Ichirō Miyata⁰

As of a stereotypical description of a Japanese delinquent, Takamura dons a curly pompadour while wearing his school uniform in a more laid back style with a few of the top buttons loose. His eyebrows are considerably thick and he has a tough looking face. Even before joining the Kamogawa Boxing Gym, Takamura had a very refined physique. Along with the Kamogawa training regiment, his body is even more refined, having bulging biceps, bulging pecs, and a hardened 6-pack stomach. While at the training camp at Nekota's place, he fought a bear, the encounter resulted in the three scars visible on his chest. Rarely, his hairstyle will change from his usual pompadour-style, to a messy hairstyle with his bangs dropped. Whenever Takamura struggles with his weight training, his appearance drastically changes. His stomach and ribs show through his skin, he gets chapped lips and wrinkles, and his skin begins to peel off.

Takamura with messy hair. Takamura with messy hair.

His basic attires consists of plain shirts, t-s

Miyata deeply respects Genji Kamogawa as one of the greatest boxing coaches in Japan. Kamogawa recognized Miyata's natural talent early on and helped him sharpen his counterpunching style during his time at the Kamogawa Boxing Gym. Although Miyata later left the gym to pursue his own path, he remained grateful for Kamogawa's guidance and never lost respect for him. Kamogawa, in turn, continued to admire Miyata's discipline, intelligence, and potential.

Kamogawa is fairly stubborn, stoic, and introspective, rarely displaying his emotions outwardly. He is deeply passionate about boxing as a sport and takes great pride in his boxers success. Despite this, he is prudish and does not tolerate indecency and debauchery, disciplining his disciples with his cane when they step out of line. He only yells at people who he has hopes for and deems dependable[6]..

He is repeatedly proud of Takamura and Ippo, though he rarely expresses it. It is Ippo who he regards as his "last son". He seeks to raise a world champion whose boxing is principled on fighting spirit, not just talent or skill.

During his youth, Aoki was known for his troubled school life as a delinquent. He, along with long-time friend Kimura, were known to participate in countless fights and brawls with 'rival' schools, with Aoki being the more aggressive and violent of the two. Throughout the series Aoki has shown a rather immature, mischievous and boastful personality, contrary to Kimura who is generally more laid back. Despite his often tough-looking demeanor, his overconfidence and goofy personality in and outside the ring usually earn him the frequent ridicule of other characters, and he is usually the butt of many of Takamura's pranks and attacks. Due to this, many characters, even to an extent Ippo, indirectly look down on and sympathize with Aoki and his embarrassing antics. However, he is mostly easygoing and is able to get along well with others, also usually being the one to help Ippo out with his girl-problems when around Kumi. A long-running gag is that Aoki keeps revealing impressive talents, that sadly have no connection with boxing. His prankster personality extends to his own teammates and is most notably reflected in his attitude towards Ippo and (at times) Takamura. Together with Kimura, he is paired into the Aokimura duo by Itagaki.

Aoki's taste in women is seen as a running joke where, in contrast to the tastes of his gym mates, Aoki places his preferences in women considered 'ugly' by everyone else. Aoki admits that he gets nervous around beautiful women, specifically his ex-girlfriend Miyuki (who was caught cheating on Aoki with another guy), and is unable to make any further advances on them. However, surprisingly, Aoki seems to be very kind towards women and he himself prefers to judge them firsthand not by their looks, but as a person, unlike Kimura and Takamura. Even though he may have a taste for 'ugly' girls, he is able to hold a girlfriend, Tomiko, longer then any other members of the group.

Ippo Makunouchi is Miyata's greatest rival and one of the most important people in his boxing career. They first met when Miyata was still an amateur and sparred together at the Kamogawa Boxing Gym. Although Miyata initially defeated Ippo, he was impressed by Ippo's determination and rapid improvement.

Over time, the two developed a mutual admiration. Ippo views Miyata as the boxer he most wants to surpass, while Miyata sees Ippo as the rival who continually motivates him to become stronger. Their planned professional match is canceled multiple times due to circumstances beyond their control, becoming one of the series' longest-running unresolved rivalries.

Despite competing on different paths, they remain close friends and maintain enormous respect for one another. Miyata continues hoping they will someday meet in an official professional bout, while Ippo remains one of the few boxers capable of pushing Miyata to his limits. Their relationship is built on respect, inspiration, and an unspoken promise to one day settle their rivalry in the ring.

As a child, Ippo was a very shy, kind and obedient boy who was also very strong-willed and stubborn. He carries most of these personality traits as he got older. He is usually a kind and reserved person who dislikes fighting, and because of that he had been bullied since grade school. He would also come home after school, holding back his tears and try to convince his mother that everything was alright after being bullied.

Despite his strength and courage, Ippo still behaves rather meek out of the ring and often humbles himself around his rivals. For example, even though he has defeated both Mashiba and Sendō, he fears Mashiba and tries to avoid discussing a second rematch with Sendō whenever he is around. He also continued to be intimidated by Umezawa, his former bully, long after he began boxing. He has a great deal of respect for his gym-mate Takamura and Date and he was completely shocked when Ricardo requested a spar with him.

