I love the cast in Hajime no Ippo. It stands out as one of the best casts in animanga. However, my favorite character is Takamura. I didn't like him at first, I thought his gags were super annoying. That all changed when I read Takamura vs Hawk. Spoilers ahead!

Prior to this fight, I thought this was all Takamura was. Just a loud-mouthed idiot who constantly and arrogantly boasted his (seemingly) natural talent over characters like Aoki and Kimura who had to train all the time to box.

When I first read chapter 361, I had hope my perception would change. Not only was I expecting great things from the match just from what everyone told me, but to hear that he would have to fight injured? I was getting hype. Especially with the third panel.

The following chapter we learn that Bryan Hawk was a man who boxed without practicing and only relied on his innate talent to win. Exactly the kind of person I thought Takamura was. Their similarity is also supported by their "sperm" dialogue and what Ippo says in chapter 369.

Takamura's rage at hearing that Hawk didn't even care for his name was interesting though. At the time I thought it was because of Takamura's boastful nature, but I think there's something more deep to it.

Takamura's title defense was cool to see. We get to see his mindset when it comes to people looking down on him fully displayed, especially when he sees Hawk taunting him with women. His absolute rage was intense and amazing, but the question that kept on my mind was why?

Sure the easy answer was to just say Takamura's huge ego getting made fun of was the issue, but that didn't feel like it was enough. This was the first ring-out we've seen from him and going from the weak, fragile Takamura earlier in the defense to this was insane.

In the next couple of chapters, we see the length that Takamura goes to in order to be able to make the weigh-in. He practically pushes his body to its absolute limits, abusing himself anytime possible just to loss any weight that he possibly can. Again I wondered why.

And then, the match. The match where Takamura beat Hawk. That match that had me cheering and running around my house, screaming.

There's this moment in chapter 393, that I believe perfectly explains why Takamura beat Hawk. It's that he's built so much more in his fists than Hawk could ever dream of. Let me explain.

Takamura was born into a rich family, however he was cast out in middle school. He attacked people who made fun of his famous brother which seemingly ruined the family's reputation.

This leads into the first of many reasons why he fights. Rather than be known as an outcast, his talent at fighting made him a hero to the eyes of others. Takamura himself calls the boxing ring the "one place he belongs" because it's a place where he feels accepted.

Besides from the ring, there is yet another place where he belongs, in the Kamogawa gym. Despite, how I felt about his antics, Aoki, Kimura, Itagaki, and Ippo all love to be around him and the feeling is reciprocated. So much so that Takamura also fights to show them the world.

His gratefulness to them as well as his wanting to repay them is shown on full display in chapter 378.

Yet another reason Takamura fights is to live up to the expectations people close have of him. They all see Taka as the paragon of boxing, the indomitable fighter who is also better than and always wins and example to aspire to.

This is masterfully and beautifully shown in chapter 391, and quite frankly I'm going to let the pages speak for themselves rather than try to add something.

Next, Takamura fights for Japan. After Hawk insulted Japan by saying the only way Japan could have a world champion is if the country is full of his children, the common people place their hopes onto Takamura.

^^

Takamura also fights for himself. To make sure that he only has good memories of the place he both loves and lives. To make sure his boastful claims always have proof behind them.

But most importantly, Takamura fights for the man who introduced him to boxing, Genji Kamogawa. Most obviously he fights to give Kamogawa the championship belt. Even that comes out of a sense of gratefulness for Kamogawa for teaching him.

However, Taka fights to prove that Kamogawa's boxing can stand against the world. That all the time and effort that Kamogawa put into him was not wasted, but instead lead to the greatest boxer in the world.

Anytime Takamura seems to be in a rough spot, he goes back to the basics that Kamogawa drilled into him for hours and hours.

It gets to a point where even if Takamura can't properly think of how to box due to exhaustion, he is able to rely on everything that Kamogawa did for him. That all of the training that seemed useless at the time was worth it.

Takamura openly expresses this idea to Kamogawa in the intermission between the 2nd and 3rd round's. Going back to earlier, I think this is the reason Taka got upset that Hawk didn't recognize him. Not recognizing Taka means not recognizing Kamogawa's boxing, something way worse

It's later revealed that Kamogawa wants to see Taka's power above all else. That Takamura can use everything he gave him and stand on his own, able to beat anyone even if it might seem like the towel has to be thrown in. Again, Taka fights to make sure that Kamogawa isn't wrong.

Taka wanting to keep Ippo's promise to him, Taka wanting to prove to his family that his violent nature can be good, the support he has from everyone, arguably there are so many more things that reside in his fists. But to me, the ones I mentioned are the most stand out.

Takamura and Hawk are similar to one another. Taka means "Hawk" in Japanese, they both have intense libido, but above all else, they were picked up off a street fight in an alley by a boxing coach due to a sense of curiosity from the natural talent the two displayed.

However, the key difference is where the coaches curiosity comes from. Kamogawa wants to see how much Takamura can do as a boxer, while Miguel Zale wanted to see how much Hawk can do in a boxing ring. It might seem like semantics, but the difference is clear in how they fight.

The way Hawk fights is described as pure violence and he sees the match with Takamura as a street fight rather than an actual boxing match. Hawk solely relies on his instinct and talent to get by. On the other hand, Taka is described as boxing's ideal.

Because of the expectations that everyone placed on him, because of what boxing means to him, and because of the effort Taka put in, he is able to easily use the practical boxing style and his natural style to best fight.

This is wonderfully shown through the ending of the fight. Hawk often makes references to this idea of "a license to kill." This refers to the instincts both he and Takamura possess. When Taka's instincts take over, it's moment of rejuvenation as he is comfortably beats up Hawk.

There's this moment of dread when everyone realizes that if Taka can enter this "state", Hawk might be able to as well. When he does, everyone gasps. If Taka could handle Hawk with ease, then what could Hawk do?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. While I previously thought that Taka was this person who primarily coasted on by talent (Hawk), this moment solidified to me that Takamura Mamoru is a man, constantly pushing himself to be better for the things and the people he loves.

TL;DR TAKAMURA MAMORU IS THE GOOOOOAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Real quick, to qualify what I said, Takamura is indeed shown practicing throughout earlier, rather than just coasting by on talent. That was just my incorrect perception of the character which Morikawa brought the roof down on with the fight as well as Bryan Hawk.