NOVEL WEB Chapter 120: Chapter 120: Talented?
Ten minutes later, backstage at the locker room, Alex arrived and pushed open the door. Inside, Minoru Fujii was in the middle of an interview with Aoki, who had his newly won JBC belt strapped around his waist.
"How deep is the cut on your right eye?" Minoru Fujii asked, angling the microphone toward Aoki.
Aoki turned his face toward the camera, showing off the wound with a grin. "Not that deep—about five stitches."
As he spoke, the door opened, and the camera shifted its focus. Alex stepped inside, gave a casual wave, and made his way toward Kimura, who was sitting on a bench, staring at his new JBC belt with an awed expression.
The camera returned to Aoki, but Alex continued toward Kimura, taking a seat beside him.
"How does it feel to be a champ?" Alex asked, his voice carrying a knowing tone.
Kimura looked up from his belt, still marveling at it. "It feels incredible. I never knew this was how you felt back when you won your JBC belt. Back then, I only saw you and Takamura win it, and I thought to myself, 'It doesn't look that special—it's just a belt.'" He shook his head, chuckling. "But now, after winning my first belt… damn, was I wrong. I feel like all the hard work I put in every day has finally paid off."
Alex patted Kimura's shoulder with a grin. "Congrats again."
A few feet away, Takamura was lounging lazily on the bench, his JBC belt resting at his side. Alex glanced at him and smirked. "I won't even bother asking you."
Takamura merely snorted in response.
On the other side of the room, Ippo was sitting at a table while a doctor examined his swollen face. The doctor leaned back slightly, nodding. "This will take a few weeks to heal. Make sure to take the medicine I prescribe—it'll speed up the recovery."
Ippo bowed politely. "Thank you, doctor."
Coach Kamogawa, standing nearby, crossed his arms. "Doctor, can you check Takamura too?"
Takamura, still sitting on the bench, scoffed. "Old man, I don't have any damage."
Kamogawa's expression darkened, his voice turning sharp. "You took a hit in the first minute of the round. Just get up and let the doctor check you!"
Takamura flinched slightly before begrudgingly standing up, grumbling under his breath as the doctor approached him.
Assistant coach Yagi, standing near the wall, caught sight of Alex and waved him over. "Alex, come here for a second. I have something to tell you."
Alex walked over, curious. "What is it, Yagi-san?"
Yagi gestured toward a television mounted on the wall. "I saw your commentary earlier on NHK Studio. The people loved it. My phone has been blowing up with messages from different shows asking if they can invite you."
Alex considered this for a moment before shaking his head. "Refuse them for now. After we celebrate, I'm focusing entirely on my fight against Marcus."
Yagi nodded in understanding. "And what about the endorsements?"
Alex thought for a moment. "Regarding Nike and Red Bull, I'll do the photoshoot. Just tell me the scheduled dates."
Yagi took out his notepad and jotted it down.
Meanwhile, Minoru Fujii, having finished his interview with Aoki, turned toward his next subject—Coach Shinoda. The camera followed.
"Shinoda-san," Minoru Fujii began, "you're the main coach of Aoki and Kimura at Kamogawa Gym, correct?"
Shinoda nodded. "Yes, I am. Coach Kamogawa primarily teaches Alex, Ippo, and Takamura, while I focus on Aoki and Kimura."
Minoru Fujii nodded. "After all the ups and downs in Aoki and Kimura's careers, they've now proven to all of Japan that they are the best in their respective divisions. Both of them are JBC champions now. How do you feel about their success?"
Shinoda smiled warmly. "I'm extremely happy for them. Like you said, Aoki has six losses, and Kimura has five. Both of them hit rock bottom at different points in their careers. But every day in the gym, I've seen how determined they are, how hard they train. And today, all that effort has finally paid off. They deserve everything they've achieved."
Ten minutes later, Coach Kamogawa clapped his hands together, getting everyone's attention. "Aoki, Kimura, Ippo, Takamura, Alex—stand here."
The five of them turned toward him, gathering at the center of the locker room.
Coach Kamogawa gestured. "Alex, stand in the center. Ippo and Takamura, on his right. Kimura and Aoki, on his left."
Kimura and Aoki held their JBC belts with pride, while Ippo and Takamura did the same. On Aoki's side, Coach Shinoda and Yagi stood proudly, while on Ippo's side, Coach Kamogawa watched over them like a proud mentor.
Alex glanced down at his waist and chuckled. "I should've brought my belt."
The entire room burst into laughter.
A camera clicked, capturing the moment—five champions, standing together, grinning with genuine joy.
Twenty minutes later, in a lively bar in Tokyo, the atmosphere was electric. The room buzzed with laughter, the clinking of glasses, and the occasional off-key singing. At the center of it all, Alex sat on a stool, a guitar in his hands, strumming effortlessly. His voice rang out in English, a language few in the bar fully understood.
"Crawling back to you...
Ever thought of calling when you've had a few?
'Cause I always do..."
Author note: this song didn't exist in 1992 I just put it here because no one understands them anyway and they've all drunk.
His deep voice carried through the room, capturing the attention of Mari, who sat nearby, clapping along with a smile. She admired the way he immersed himself in the music, effortlessly stealing the spotlight without even trying.