Ippo is quite friendly, and many of his rivals have become friends of his, most notably are Miyata, Sendō, Date, Sanada, Volg, and Kobashi, whom all still keep in touch with him from time to time. He is well liked by his gymmates, especially Takamura, Aoki, and Kimura. Even though he still has the personality of a young boy, he still manages to serve as a good senpai for his kōhai Itagaki.

When it comes to love, Ippo is definitely a late bloomer, he is naive, pure-hearted, and awkward. He is in love with Kumi whom he dates frequently, and she feels the same for him, but because of the silent pressure of Kumi's older brother Mashiba Ryō, the "attacks" of reporter Mari and Nanako, and the meddling of Takamura and the others, their relationship has yet to progress much. The one time Ippo confessed to her, Kumi had fallen asleep after drinking too much alcohol, and unfortunately didn't hear it.

Ippo's rare display of anger. Ippo's rare display of anger.

Because of his personality, Ippo is seldom seen as being angry before a fight, even if his opponent insults him or his boxing skills. However, it has been shown on rare occasions that he is capable of displaying anger whenever an opponent says or hurts someone close to him, or does something to look down on the sport of boxing, which he loves. Such occasions have been when he saw Sawamura intentionally commit fouls in his previous matches, despite having the upperhand, and then later on when he struck Kumi with a sharp jab, cutting her face. Another occasion when his opponent, Kojima, insulted his previous opponents, both in person and publicly in a magazine, and also insulting Kamogawa's teaching methods as they were fault. This resulted in Ippo displaying a new attitude, even going so far as to calmly state to Takamura, when asked if he would have any problems, that "this won't take long", referring to the match. Ippo's anger side also shows when he sees someone getting bullied, confronting the bullies. As the result of his time in the Kamogawa gym, sometimes he could be a pervert, but covert and unintentional, aware that he was influenced by his gym member's perversion. Mamoru Takamura notes that Ippo is "drowning" in thoughts of women whenever his nose puffs up like a warthog

Kimura is a smart boxer with a good eye. He lives with his parents and helps them run their flower shop, but makes most of his living from his fights. He has been known to come up with his own original training methods, such as shadow boxing to music. He also tends to speak more politely and can often narrowly avoid Takamura's pranks through guile, and shifting the brunt of the blame on to Aoki.

In terms of romantic relationships, Kimura's pathetic love life and constant lack of a girlfriend is a recurring joke in the series, and he even named his pet fish Reiko after a girl who broke his heart.

Concerning his friendships, Aoki and him are best friends and are sometimes referred to as Aokimura (青木村). He tends to be less hard on Ippo than the others and more willing to assist in his training, although he does still tease him occasionally. While Takamura and Aoki often show concern for Ippo, Kimura is the closest of the three of them to being an ideal "senpai". He is not above being petty or jealous and gloating. An example would be when he refused to stop celebrating Mashiba's suspension and Sawamura's retirement (as it meant he had less obstacles for the belt), despite Ippo's protests.

Similar to his best friend Masaru Aoki, he is also highly skilled at baseball, particularly as batter, but as the two of them became delinquents, they lost interest in the sport and abandoned it.

He originally wrote his given name in kanji as 達也, but switched to katakana as タツヤ after returning from a brief retirement.

Takamura has a broadminded, arrogant, outrageous, and incredibly cocky personality. However, other dimensions of his personality have shone throughout the series, the culmination of which is a concerned, insightful, ambitious man. He dislikes people who pick on the weak, however, he hates the people who let it happen to them more.[29] He is one of the most well-studied characters in the series, having on numerous occasions identified strategies and traits of different boxers in tangent with and sometimes even ahead of Kamogawa. He has never fallen into an opponent's trap. Despite this, Takamura does not invent his own tactics during matches, which further exemplifies both his straightforward nature and his boxing talent. Because of this, while he's usually brash and devil-may-care both in the ring and outside of it, he is surprisingly pessimistic and level-headed when watching other boxers' matches, usually anticipating the difficulties his partners are going to encounter. Takamura has deep belief in the supernatural and fear of the unknown. When Nekota snuck up on him underwater as a joke while at the beach, he ran away in fear believing it to be a real ghost. He believed that he was cursed before his match against Hawk after finding a sea slater in his faeces, causing him to check his faeces every time for a while. He also had a very Kazuo Umezu-like face when Tomiko used tarot cards to accurately guess how many times he had masturbated after a fight. Another less admirable trait of Takamura's personality is his perverted nature. He has a strong belief he is a ladies' man, despite rather obvious evidence to the contrary and despite fancying himself a ladies' man, rarely actually sees any action. This is due to his abrasive, perverted nature as he once made the newspaper by trying to force himself on a woman and her running away. He is not above spying on couples and groping women and getting peeks at women's panties. During his victory speech against Hawk, he says how the women of Japan should come to him so he may donate his sperm to him. In addition, he even often grabs the penises of his fellow boxers and makes inappropriate comments regarding them, particularly towards Ippo. He also is tender towards older women such as Yamaguchi. He dislikes certain types of women who he deems "ugly", making inappropriate remarks about them, and making fun of Aoki's taste of women, including his girlfriend, Tomiko.

