Fujii is a veteran reporter who often knows about any given boxer's current situation. He has been following Makunouchi Ippo's career since his second spar with Miyata Ichirou and could possibly be viewed as Ippo's first fan. He often visits the Kamogawa Boxing Gym in order to give Ippo info on his upcoming opponents and is, among many others, greatly looking forward to Makunouchi vs. Miyata III.   Fuji covered the Rookie King Tournament that Ippo participated. He gave more attention to Makunouchi Ippo than the other reporters because he already knew Ippo's potential.   Fujii is very laid back and unkept, often looking as though he just woke up. His hair is usually uncombed and he often has stubble in addition to his regular moustache. In addition to Ippo, he also seems to be friends with Takamura Mamoru and Date Eiji.   He used to be accompanied on assignments by a younger reporter, but sometime before Ippo's second match against Sendou Takeshi he gained a new partner in Iimura Mari.   A seldom-noticed running gag of the series is Fujii's constant attempts to quit smoking. He changes between cigarettes and nicotine replacement tubes regularly.

Makunouchi Ippo has been bullied his entire life. Constantly running errands and being beaten up by his classmates, Ippo has always dreamed of changing himself, but never has the passion to act upon it. One day, in the midst of yet another bullying, Ippo is saved by Takamura Mamoru, who happens to be a boxer. Ippo faints from his injuries and is brought to the Kamogawa boxing gym to recover. As he regains consciousness, he is awed and amazed at his new surroundings in the gym, though lacks confidence to attempt anything. Takamura places a photo of Ippo's classmate on a punching bag and forces him to punch it. It is only then that Ippo feels something stir inside him and eventually asks Takamura to train him in boxing. Thinking that Ippo does not have what it takes, Takamura gives him a task deemed impossible and gives him a one week time limit. With a sudden desire to get stronger, for himself and his hard working mother, Ippo trains relentlessly to accomplish the task within the time limit. Thus Ippo's journey to the top of the boxing world begins.

Kenichi Ono is a seiyuu, tarento, and actor from Tokyo.

[Twitter](https://twitter.com/GerardoReyero/)

Gerardo Reyero is an outstanding Mexican voice actor. He is best known for being the Latin American Spanish voice of Freezer in the *Dragon Ball* franchise, Han Solo in the original *Star Wars* trilogy and in several projects of the franchise, the second voice of Mamoru Chiba / Tuxedo Mask in the *Sailor Moon* franchise and Maito Gai in *Naruto* and *Naruto Shippūden.*

**Non-Anime Roles:**
- Die-Hardman (Death Stranding)
- Agustus Cole (Gears 5) 
- Raiden (Mortal Combat X and Mortal Combat 11)
- Blitzcrank / Jarvan IV / Jax / Skarner / Xerath (League of Legends)
- Sergeant Major Avery Johnson (Halo _Series_)

Makunouchi Ippo has been bullied his entire life. Constantly running errands and being beaten up by his classmates, Ippo has always dreamed of changing himself, but never has the passion to act upon it. One day, in the midst of yet another bullying, Ippo is saved by Takamura Mamoru, who happens to be a boxer. Ippo faints from his injuries and is brought to Takamura boxing gym to recover. As he regains consciousness, he is awed and amazed at his new surroundings in the gym, though lacks confidence to attempt anything. Takamura places a photo of Ippo&rsquo;s classmate on a punching bag and forces him to punch it. It is only then that Ippo feels something stir inside him and eventually asks Takamura to train him in boxing. Thinking that Ippo does not have what it takes, Takamura gives him a task deemed impossible and gives him a one week time limit. With a sudden desire to get stronger, for himself and his hard working mother, Ippo trains relentlessly to accomplish the task within the time limit. Thus Ippo&rsquo;s journey to the top of the boxing world begins. 
(Source: MAL Rewrite)

Ippo Makunouchi continues his boxing career and his goal on knowing the meaning of being strong, and the desire on fighting his idol Ichiro Miyata once again. Along him are pro boxers Takamura, Aoki and Kimura that each one of them aspire to their own dreams.
 
(Source: Anime News Network)

Ippo continues to defend his Japanese Featherweight title from an ever stronger pool of challengers. Meanwhile, Takamura challenges for his second WBC title in the middleweight class, and Aoki challenges for the Japanese Lightweight title.

As the new Champion, Ippo must protect his title against some of the best boxers available. 
Makunouchi Ippo is the new Featherweight champion of Japan and is now ready for his first title defense. His opponent, the former Jr. Featherweight champion and a medical student, Sanada Kazuki. In addition to this feud, Sanada is being coached by Kamogawa's former rival, Hama Dankichi. What makes things worse is that Sanada works at the same hospital where Kumi is a nurse at and everybody at the hospital wants Sanada to win. Not only does Ippo have to defend his title, he has to reclaim his love.
 
(Source: Anime News Network)

Minoru Fujii