Kodansha’s Weekly Shōnen Magazine announced that the Hajime no Ippo Boxing manga will go on a break.
The magazine did not share a return date.
Hajime no Ippo is a manga series centered on boxing, created by writer and artist George Morikawa. Since October 1989, it has run in Kodansha’s Weekly Shōnen Magazine, aimed at young male readers, with the individual chapters compiled into 144 tankōbon volumes as of August 2025.
The narrative centers on Ippo Makunouchi, a high school student who embarks on a professional boxing journey, gradually earning numerous championships and overcoming a wide array of rivals.
Madhouse produced a 76-episode anime version that broadcast on Nippon TV between October 2000 and March 2002. In 2003, this was followed by a TV movie and an OVA. The sequel season, Hajime no Ippo: New Challenger, ran from January to June 2009, while the third season, Hajime no Ippo: Rising, aired from October 2013 to March 2014.
In North America, Geneon licensed the original series along with the TV film in 2003 and distributed it as Fighting Spirit. Discotek Media reacquired the rights in 2020, covering the initial series, the film, and the OVA.
As of July 2023, the manga has surpassed 100 million copies in circulation, ranking it among the highest-selling manga series ever. It earned the 15th Kodansha Manga Award in the shōnen division back in 1991.
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