Takamura's influence on Aoki, Kimura, and Ippo. Takamura's influence on Aoki, Kimura, and Ippo. He can be a rather big bully to his fellow boxers and kōhai. He is fairly childish and egotistic, considering himself the best and hates being left out of events or people forgetting to invite him. He can also hold grudges, once attempting to set fireworks against Ippo and the others at the beach because they were shooting fireworks without him and showed a good time and only stopped when they appealed to his ego and said he should come because it wouldn't be fun without him. He can be petty and somewhat a bad sport, as Ippo manages to dodge his punch and right when Ippo is about to land a punch on him during a sparring match, Takamura (in a panic) elbows him (which is illegal in a boxing match). Despite pulling pranks on his gym mates, he is highly-respected, and is a reason Aoki, Kimura, and Ippo started boxing.

Even during important matches he has a tendency to play around, such as by using Aoki's "Look Away" technique, labelling a regular uppercut the Beetle's Uppercut in a fight where he wore a beetle costume, and arguing with the spectators when they mock him. In spite of all of this, he is the one who got Ippo, Aoki, and Kimura into boxing, he is well respected at the Kamogawa gym. Even though he constantly looks down on and ridicules their achievements, his unrivalled strength and rare moments of kindness have earned him respect from his fellow boxing juniors. He has also occasionally shown concern for Miyata and seems to genuinely look forward to Ippo's rematch with him. Takamura likes boxing and considers it a place where he belongs. He gets agitated when others look down on boxing or makes light of the professional aspect of it.

Black

Dark Blue (anime); in the manga, his eyes are generally depicted as dark due to the black-and-white artwork.

28

-5 (WBA) 5 (WBC) -C (OPBF)

-Orthodox Stance -Detroit Style -Hitman Style

-Out-Boxer -Counter-Puncher

175.3 cm (69")

Featherweight

A

172 cm (5'7½")

-Miyata (Father) -Ichirō's Mother (Mother)

Tokyo, Japan

-27

-15 (Debut Chapter)

August 27, 1973

-Thunder God (雷神, Raijin) -Prince of Counters

Miyata is a tall and muscular boxer with fair skin. He has short jet-black hair with bangs covering his forehead and ears, and his sharp eyes are dark red in colour. He is said to physically resemble Tatsuya Kimura, have a "pointy nose," as well as "handsome," with most of his matches garnering female spectators who encourage him to "not get hit in the face". His attire usually consists of plain t-shirts, shirts, and tank tops of various colours. His usual choice of legwear are blue jeans or beige or black pants

As a child, Miyata was extremely cheerful. He set his father as a role model and went to many of his matches, but after his father's defeat at the hands of Randy Boy Senior and subsequent retirement from boxing, Miyata became calm and serious. There are few instances in which he is seen smiling, such as after defeating Jimmy Sisphar and Randy Boy Junior, when Mr. Sakaguchi's assault was posted in the newspaper and while sparring with Sendō.

He is very stubborn, as evident in his refusal to move up to another weight class to ease the severity of his weight control, and when he didn't want to learn uppercuts to defeat Randy Boy Junior. However, he has his reasons for being stubborn, namely his promise to Ippo and his pride in his father's boxing. Miyata is also prideful and dislikes being disrespected, such as when Sendō playfully smacked him in the back of the head, Miyata threw a glove at him and told him to get in the ring. Miyata is shown to be snarky at times, as he sarcastically stated that he wouldn't be enough to take on Ippo, who never fought before, before their first spar began.

He is particularly close to Takamura, Kimura and Ippo, but doesn't have many friends outside of his former gym mates. While Miyata does not have a love interest, he has many female fans, and Ippo's admiration of Miyata gets pointed out by the Kamogawa gym members at times, jesting that he is in love with him.[41] Miyata has shown fluency in speaking Thai and English.

Miyata's father has pointed out that his regular punches lack power, and Sawamura has said that although his counters are powerful, they are also predictable. Takeshi Sendō also made this apparent by dodging every punch Miyata threw at him during a spar, having realised that he was always aiming for the head. He went as far to say that his fighting style is far too simple for the world stage. Miyata's maybe biggest problem is his stubbornness to use counter-boxing, having no other big punches in his repertoire. Takamura helps to improve Miyata's counters by informing him of his tendency to just use his arms with no rotation, rather than putting his entire back into it. Like Takamura, Miyata often has problems with cutting weight. In addition to this, and possibly as a result of it, he is very susceptible to body blows. It has been stated that Miyata's build should be limited at the junior lightweight and lightweight divisions. As such he kept up a brutal pace of one match a month to keep himself at the maximum allowed weight for the featherweight division.

