Mac was jumping on the spot, mock dodging, taunting his fallen foe. Ippo started climbing to his feet.

“Five, six-” The referee looked at Ippo, who had already gotten into his peek-a-boo stance. He nodded, and so the referee waved him in, allowing the second round to continue. While, if anything, Mac seemed to have more energy than he had just before Ippo was knocked down, the Japanese boxer clearly showed how much the last hit had affected him. The two fighters continued their dance, Ippo constantly swinging at Mac, the American getting out of the way most of the time only to be caught out by the irregular feint, costing him whatever KO Punches or stars he had saved up. Makunouchi started winding up a hook, but Mac swiftly jabbed him, stunning him enough to stop the attack while being the right timing to earn him a star. Seeing this as his opening, Mac started winding up another Star Punch.

Time seemed to freeze for Ippo, as he looked at Mac who had taken on a stance he had come to recognise. “He’s going for another one of those powerful hits…” In the freeze frame, his eyes drifted to focus on the poised glove. “And I can’t get away in time!” Time started to speed up, as Mac’s fist began its course to Ippo’s face.

“AND THERE’S THE BELL!” The referee forced himself between the two as several shrill rings were heard, announcing the end of the three minute block. They went back to each other’s corners, both fully aware that if that final punch had landed, it would have most likely been the end of the match for Ippo. Mac sat down on his stool, leaning against his own leg, his exhaustion a complete juxtaposition from how he appeared in the middle of the round.

“Good job, Mac!” Doc said, pulling a chocolate bar out of his jacket pocket. “You’re landing so many hits, it’s almost like we’re just trainin’. You’ll probably get the decision next round, but let’s go for that knock out, huh?”

On the other hand, while Ippo appeared in a better state, Genji just stood besides him, saying nothing. They both knew how tough their opponent was, and they had no way of countering him. Except...that. “Ippo-”

“WHAT?” A yell from the other side of the arena interrupted him, as a member of the arena’s staff quickly scurried away from Louis. “More than three rounds? What kind of madness is that? Alright, listen Mac. We’re gonna have to end this quickly, get it done with this round. I’m not sure how much longer you can last out there against this guy.” He tore the top of the chocolate bar’s wrapper off, and took a determined bite out of it.

“Ippo.” While Louis was saying that, Genji was advising his own fighter, uninterrupted by any furher outbursts. “Mac is able to exploit all of your openings, and minimise his own. The only way I can think about getting out of this problem is for you to use the Free Form Dempsey Roll.” Makunouchi looked down, up again, and nodded.

“Seconds out!”

“Alright, let’s go Mac.” Doc cheered, as the boxers got in positions for what they aimed to be their final round. The bell rang, and the boxers once more met each other in the middle. This time, there was no waiting for the other to go, with both firing jabs as soon as the other was in range. Ippo sent a feint and followed it up with a right, which Mac only just managed to avoid by putting up his guard. Ippo didn’t let this deter him, firing a barrage of punches to both the face and body, which Mac had to constantly shift his guard to block. Another punch was sent, this one receiving much less resistance than the previous ones.

“Is he...tiring?” He was, and Mac knew it. His arms fell to his side as he panted for breath, only just aware of another punch being sent for him. He attempted to get out of the way but failed, receiving a strong Tornado Jolt. Ippo turned, aiming for the combo, and this time Ippo just ducked under it. Little Mac watched intently, and saw Makunouchi send out another punch. However, this one had a tell, one which he had noticed a couple times before, and only know was able to put into use. He stayed completely still, unflinching. Ippo, unable to change his plan now, sent out a real hit to follow up the feint, which Mac easily evaded.

“Little Mac seems to have gotten his breath back! After that show of being able to read Ippo’s actions seemingly easily, is victory possible for the Wind God?” The announcer shouted, as Mac raised his guard again to send out his own series of punches. Ippo didn’t attempt to evade, instead turning his shoulder, allowing it to absorb the brute force of the attacks. When an opening appeared, Ippo turned around and let loose a Wind Jolt, forcing Mac to go on the defensive.

“A little more…” After an entire match of his opponent discovering his tricks and using them against him, Makunouchi found satisfaction in finally being able to do likewise, taking advantage of Little Mac’s newfound low stamina. He was soon proven right, with Mac again gasping for breath, his guard loosening. “There!” Ippo once again feinted, to which Mac again did nothing. However, he instead went low, and followed it up with a Gazelle Punch, which Mac failed to avoid. Mac stumbled backwards, falling against the ropes.