Meanwhile, Aoki, with a bandage wrapped around his head, was stumbling around the bar with his girlfriend, laughing and swaying to the beat. Kimura, feeling the rush of victory and alcohol, danced without a care, moving to the rhythm in his own awkward yet enthusiastic way.
The entire gym was in celebration mode, drunk and enjoying the night. On one side of the bar, Coach Kamogawa, Coach Shinoda, and Yagi were gathered around a small table, all of them red-faced and swaying slightly from too much beer.
Kamogawa suddenly raised his drink, his voice booming over the noise. "Cheers! All five of them are champions now!"
Yagi and Shinoda, just as intoxicated, followed suit. "Cheers!" they slurred before downing their beers in one long gulp.
At another corner of the bar, Takamura was busy charming a woman with his usual brand of over-the-top bravado. He gestured dramatically with his hands, his voice loud and confident.
"You saw my fight, right? I made it look easy," he boasted.
The woman giggled, covering her mouth at his antics. She seemed both amused and intrigued by his energy.
Meanwhile, at one of the booths, Ippo sat slouched over the table, completely drunk, engaged in an animated conversation with Minoru Fujii. His words were slurred, but he spoke with an exaggerated sense of pride.
"You know…" Ippo hiccupped, pointing a finger at Fujii. "I actually made Alex surrender once!"
He burst into laughter, barely able to hold himself together.
Minoru Fujii, equally inebriated, blinked at him in shock. "No way! I always saw Alex as the invincible type…"
Ippo nodded aggressively. "That's true! I'm invincible too!"
With that, he suddenly yanked off his shirt, flexing his solid abs with a drunken grin, while those around him either cheered or shook their heads in amusement.
Outside, the celebration extended beyond the bar. The streets of Tokyo were alive with conversation, fans still buzzing about the event they had just witnessed.
A stocky man with a round belly and his skinny friend walked side by side, both still reeling from the fights they had just watched. The larger man patted his stomach and sighed in satisfaction.
"That boxing ticket was worth every yen," he said.
His thin friend nodded eagerly. "You don't have to tell me twice! That event was insane."
The fat man grinned. "I never thought Kamogawa Gym had this much talent. They might just have the best fighters in Japan right now."
His friend let out a laugh. "If you had told me a year ago that Aoki and Kimura would become JBC champions, I would've laughed in your face. I always saw them as journeymen, stepping stones for top contenders. But damn… they actually did it."
The larger man nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I guess it's because they were always overshadowed by the rest of the team. Think about it—first, Kamogawa Gym has Alex Makunouchi. He's the current WBO Lightweight World Champion and the best boxer in Japan in this era." He raised a finger.
Then he lifted another. "Second, there's Takamura.He's the JBC Middleweight Champion with two title defenses already. And did you see the scar on his chest when he walked out of the tunnel?"
His skinny friend shuddered. "Yeah, that's a bear claw. I heard he actually fought a bear and won.What kind of monster does that? And the crazy part is—he's only the second most skilled fighter in that gym."
The fat guy raised a third finger. "Then there's Ippo Makunouchi. The new JBC Featherweight Champion. He beat Eiji Date tonight with a technique we've never seen before."
"I know that technique," the skinny guy said, snapping his fingers. "People call it the Dempsey Roll. Even Eiji Date's Corkscrew Blow didn't work against it. And you realize both Ippo and Alex are only 19 years old? Those two are already making history."
The fat guy let out a long breath. "Yeah, when you put it like that, no wonder Aoki and Kimura were overshadowed. But if you're a real boxing fan, you'd see that those two are talented in their own right. It's just that the other three are on a completely different level."
His skinny friend sighed deeply. "Man… comparing myself to those five is depressing. I'm in my 30s, and all five of them are already champions in their 20s. I feel like I've wasted my life."
The fat guy groaned. "Don't even say it. Thinking about it is depressing enough. Let's change the topic."
He patted his round belly and let out a sigh, shaking his head as the two continued their walk.
Note: the only opponent's that aoki need to worry about in the future is mashiba, because alex cleared the japan lightweight div already and he did make sure to leave a blueprint for aoki to follow and about kimura 2 or 3 title defence later he will probably lose to volg.
Rankings note:
JBC Lightweight Champion: Aoki Masaru – 11 wins - 6 losses - 0 draws (7 KOs)
Top 10 Contenders
Rank 1: Shinobu Iga
Record: 10 wins - 2 losses - 0 draws (6 KOs)
Rank 2: Kenta Hoshino
Record: 11 wins - 2 losses - 1 draw (7 KOs)
Rank 3: Riku Tanaka
Record: 8 wins - 4 losses - 0 draws (6 KOs)
Rank 4: Ryota Sakamoto
Record: 14 wins - 4 losses - 2 draws (9 KOs)
Rank 5: Kirishima Ren ⬆️
Record: 18 wins - 2 losses - 1 draw (10 KOs)
Rank 6: Daichi Kuroda ⬇️
Record: 12 wins - 5 losses - 0 draws (5 KOs)
Rank 7: Hayato Shimizu
Record: 10 wins - 4 losses - 1 draw (6 KOs)
Rank 8: Tetsuya Miyamoto
Record: 9 wins - 5 losses - 1 draw (3 KOs)
Rank 9: Hiroshi Yamamoto
Record: 8 wins - 4 losses - 2 draws (4 KOs)
Rank 10: Koji Nakamura
Record: 6 wins - 4 losses - 0 draws (2 KOs)