Since Miyata is a counter specialist, all of his punches are potential Sunday punches.

-Detroit Style -Counter -Cross Counter -Jolt Counter -Sway -Pin-Point Counter -Corkscrew Counter -Speed Hell - The moment in which Miyata decides to go full speed. He can launch a flurry of different punches from many different angles, and advances so quickly that to his opponent it looks as if they're staring down several Miyata's at once. It was first shown during his fight with -Randy Boy Jr. when Miyata felt like he had to compensate for Randy Boy's constant switch hitting with more speed. Takamura (as well as his then opponent Bryan Hawk) also used this move. Speed Hell drains Miyata of his already low energy reserves.

-Southpaw Hitman Style - used during his match with Mashiba as a feint. Miyata performed a shoulder block to deflect one of Mashiba's flicker jabs, then closed in and performed a cross counter to Mashiba's jaw.

-Flicker Jab - to be demonstrate and used for his sparring against Kimura. However Miyata used it for once so that Kimura could learned on how to evade Flicker Jabs against Mashiba for the Champion Carnival Junior Lightweight.

Cut from the same cloth as his father, Miyata is an out-boxer technician with a speciality in counters. Hailed as a genius since before his pro-debut, he has in fact been practicing boxing with his father ever since he was a child. Before even getting his professional license, he was considered better than most 4-round boxers,[43] and he was able to beat a 6-round pro Masaru Aoki in spars.

Despite lacking in physical strength and toughness, Miyata makes up for that with his razor-sharp technique, reflexes and speed. According to his father, he also possesses an unusually great eyesight that allows him to follow the motion of even the fastest of punches.[44] Through his training in Thailand, he learned to put his full weight into each of his counters, adopting a high-risk, high-reward style of counter-punching that boasts an impressive knockout rate.

-Physical Ability Power: Before even getting his professional license, he was considered strong by Mamoru Takamura[45] However, he is unable to break blocks as he can only use counter by shifting his whole body as seen during his fight with Arnie Gregory, whose power is on par with Ippo Makunouchi. Overall, Miyata is slightly average when it comes to strength which he compensates with his speciality in counters.

Speed: He possesses extraordinary speed, which has evolved to the point where he can disappear from his opponent's sight. His footwork is considered perfect even before becoming a pro boxer.[46] It was mentioned that his counters can break the sound-barrier, he can use Speed Hell to overwhelmed opponents while circling them while throwing jabs, being an out-boxing technician, his hand speed can penetrate opponent's guard like a "spear" piercing through a hole, and only use with precise pin-point accuracy, he uses his speed to compensates his lack of power punches.

Stamina: His stamina is very high, as he was able to endure being punished by other opponents with greater strength, his weight management was so harsh that he was able to stay in the Featherweight division despite his uncontrolled height.

Technique: As an out-boxer, he usually fights using footwork to get close to his opponent and begins throwing fast left jabs around the opponent. If they guard, he strikes at the guard until he can find an opening, or he goes for body blows. He starts out almost all matches the same way, by throwing a large number of only small jabs and circling the opponent as much as possible. He can trick his opponents by pretending he's going at his full speed to make his opponent over-confident about catching him. When a big punch is thrown he will speed up and counter. Miyata will repeat this pattern, speeding up gradually throughout the fight, though he rarely has to as he continues to master it. He is also able to memorise his opponent's attacks with his body, so no single punch can work on him twice.

Determined Miyata Since he doesn't have much innate power, his primary weapons are counter punches, because they rely on the opponent's momentum to deal damage. Ryūhei Sawamura's and Miyata's counters have been compared numerous times. The difference is that Sawamura strikes his opponent whenever he sees an opening; Miyata only steps into his opponent's punches when they are fully in motion. The result can be seen in Miyata's KO ratio, which even rivals Ippo's.

While the vast majority of his matches has been him using the out-boxing style, he sometimes shows the ability to use in-fighting skill as well. He can combine both offence and defence during close range exchanges.[47]

Miyata is regarded as the third most talented boxer in the series, behind Ricardo Martínez and Takamura.

Early Days Arc:

When new member Ippo Makunouchi arrived at the Kamogawa gym, Miyata was chosen to spar against Ippo in order to decide if the newcomer can become a professional boxer or not. With his father in his corner, and pro boxer Mamoru Takamura in his opponent's, Miyata largely underestimated Ippo's skills. However, as the fight went on, not only Miyata, but everyone present was surprised at Ippo's durability, stamina and determination, which took the fight to the third round. After much struggle, Miyata was finally able to defeat Ippo with his signature counter, and realised just how interesting boxing really is.

Shortly after the spar, a rematch was scheduled by Kamogawa, who was clearly trying to create a rivalry between both aspiring boxers. Despite Ippo's growth, Miyata was so sure that in the upcoming months his growth would be such that the outcome would be the same, that he even told Ippo that he will win in the first round.

