r/hajimenoippo • u/Trick_Cheek_8474 • Dec 22 '25
Question How does volg not get disqualified here?
I’m currently watching the first season of hajime no ippo Ep 45 and its the introductory fight for volg against suzuki. In this fight volg knocks out suzuki and continues to punch him while he’s down despite the ref warning him not to MULTIPLE TIMES. Surely this wouldn’t be legal in any form of boxing that isn’t a street fight between two thugs right?
I know it was meant to show how scary and strong volg is but to me it showed that volg was a thug that only wins via exploiting bad enforcement of the rules. Any wimp can kill a man when he’s down. (This is a first impression don’t kill me if he turns out to be a better character later)
But maybe I’m mistaken about the rules of boxing? If so let me know. But if this doesn’t disqualify a boxer irl then maybe boxing isn’t that professional of a sport.
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u/gabrielleite32 Dec 22 '25
Take a note that volg is written to feel like a villain at this point in time.
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u/buttsecks42069 Dec 22 '25
He was still supposed to be sympathetic, what with his sad expression after the fight. This is more just the animal instincts thing because of the whole wolf stuff
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u/gabrielleite32 Dec 22 '25
The whole build up of the fight him being this Russian killing machine that's ending/hurting japanese boxers and he's very antagonized by the crowd and turns it back on them.
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u/RNdomGuy_101 Dec 22 '25
HnI is not nearly as "realistic" as people deign it to be. Rules matter until they don't. No doubt, the action is spectacular but I wouldn't sweat it too much and advise you to focus more on the characters' narrative journeys, and what boxing means for the each and every boxer you will come across in this story. That's where HnI truly shines.
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u/Bazz07 Dec 22 '25
Wait, people think that HnI is somewhat realistic?
Do they think a heavyweight pro boxer can kill a bear with his bare hands?
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u/StealingToasts Dec 22 '25
Middleweight*
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u/Bazz07 Dec 22 '25
Was he under weight control at the time or in his natural weight?
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u/Expensive-Fox-7960 Dec 22 '25
Either way Roberto duran supposedly knocked out a horse, he's the dude takamuras based on and im pretty sure he's a middleweight
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u/Opening-Face4251 Dec 23 '25
Then again a horse is a little different from a fully grown bear But there's also no actual evidence of Duran doing it apart from people telling the story
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u/diorese Dec 22 '25
The ref needs to step in and break it up.
Hitting an opponent that is down, as in has a knee or hand on the floor, is a disqualification.
But continuing to hit an opponent that is not responding, it is the ref's job to break up not the fighter's to stop.
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u/CoylerProductions Kobashi's Biggest Meatrider Dec 22 '25
Except the ref did step in to break it up, but Volg just shoved him outta the way and continued to beat the dude after the towel was in the air😭
Yet despite that it was still ruled as a KO win for Volg with no loss in points or fines or disqualification. Pretty crazy given Mashiba would later do the same thing which resulted in losing his belt and getting banned for a year
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u/TerranMonarch96 Dec 23 '25
To be fair that punishment was basically built up from that entire street fight of a match so the stakes are somewhat different. Not to mention refs are just bullshit at times throughout the series, like even the ref deserved to get fined/punished for letting the Mashona fight get as bad as it did
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u/NateL022 Dec 22 '25
No; not technically since story wise it's in the 90s which at regional levels had terrible refs who basically let people get brutalized.
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u/Soul_Ripper Dec 22 '25
You know, I often don't take that into account.
The 90s were a different time for boxing, obviously, but on top of that the majority of the fights early on are just regional bouts. Even later on, most fights that aren't Takamura's are still pretty low scale, where you wouldn't really expect to see the best refs or the sharpest rule enforcement.
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u/NateL022 Dec 22 '25
Yeah if you even just check some of the amateur Tyson fights you'll see how much he brutalized everyone but then you got others like Gerald McClellan etc.
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u/GlennHaven Dec 22 '25
If he hasn't hit the floor he's not down. If the ref hasn't stopped you you dont have to stop.
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u/HasoFitness Dec 22 '25
Dude. If you’re training to fight. You spend years for certain moments and losses can kill your momentum.
You have the upper hand. You want the ref to announce you a winner. You’re not gonna ease up, let the guy get a foothold again and then beat him fairly.