“Little Mac suffers under that Gazelle Punch! Is this the end for him?” The elasticity of the ropes take effect, sending Mac forward. Ippo stood too as Mac’s eyes closed, and he fell forward. The crowd cheered, half of them for Ippo’s victory, the other half for Mac to get his head back in the game. The latter half erupted as a leg stuck out, keeping Mac aloft and stopping him from falling onto the mat. He looked up, and Makunouchi could see the angry determination written all over his face. He stood up, and suddenly an aura surrounded him, adding to the dramatic effect of the situation. He stepped forward, and Ippo instinctively ducked behind his fists. This was lucky, as before he could really see it move Mac’s fist had gone from its resting position to right on Ippo’s raised gloves, carrying tremendous force with it. Mac punched again, and again, each punch travelling at a blinding speed and with Ippo being able to do nothing but try and withstand them.

One final, especially powerful KO punch struck Ippo, breaking his defence and knocking him back, almost out. Another flash of yellow appeared, showing that Mac had earned two stars in his assault. Nobody knows exactly what went on in Ippo’s mind at this point, not even really Ippo himself, but the result of his thought process was clear to everyone. His stance relaxed, looking much more orthodox than his usual style, and his facial expression seemed to perfectly mimic Little Mac’s expression. His fighting spirit had taken over, and his brawling stance was just the first sign of that. The two boxers closed the distance and punched, their fists meeting in the air, stunning the audience. A flash of yellow containing three stars appeared, and its fade was the signal for Little Mac and Makunouchi Ippo to begin the final showdown.

No holds were barred in the following beatdown, with Mac swiftly dodging or blocking all of Ippo’s attacks, while Ippo was either dodging them or tanking them, his natural instincts not betraying any of the pain he must have been feeling. “This-This is incredible!” Was all the announcer could say, with the fists flying with nearly enough speed to leave after images, making it impossible for anyone to see who had the advantage, if it even existed. Without any warning, Ippo started to dodge Mac’s attacks en masse, until it became apparent what he was doing. “The Free-Form Dempsey Roll!” Mac swung, only to miss once again. He watched intently, took a step back, but couldn’t come up with the rhythm. Ippo swung, making Mac duck to the left, but it was followed up by an uppercut, forcing Mac to block. Mac tried to continue this, and succeeded to some extent, but he couldn’t keep track of where Ippo was coming from, nor could he manage to land a hit.

“There!” Ippo’s strike caused the tell-tale loosening of Mac’s defence, showing he was out of energy. Ippo launched one last strike, in order to finish it off. Mac, all out of other options and unable to tell where the next strike would come from, did all he could do. He let loose the three star Star Punch, and prayed it would contact.

Both boxers threw out uppercuts, charged with enormous amounts of momentum. One of the punches landed squarely on the chin with such force that the neck of the victim broke, the other missed by the slightest of margins. Little Mac continued turning around, propelled by the force created by the maneuver. Makunouchi Ippo’s arm continued flying upwards, too much momentum to stop on its own accord. Little Mac landed on his feet, his spinning complete, the Star Punch having run its course...and fell down. The referee ran on, waving his hands.

“He’s not even going for the count, the match is over!” The announcer yelled, barely hearable over the amount of noise being created by the audience. Ippo stood in the center of the ring, covered in sweat, panting heavily, as the medical staff came on to move Mac onto a stretcher. With the remains of his energy, Ippo thrust his fist into the air, as the bell rang, officially announcing the end of the match.

K.O!