When the day of the sparring session arrived, the confident Miyata was more than surprised to see Ippo's evolution. The latter had not only perfected the techniques displayed in the first fight, but also acquired new moves and a strategy to neutralise the counter that defeated him before. The seemingly even match (refereed by Takamura), ended in the fourth round when Miyata was unable to get up from a down, despite having full consciousness. It was later revealed by reporter Minoru Fujii (through a photograph taken by him), that Ippo threw an uppercut that landed by roughly a centimetre, making Miyata lose control of his legs, thus making him unable to stand up.

After these events, Miyata had quit the gym, in order to be able to officially settle the score with Ippo in the professional ring. Before leaving, he made a promise with his new-found rival to have a third and final match in the East Japan Rookie King Tournament. Knowing that members of the same gym cannot fight each other, he joined with his father, at the Kawahara Boxing Gym where he prepared himself for the upcoming tournament. After watching Takamura's match, he met Ippo again talking about Miyata's debut win. Fujii then introduced Miyata and Ippo to Ryō Mashiba, who irritated Miyata.

Rookie King Tournament: First Rounder Arc:

In the first round of the East Japan Rookie King Tournament, Teruhiko Takada was his opponent. Despite being his opponents speciality, Miyata chose to in-fight, in order to prepare himself for Ippo. In the match that only lasted one round, Miyata dominated from the beginning and finished his opponent with a devastating counter. Miyata visited the Kamogawa gym and told Ippo that he would counter Ryūichi Hayami's Shotgun. He then left, claiming that he would wait for Ippo at the finals. Later, in the second round of the tournament, Miyata won against Akihiko Kaji.

Rookie King Tournament: Finals Arc:

Two days before the semi finals of the tournament against Mashiba, Miyata learned about Ippo's win against Hayami and was glad to learn he won and became fired up to fight Mashiba.

When the match with Mashiba began, Miyata had the advantage from the beginning, using a southpaw Hitman Style against Mashiba's own Hitman Style and blocking his Flicker Jabs with a shoulder block. He then knocked Mashiba down with a counter in the first round. However, in the second round, Miyata was charged at by Mashiba. The two boxers had multiple in-fighting sessions, which Miyata won due to him training to beat Ippo's in-fighting skills. While Miyata seemed to be winning, Mashiba purposely stepped on Miyata's foot, making Miyata have a huge disadvantage. Miyata then fell after taking a brutal beating. However, remembering how Ippo always stood back up and how he made a promise to him, Miyata stood back up and the round ended shortly after. When the third round began, Miyata had to deal with Mashiba's Flicker Jabs. Miyata's eyes showed fighting spirit and he landed a body blow. However, when Miyata saw a counter chance, he couldn't due to his injured foot. Mashiba delivered a left hook and knocked down Miyata, resulting in Miyata losing the match and the tournament. After the match, Miyata told his father to give a message to Ippo, saying to forgive him.

Two Rookie Kings Arc: Ippo meets Miyata after graduation. Ippo meets Miyata after graduation.

Later, after leaving from his high school graduation, Miyata met Ippo, who had just done the same. Miyata revealed to Ippo that he would be leaving Japan to fight overseas in places such as Thailand and South Korea and fight their strong fighters in order to fill the gap between them after Ippo won the All Japan Rookie King Tournament.

Jolt Counter Arc: Miyata's match against Puadi ending in a draw. Miyata's match against Puadi ending in a draw.

Upon arrival to Thailand, Miyata's first match was against Runsak Puadi, which ended in a draw due to hometown decision. After the match, Jimmy Sisphar sent a request to fight Miyata. At a local gym, Miyata noticed that the people there were whispering to themselves. Unable to speak Thai, Miyata spoke to Phayao, a Thai that understands Japanese to tell Miyata what they were saying. Miyata discovered that they were saying that the Japanese are not "hungry" and that they run away, with Phayao believing that running away is the best choice as he believed Sisphar is too strong.

Miyata went to his father, who informed him that his next match will be as junior lightweight in order to use his full power and speed and to forget about Ippo. Miyata argued that he if he ran away from his diet and his opponents, he would not make it to the world title, protesting that he would not run away. Miyata wanted to fight Sisphar, however his father claimed he would not send his son to fight him. Miyata requested his opinion as a trainer, which his father revealed that Miyata's counter would not work on Sisphar, as Miyata's punches are light. Miyata realised this, however believed that if he accepted that his fists betrayed him, he would not fight again, claiming that he will fight Sisphar before leaving.

While Miyata pondered on how he would win in a knockout against Sisphar, Phayao informed Miyata that he has fans despite only fighting in Thailand once, introducing his little brother, Chana to Miyata. Chana expressed how he wants to get into boxing, wanting the throw a counter like Miyata. After Miyata learned that Chana wanted to learn counters from him, Miyata apologised before leaving to do roadwork. Miyata shortly then gets an idea to improve his counter, wanting a counter to surpass all counters. Later, while Miyata was doing roadwork, it began to rain. When Chana ran to Miyata with an umbrella, Chana asked why Miyata boxes, as he does not look happy and never smiles. Miyata expressed his beliefs that there is a small moment of laughter that only boxers can experience. Later Miyata sparred with Phayao and missed multiple counters until Kida stopped it after an exchange.

