Hajime no Ippo 767-791
So, Malcolm Gedo, a pickpocket Dhalsim with boxing gloves.
As lame as his first trick was, hovering his hand right before Ippo's face and using that to footwork his way to the side, the solution to that was nice and simple, and it was nice to figure out before the manga gave me the answer. I'm however a bit annoyed that the solution was something that Ippo always does anyway but forgot this one time: watching his opponent's feet.
Obviously I don't have personal boxing experience, but I refuse to believe Ippo would be succesfully held back by the "extending arm" trick, which was just a loose boxing glove where the hand didn't even form a proper fist. I get that a few hits with that might make Ippo's eyes swell, but for it to go through his guard, cause proper damage and keep Ippo at bay? With him, I just can't buy that. I can barely imagine it as a half-assed flicker jab in terms of combination speed, accuracy and power.
Then there was also Ippo forgetting to try his slow approach for much of the fight. Gedo is a bit more reserved in his footwork, but I bet Ippo could have trapped him in the corner at least once in one of the earlier rounds by pretending to rush in for a liver blow.
The hypest moment was when suddenly Ippo pulled out a heartbreak shot, but then they said it wasn't a corkscrew so it was a bit half-assed, even if Ippo's strength might compensate a bit. Bummer.
Gedo's explanation for starting to throw fights for money was pretty interesting though in the end. He's good at boxing, but he hit a wall so huge that he can't ever progress to world level. So might as well make dough doing what he's good at, being the avaricious guy he is