Ippo celebrated his first year at the gym at the Chūka Soba. At the Kamogawa gym, Yagi and Kamogawa announced the line up for the Rookie King Tournament. Ippo's first opponent would be Jason Ozuma. After hearing about Ozuma's devastating right hook, Ippo trained to dodge hooks by having Takamura throw hooks for him to dodge and Ippo using hanging bars to act as a punch to dodge. At the weigh-in, they met for the first time, to Ippo's surprise, Ozuma was a kind man.