At the Lumpini Stadium's waiting room, Miyata became nervous, wondering how many boxers had to fight against such odds as 30 to 1. He then remembered Ippo, who fought even when the odds were against him, resulting in Miyata gaining confidence. Miyata and Sisphar arrived to the ring, with the cheers being one-sided against Miyata. When the match began Miyata did not fall until round three, where he went down after Sisphar's right.

When Miyata got back up, he changed his stance to prepare to use his new counter: the Jolt Counter. Miyata was hit with a left hook, which made Miyata lower his left guard just as Sisphar baited him to. Miyata tried to throw a Jolt Counter to counter Sisphar, but it failed and Miyata was hit by a right hook, causing Miyata to go in a way that one of the ring's ropes hit the back of Miyata's head. When Miyata stood back up, the third round shortly ended. At the corner, Miyata told his father that it is raining, which caused his father to notice his ear bleeding due to a ruptured eardrum. Miyata was advised that he should use the Jolt Counter again and that the key to a successful counter is timing and heart.

When round four began, Miyata dodged Sisphar's rush of punches until he was hit with a body blow and a hit to the side of the head, causing him to lean on the ropes. Miyata then dodged a left and threw an uppercut that missed, causing Miyata to wobble. Seeing this as a chance to deliver the final blow, Sisphar attempted to hit Miyata with a right. However, Miyata then used the Jolt Counter, hitting his face and sending him to the canvas, causing a down. Sisphar's corner threw their towel in the ring, causing the referee to end the match, resulting in Miyata winning. As Miyata left the ring, the Thailand locals applaud Miyata's victory. Chana then ran to where Miyata could see him in the crowd and noticed that Miyata laughed. Phayao (who bet his whole life savings on Miyata) then drove Miyata to an airport. Before Miyata left for the plane, he told Chana to remember that the keys for a successful counter is timing and heart. Miyata then took the plane to South Korea, wondering what will happen when he returns to Japan.

Challenge for the Throne Arc:

Miyata returned to Japan and watched Ippo's match against Eiji Date for the JBC featherweight title. After Ippo lost, Miyata realised that the first lost would be big for Ippo and wished for Ippo to come back stronger than he was before.

Road Back Arc:

Miyata arriving to Osaka and meeting Ippo. Miyata arriving to Osaka and meeting Ippo.

Wanting to know who the title holder for the JBC featherweight title will be, Miyata went to Osaka to watch Takeshi Sendō and Volg fight for the now vacant JBC featherweight title. He met Ippo outside the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium and defended him when a group of Sendō fans were acting aggressive. Miyata ended up sitting with Ippo, with Miyata asking for his thoughts since he previously fought them. When Sendō was declared the winner by hometown decision, Miyata told Ippo that he had Volg leading with points, but there was no point in railing against the decision since it was a good match.

Later, Miyata had his first match in Japan after fighting eleven matches overseas. His match was against the first ranker in the South Korea rankings, Li Chon-pir. Miyata silenced the crowd with his improved speed and technique up to the third round. During the third round, Li attempted to stop Miyata's speed by pushing Miyata to the ropes with his body. Miyata then blocked Li's attacks and threw a counter to the body, knocking Li down and ending the match with Miyata's first win after returning from overseas.

Lallapallooza Arc:

In the anime, Miyata attended Ippo's JBC title match against Sendō. At the end, he smiled happily that he made it in order to pursue each other's goal.

Execution Arc:

During Miyata's roadwork, Kimura stopped him in order to ask a favour. Kimura explained the situation of him fighting against Mashiba to Miyata, but Miyata told him that he was not one to help without reason as he started to walk away. Kimura followed him after saying he does not want to run away. While running, they encountered a group of delinquents who were the type Kimura used to be. Seeing this, Kimura explained how much he loved boxing, and the reasons for which he wanted the belt. Miyata then told him he has an OPBF title match scheduled and was willing to help Kimura if in return he helped him training for the OPBF champion who was an out-boxer as well.

As they got ready to spar, Miyata told Kimura that there was no way he can actually seal or nullify Mashiba's ability to throw the Flicker Jab, since it was only a jab. He further stated that even if he could, he still would not be able to beat him because he had one major weakness. With Kimura confused, Miyata decided to demonstrate what he means, and the sparring match began. Being an out-boxer, Kimura was able to predict Miyata's moves, and landed some punches, however, despite not being an in-fighter, Miyata kept pressing forward while being hit, until he was within range and started attacking Kimura. After that, the match ended with Kimura being knocked out. Miyata then explained that what he meant was that despite not having any particular weakness, he had no strengths either.

Aoki doing a Dogeza, wanting Miyata to help Kimura to give him a match he won't regret. Aoki doing a Dogeza, wanting Miyata to help Kimura to give him a match he won't regret.

