whats crazy is takamura and ippo both have saved each other in so many different ways, not to mention he was the 1st to notice takamuras eye problem, and takamura noticed ippo was borderline punch drunk
So, like you said there isn't a method to detect CTE, Ippo isn't punch drink, but he has accumulated damage, after the fight with Antonio Guevara (that ends in chapter 1202) the doctor said that Ippo Is ok but he was really near to get punch drunked, so Ippo decides to retire because he is ok and he doesn't want to become punch drunk, but since he never was punch drunked after taking a long brake from boxe he feels better, and in theory he could boxe again, now Ippo Is studying boxing and might return to the ring, however he needs to find a reason or a goal for returning to the ring
well I did it and some months later I did an other one, here's the best one I did: cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/855922390731325443/894275618529771520/image20-202021-10-03T193050.png
This was when I stoped buying this manga. They made ippo into a lame duck. The manga lost its appeal for me. I guess the creator got what he wanted then. To ruin his manga for the fans?
ippo chose to live a normal life without injury, punch drunk is irreversible, he ducked out before becoming disabled, he is scared of becoming mentally impaired, this moment right here shows the harsh reality of boxers and all of contact type sports, it's remarkable that a mangaka decided to implement something so realistical and tragical into the narration of his manga, ballsy, and also adds layers to ippo's character, making more human, since everyone would resort to retire to the first symptoms of cerebreal damage
As a reader i do feel teased by the author when we see that ippo is clearly better now than he was. And those around him questioning why he even retired or what would happen if he came back. He's clearly going to have a comeback eventually and I think the years of waiting will make it all worth it. But the fact that we feel robbed by ippos retirement reflects those around ippo that want a comeback from him
I personally like it makes it more realistic because obviously if you fight like ippo does you’ll eventually get brain damage duhhh it’s better than just him continuing on fighting like that without improving he’ll continue on improving even better now and he’ll probably even defend himself more instead of just charging in like a bull and relying on the Dempseyroll so much. Ippo vs date imo is the best fight because it showed how ippo was truly using his head and skills