Probably the only time a battle will end with a literal knock out.
Despite what you may think, this is the closest match we’ve done so far, and quite possibly the closest one we’ll ever do, with both sides having major and minor advantages over the other. First, though, the elephant in the room: The abilities of Little Mac’s opponents.
While Hajime no Ippo is rather realistic, Punch-Out!! Is...well, the penis compensation of boxing games, through an underdog taking down larger than life opponents. But while their individual feats are impressive, they don’t actually use them in the fights.
For example, Piston Hondo is seen in his cutscene to outrun a bullet train, and in the pre-match clip in the ring showing that he can punch fast enough to leave after images, akin to E. Honda’s hundred hand slap. However, nothing close to this speed is actually used in the fight, which makes Little Mac a lot more human in his capabilities.
But that’s not to say he’s not tough, as he is incredibly durable. It is said numerous times in Ippo’s home series, again, the realistic one, that higher weight classes have stronger hitters, meaning that all of Mac’s opponents, from tropical Donald Trump to Super Macho Man, hit like a truck in comparison with his size. It’s a surprise he manages to take as many as he does, although Ippo could somewhat replicate this punching power due to his log hammering.
Also, Mac’s stamina leaves much to be desired. While he doesn’t show exhaustion in the ring outside of when he blocks or punches a block too much, he has only ever lasted a maximum of three rounds, and Ippo only gets exhausted in the later rounds, far beyond the third. Sure, Little Mac may be able to last that long, but there’s no way of knowing.
As far as coaches go, Doc Louis takes it for being able to talk about moves and possible counters after only being seen in the round before, as well as Mac being experienced in going in blind while Ippo suffers his greatest failures when unprepared. However, there was nothing especially new in Mac’s arsenal, with the Star Punches and KO Punches essentially being glorified, powerful versions of standard attacks, meaning this wasn’t as big a problem for Ippo as it could have been.
Experience also worked both ways. Mac had no experience with the peek-a-boo style, while Ippo had faced those in the orthodox stance plenty of times. Also, with the obvious Punch-Out!! height differences, this was the first opponent Mac has faced at a similar height, let alone smaller than him. Ippo regularly fights those taller than him, so Mac was just another fighter in that regard.
But it goes back into Mac’s area a lot simply due to counters being Ippo’s kryptonite, and Little Mac’s speciality. Every single one of Ippo’s moves could be countered, all except one: The core destroying Free-Form Dempsey Roll.
Additionally, the KO punches are great at piercing defences, which meant they would be able to get right through Ippo’s stance and hit him directly.
But Raaaaangeeeer, what about Giga Mac?
Well, ignoring how it’s non-canon, Giga Mac would not have done anything in Mac’s favour, majorly. Sure, the additional power would take Ippo by surprise, but there’s one fatal flaw with it…
It’s slow as tortoise s**t.
Unlike in Smash Bros., Giga Mac is extremely slow, and clearly telegraphs his attacks. Even Ippo, who usually tanks what is thrown at him, would have known and been able to get out of the way. While the fight could realistically go either way, Ippo just edged out in the feats to give him this win.
Looks like Little Mac had his lights punched out.
The winner is Makunouchi Ippo.


Next time on Death Battle:

Spoiler: 

Throughout fiction, there are legends. Those who stand out in their genres. Those who are such great characters that they transcend their home series.

Spoiler: 

However...there are always different types of legends. The types which, when they appear, you know that s**t

Spoiler: 

Is getting

Spoiler: 

S**TIER

Spoiler: 

“Go! Sonichu! Go out and zap to the extreme!”

“Oh my fuking satan!1”

Spoiler: 

MY IMMORTAL

SONICHU

THE FIGHT OF THE WORST

COMING SOON

[Rocket]

But WHY would they fight to the death? They're boxers. They don't fight to the death

[Lohuydahutt]

But WHY would they fight to the death? They're boxers. They don't fight to the death

Rocky IV begs to differ =P

[Rocket]

Rocky IV begs to differ =P

well only 1 dude was fighting to the death

i don't think mac or ippo fight to the death

[Lohuydahutt]

well only 1 dude was fighting to the death

i don't think mac or ippo fight to the death

It happens all the time in boxing mang, they fight and one just kind of dies accidentally :/

[rangernumberx]

The battle is posted! It's sharing the Ippo analysis's post and the post after that.

[Turtlesauce]

Great battle as always! It was intense as hell.

who the fuck are all these characters

[Lohuydahutt]

Dude, did you really just argue that Piston Hondo's feats don't scale because it doesn't LOOK that fast? I guess the warp star isn't faster than light and there's pretty much no video game character ever that can move faster than the eye can see. If a game moved as fast as the characters actually were it would be unplayable :P Good battle otherwise.

[rangernumberx]

Dude, did you really just argue that Piston Hondo's feats don't scale because it doesn't LOOK that fast? I guess the warp star isn't faster than light and there's pretty much no video game character ever that can move faster than the eye can see. If a game moved as fast as the characters actually were it would be unplayable :P Good battle otherwise.

I used the argument that we explicitly saw him, in the ring and not in a still-image cutscene, punch so fast after-images were created. He never used anything resembling this particular skill in the fight. While there could be any number of reasons for this, such as it requiring intense focus in order to use it or him being able to only use it once per match (and he wasted it taunting), the game slowing it down is only one possible explanation. However, the in-game clock does not slow down unless Mac is punching, there is no evidence of supernatural speed being used against Mac in the match, nor is there an external, canon source which portrays Mac as dodging punches flying at such a speed. While it can be assumed that Hondo can use it in a match, there is no evidence as to Mac being able to avoid something at that speed, and therefore it cannot be used in this battle.