While in the middle of roadwork, Miyata encountered Masaru Aoki. Aoki gave him the tapes of Mashiba's recent spars and he asked if Kimura had a chance of winning. Miyata refused to respond, and Aoki explained that due to his age, it might be Kimura's last chance. He then a did a Dogeza and begged Miyata to help Kimura give the best he had. He begged him to help him go through the match with no regrets. Later, as he and Kimura analysed the videos, Kimura then thought how he can manage to defeat Mashiba, wondering what out-boxers hate the most. He then realised that Miyata told him the answer without saying anything, as Kimura hated Miyata's in-fighting style of always pushing forward, After that, he decided to start pressing forward for the remaining of his training. During the usual sparring session with Miyata, Kimura was finally able to successfully enter Miyata's space, but to his shock, realised that even once inside he had no weapons to attack with. While later, Kimura returned with a new skill and tried it on Miyata. In the sparring match with Miyata, Kimura attempted the move he had been practising, but he missed with it. However, Miyata told him that if he polished the move, Mashiba would be unable to remain standing.

Later, Miyata attended Kimura's JBC junior lightweight title match against Mashiba. When he met Ippo and Takamura in the crowd, Takamura joked that he was there to watch his student, but Miyata disagreed with him since he never taught Kimura anything. As the match started, Kimura was hit with the flicker for a while, and he was shaky on his legs, Miyata believed it was Kimura's chance. Ippo disagreed because Kimura could barely use his legs, but Miyata pointed out what Mashiba was doing. Where Kimura had been pushed to the ropes multiple times, but Mashiba hadn't used his rights to finish him off yet. Mashiba entered into the the match only used his flicker to control the opponent. Takamura added that Mashiba was fighting to prove himself to the World, where he was using Kimura as a sacrifice. Miyata believed that was why Kimura had a chance where he let his body remember the various timing of the Flicker Jab.

In the seventh round, Miyata saw Kimura finally hitting Mashiba in the body by swinging his foot after dodging Mashiba's left where he used the foot as a pivot to swing his other foot in. He added that by focusing on Mashiba's body than the jaw, Kimura was trying to make Mashiba anticipate those punches where he dropped his guard setting up the Dragonfish Blow. In the eighth round, he felt the match will end in the round based on the amount of damage of Kimura had on him. In the ninth round, Kimura continued to pressure Mashiba, but when he tried the Dragonfish Blow again, Mashiba's longer reach with a simple straight managed to hit Kimura first causing him to take a down. After seeing that, Miyata realised the match was over. Kimura managed to stand, and the referee allowed the match to continue, but stopped the fight after Kimura was unconscious when he attempted to throw a counter on Mashiba, declaring Mashiba the winner.

First Step Arc:

In the anime, while doing roadwork, Miyata met Ippo, who was scheduled to do his first title defence. He told Ippo to not to get ousted from the throne as their match is still unfinished. Later, Miyata watched Ippo's first title defence against Kazuki Sanada where Ippo won.

Bloody Cross Arc:

To prepare himself for his OPBF title match against Arnie Gregory, Miyata sparred with Kimura, who helped as a way to thank Miyata for helping him train against Mashiba. After Miyata went down three times in a session and claimed that he was serious when Kimura thought otherwise, his father stopped the spar to prevent further injuries. When Miyata overheard a conversation between Kimura and his father about weight management, Miyata claimed there was no reason to worry and requested for Kimura to not mention it to anyone, especially Ippo. When Kimura left, Miyata told his father that he is not at full power during a simple spar. He considered the weight management similar to sharpening a pencil in the way that as his body got weaker, his concentration becomes sharper like the end of a pencil.

When both boxers passed their weight check at the weigh-in, Miyata walked away while telling Mr. Sakaguchi to look for another job rather than looking for Gregory's next opponent, as he will no longer have the belt and Mr. Sakaguchi will no longer have a job. At a pasta cafe, while Miyata ate food to replenish his weight, Miyata and his father discussed the upcoming match, with Miyata concluding that if the Bloody Cross was just a small souvenir, he would have to return it in exchange for the champion belt.

Miyata downing Gregory in the first round. Miyata downing Gregory in the first round.

As Miyata walked to the ring on the day of the match, Miyata's father was reluctant to open the door to the ring, expressing his worry to his son as he himself lost in an OPBF title match. Miyata reassured his father that he will prove that his boxing works in the OPBF and beyond. After both fighters arrived to the ring, the match began. In the first round, Gregory attacked Miyata immediately, getting Miyata to the ropes until Miyata countered him and disappeared from right in front of him and going behind him. Gregory put up a more guarded Orthodox Stance while Miyata prepared to continue using the first round to gather data. After testing Gregory by being on the defensive and taking some hits in the process, Miyata got into a hitting match with Gregory, easily countering Gregory's attacks and pushing him back. Miyata then entered the completely offensive Detroit Style, quickly knocking down Gregory with a Cross Counter when he attempted to hit Miyata with a left. When Gregory got back up, the round immediately ended. Miyata's father warned his son that if he gave Gregory time, he will recover, instructing him to pressure him while he is still damaged.