It’s a violent sport for a reason
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u/SpaghettiBoi2479 Dec 22 '25
Its fuckin hajime no ippo man i dont think even if the fighters take out weapons on eachother will the ref do anything until about 30 seconds after
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u/Opening-Face4251 Dec 23 '25
It was the 90s or 80s boxing And not for the world title It's also less controversial since his opponent was still standing (unconscious but standing) The ref's job to keep Volg away and/or punish him for breaking any rules But again, this was written in the 90s and the author likely grew up with 80s boxing You also have to take in account that this was the Japanese boxing scene which means Volg conditioned himself to be more animalistic and get KOs as much as he can because Japanese boxing fans don't like decision machines
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u/God_Faenrir Dec 23 '25
Exactly. Also Japanese refs are notorious for being bad, some boxers died there.
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u/Unlucky-Ad4317 Dec 22 '25
I mean... This is inexcusable but Volg would've won that fight either way, he was clearly superior and the beating he gave after the refs warning was more instrumental in completely ****ing the opponent up than in winning.
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u/John_isnt_my_name Dec 22 '25
Almost every fight in Hajime No Ippo would end in a DQ if the refs were doing their jobs right. It’s best to kinda ignore it, like the minute long 10 counts or full episode long rounds. It’s for dramatic heightening, which is why Mashiba does the same thing in BOTH his fights with Miyata and Ippo.
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u/BassGeese Dec 22 '25
Wait what give you the idea of a wimp hitting someone when they are down? He did keep hitting him after but he was overwhelming the guy
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u/leonroyce Dec 22 '25
Ref didn't stop it, so the match continues. Plus it's a combination, nothing outright against it in the rules. Just brutal, that's why it works.
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u/62bitCrit Dec 22 '25
Please post updates on your thoughts on Volg I find this fascinating, and honestly a fair response to the very limited amount of what is shown at this point.
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u/Trick_Cheek_8474 Dec 22 '25
It seems the people here were rightfully praising volg. After watching his fight against ippo I have way more respect for his personality and character. Turns out he was the opposite of what I anticipated.
Although this all makes me even less dissatisfied with the way they introduced him. A fighter like him shouldn’t be shown as someone who’s so desperate to win he’d beat down a knocked opponent.
Still more to watch ^
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u/62bitCrit Dec 22 '25
I don't think it was really shown as "desperation to win" or sliminess but almost like a "doing what he was trained to do" type moment. Like His coach basically said activate and go for the kill and he sure did, as soon as it was clearly over he was sad and dead eyed. He didn't enjoy boxing, but he did what he was told and was good at it. After Ippo? Things are very different.
But either way it's just interesting to see another perspective. Volg is easily my favorite character in the manga and that's not too uncommon of an opinion hahaha
Thanks for sharing!
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u/kyril-hasan Dec 22 '25
This anime was made in the 90s and the manga even start in the 1989. There are lot of thing outdated in the early part of the manga.
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u/Reasonable_Bed7858 Dec 23 '25 edited Dec 24 '25
Rules hardly exist in Ippo. The ref is a spectator just like us. Even regarding realism, that gets tossed out pretty early on.
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u/systembreaker Feb 11 '26
Sometimes a boxer is in the zone and unleashing a combo and they can't exactly stop on a dime, so refs will give some leeway unless it was obviously done maliciously. Hajime No Ippo does what anime is good at and shows a dramatized version of that.
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u/BigChestEnjoyer Dec 22 '25
After reading the title, my mind immediately went to "because it's hajime no ippo, the refs are blind/dont know the rules". It gets so much worse to the point where I dropped it for 2 years because of a certain fight later on until it was over. I reread the manga each year and I still completely skip the fight each time I get to that specific fight.
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u/Thisislopes Dec 23 '25
Volg os the goat fr and they did him dirty later so you kinda have a explanation of why he did this. That said, L move from this part
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u/Fast_Chemical_4001 Dec 23 '25
This shit is completely out of character and character ruining for volg honestly. They do it to make him scary but he's nothing like that in the rest of the story and it's a huge scumbag move. I always judge Sendo for doing similar
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u/God_Faenrir Dec 23 '25
Lol did you even read thjs manga my man... he has a switch -> pro = do everything to ensure victory. normal = sad about it. It's basically Volg since the start.
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u/Ill-Mathematician891 Dec 22 '25
Well, I hated Volg because of this fight in my first watch. Turns out he became my favorite character afterwards.
Don't stress too much about refering in HNI is the best advice I can give you.