Miyata hit by the Bloody Cross. Miyata hit by the Bloody Cross.

In round two, when Miyata saw an opening for a Cross Counter, he used it. However, Miyata was hit by Gregory's Bloody Cross, causing him to fall. Miyata got back up after thinking that he merely missed his hand placement. Miyata got another chance to use his Cross Counter, however, when he used it, he realised that Gregory was using the Bloody Cross by bending his elbow to change the line of his Cross Counter, making Miyata miss. The stunned Miyata then got hit with combinations that sent him down a second time. Miyata got up and commenced a hitting match against Gregory. The hitting match ended when Miyata fell down a third time. While a third down would have caused an end to the match, a slip was declared instead. The second round then ended as Miyata got up. At the corner, Miyata expressed how he plans to use his remaining strength to hope to land a lucky punch. Miyata's father told his son that there are no such thing as lucky punches in boxing and that a punch that manages to hit from fists that aren't alive can not knock down an opponent, while punches from a living fist can. Miyata then got ready for round three as he asked his father to watch his fists to see if they are alive.

Miyata attacked first in the third round with a one-two that missed. Miyata and Gregory then had a hitting match in the middle of the ring. When Miyata brought Gregory to the ropes, he attempted to do a Cross Counter over Gregory's left, however, Miyata stopped midway as he realised that that was what Gregory was aiming for. Miyata was then hit with a right body blow that caused him to freeze and hit with multiple combinations. Wishing to fulfil his promise to his father that his boxing works and to Ippo to one day fight him in the professional ring, Miyata fought back with weak punches on the surprised champion. Gregory threw a left straight. Miyata believed he could counter the wide swing and began to get ready for a counter, however, the gong sounded to end the third round before Miyata could throw it. At the corner, Miyata drank some water, giving him strength enough to throw one punch, planning on throwing a full-body counter.

In the fourth round, Miyata signalled the champion to come to him, which Gregory did so. They had a hitting match, which Miyata managed to land a counter in the middle of the brawl, however it did barely any damage to the champion as Miyata's fists were weakened. Gregory landed a liver blow and a right followup punch on Miyata after bring him to the ropes. Miyata still stayed standing, wanting to use his energy to throw one last punch. After Miyata's guard broke, Miyata prepared to throw his last counter, which Gregory prepared his Bloody Cross for. However, when Gregory moved Miyata's arm, the angle went back to normal due to the counter being pushed by Miyata's weight of his whole body. Miyata continued the throw and hit Gregory with the Jolt Counter, sending him down. Gregory stood up, however, he fell back down and the referee signalled the end to the match, with Miyata winning and becoming the OPBF featherweight champion. As Miyata wore the OPBF champion belt, he did a victory pose, planning on fighting with pride and ready for Ippo at any time.

In Miyata's changing room, Fujii entered and revealed that Mr. Sakaguchi left alone, with ties with Gregory severed. Miyata approached Gregory, who asked how he stayed standing after taking his punches. Miyata simply answered that it was spirit. Surprised with his answer, Gregory warned that Mr. Sakaguchi would be going after Miyata because of what happened. Miyata claimed that he would not lose his belt he got from Gregory, no matter how tough the opponent is. Pleased to hear that, Gregory tossed his hat onto Miyata's head, giving him his hat, and telling him good bye. Miyata then promised to himself to keep the title in order to fight the strongest man in Japan.

Revenge Arc:

When Date was to fight against the WBA featherweight champion Ricardo Martínez, Miyata was a sparring partner for Date in a public spar. During the public spar, Miyata was unable to keep up with the former Japanese champion, unable to land any lefts nor having any time to throw a counter. Miyata decided to get into a close-range combat with Date, however, Date outperformed him and ultimately sent Miyata down with a right before catching Miyata's fall and thanked him for the spar. When Miyata left the Nakadai gym, he became embarrassed when met Ippo who watched the spar. With both of them being beaten by both participants of the upcoming title match, they reflect on how far they went to become OPBF and JBC champions, however, they are still far away from the world, concluding that the world is a big place. In the anime, Miyata watched the WBA title match between Date and Ricardo where Date lost and Ricardo won, defending his title for the 18th time.

Battle of Hawk Arc Miyata backing Takamura in his match against Hawk. Miyata backing Takamura in his match against Hawk.

Along with many other of Takamura's friends and Japanese rankers, Miyata went to the Ryōgoku Kokugikan to watch Takamura's WBC junior middleweight title match against Bryan Hawk. Before the match began, Miyata was annoyed of Sendō, and attended Date's speech to Takamura about how Japanese boxers feel about Hawk. Miyata then watched the match, where Miyata became agitated when Takamura was in trouble and encouraged Takamura's gym mates to cheer for him when they weren't cheering in the sixth round. The match resulted in Takamura's victory and he became the new world champion.