Line #117 Awesome/AshitaNoJoe


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5	* The fights between Joe and [[{{Yakuza}} the Onihime group]].
6	* Joe taking over the dorm at the holding juvenile prison before the trial-and coming close to repeat the feat at the actual juvie.
7	* Joe trying to escape from juvie-by standing on top of ''a charging herd of pigs''. To anyone who knows the beasts, even coming close to a single pig that's not perfectly calm would be awesome, let alone this. Rikiishi then stops Joe by ''punching out pigs 'till the ones still awake calm down and return to their shed rather than facing him''. There's a reason everyone was in awe and he got his term reduced for this feat.
8	* Yoko gets her first by being the KidWithTheLeash to ''Rikiishi''. And every single inmate but Joe, but Rikiishi stands out.
9	* Danpei teaching Joe the CrossCounter-by having Joe attack him with a cross and reply with it. Joe masters it by pissing off the other inmates and using it on them. Rikiishi realizes Joe was training the cross counter simply from thinking about the aftermath of Danpei teaching it (namely, Joe down and Danpei having suffered a hit hard enough to bleed from the mouth)-and training against it against charging ''bulls''.
10	* Joe's first match with Rikiishi (as opposed as the rumbles they had before). Thanks to the cross counter he uses at the end when Rikiishi attempts to punch him out, Joe scores a DoubleKnockout and earns his respect from the other inmates.
11	* Mamoru Aoyama is pretty much ''made'' of awesome, even, or rather ''because'', he's the smallest of all the inmates, and yet beats everybody in the boxing tournament, except for Joe.
12	* Danpei got a double one by training Aoyama:
13	** The obvious one, he made Aoyama capable of defeating opponents four or five times his size as long as they didn't know proper boxing. Even ''Joe'' was helpless against him, at least until he renounced his pride and started boxing properly.
14	** The non-obvious one: he taught the overly aggressive Joe to defend himself. Even Joe admitted he would have ignored him had Danpei tried normal means... But making Aoyama capable of defeating him in a straight fight drove the point home.
15	* Rikiishi's first match as a professional after leaving juvie ends with his victory by knock out at the second round.
16	** This one makes everything he had done much better, as it makes clear that during his days in juvie ''[[WorfHadTheFlu he had been rusty and not in full form]]''. After seeing him on TV Joe realizes just how outclassed he is againt the ''real'' Toru Rikiishi... And promptly gets one himself by swearing to himself he'd rise at ''that'' level and finally have a proper fight against him.
17	* The beginners' tournament has one moment: Wolf Kanaguchi wins his match by knock out at 1'54'' of the second round. And then Rikiishi tops Wolf by winning in ''54 seconds''.
18	* Nishi having the humility and courage to try for the C-class license rather than the B-class[[note]]In Japan, there's three types of boxing license, C-class that enables to four round fights, B-class that enables to six round fights, and A-class that enables to all kinds of fights, though one starts with eight rounds and still has to work their way up to longer fights. An amateur can take the test for up to the B-class, the A-class being effectively a field promotion for experienced B-class pros[[/note]] Joe had enrolled him for the boxing license exam. In the practical part of the test, Nishi easily parries, dodges and softens the attacks of his opponent with such skills that Inagaki, who came second at the national high school boxing tournament, can't help but praise him. Then he counterattacks-and his opponent can only thank the bell for not being knocked out by Nishi's powerful and accurate attacks.
19	* Joe wins his debut match in a single round.
20	* Wolf versus Joe, as Joe makes a new move from the CrossCounter he learned from Danpei and knocks out Wolf with it.
21	* After coming down in the bantamweight class to fight Joe, Rikiishi, knowing he's been weakened by his diet, wants to fight a test match against someone else, and the Shiraki Boxing Club had to invite one from the Philipines. The opponent, Leo Pancho, is a veteran that in his prime fought for the OBPF championship, and while age slowed him down his fists are still powerful-and Rikiishi's victory is awesome because Leo was knocked down two times, while Rikiishi wasn't knocked down ''at all''.
22	* The fight between Joe and Rikiishi, fought not just with fists but also, ''especially'', with intelligence, with both boxers coming in with good tactics and then improvising new equally good ones when the previous one gets countered. Just the final exchange is enough to explain how formidable the confrontation of tactics was: near the end Rikiishi drops his guard to invite an attack he'll use the Triple Counter on, Joe, after an initial scare, realizes the Triple Counter worked on Wolf because he was too weak and he's strong enough to knock Rikiishi out on the Double Counter phase and attacks, and when he uses the Double Counter he has barely the time to get scared when Rikiishi enacts his ''real'' trap, dodging and tagging him with an uppercut that knocks Joe out.
23	* Goromaki Gondo. Called in by a group of yakuza to face Wolf, who had been hired as a bodyguard by his clients' rivals, he goes in, correctly gauges Wolf's decline with one look, and goes in the fight, where he tanks a punch from Wolf with little damage and then defeats him with ''one kick''. [[AttackItsWeakPoint It was in the glass jaw previously shattered by Joe]], and it didn't knock him out but "merely" caused Wolf so much pain he couldn't fight anymore, but the simple fact he was able to do so is more than enough.
24	* After Joe comes back to the gym, he and Nishi have a sparring match. Nishi had grown stronger, and won his last few matches, enough to get the A-class licence (and remember, ''Wolf'' didn't have it, and Joe got it only when he beat him). He actually proves it by ''overwhelming Joe'' with his newfound speed and strength, to the point he initially compares it to hitting the punching bag.
25	* Joe's first match after Rikiishi's death is one for him: even with his inability to hit someone's face, Joe completely dominated the match against an opponent that had ''fourteen victories in a row'', and defeated him in a single round. This would be only the start of a long streak of fights won in one or two rounds by either knocking the opponent out or [[KnowWhenToFoldEm the opposing corner throwing in the towel]].
26	* One for Yoko: she's the first outside the Tange Boxing Club to notice Joe's weakness, and all it took her was to see this match. Not bad, for someone who admits to knowing little about boxing.
27	* While the result of a conspiracy to force Joe to retire, the three matches against Oozaki, Harajima and Nango have a few awesome moments:
28	** Tiger Ozaki, the JBC bantamweight champion, comes in knowing of Joe's weakness... And ''gets dropped halfway during the first round'', establishing that, had Joe been able to hit his face, he would have won easily.
29	** Harajima, #1 in the JBC rankings, also comes in knowing of Joe's weakness, and gains an early advantage... And then Joe punches his face and knocks him down. While he manages to stand, Harajima had the fight knocked out of him, and Joe would have won had he not felt ill, puked, and fainted for the shock of punching someone in the face with all his strength.
30	** Nango is the #2, knows Joe's weakness... And Joe ''knocks him out'', even if he still feels sick for punching his face. Nango only wins because the referee gives him a long count (because he had been distracted by Joe puking in the manga, because he had been ordered by the JBC to favor Nango in the anime), resulting in Joe [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beating the crap out of Nango with fouls]] and getting disqualified in the manga[=/=]Nango surprising and knocking Joe down and the bribed referee giving him a short count.
31	* Yoko's little plan to reignite Joe's flame and get him to defeat his weakness while also punishing the JBC for their conspiracy involves people fighting Carlos to lure Joe in... and it works like a charm.
32	* At their sparring match, Joe using the Kangaroo Punch to knock Carlos down-with ''16oz gloves''. He's also the only Japanese boxer to get Carlos serious.
33	* The exhibition match between Joe and Carlos. Carlos fights seriously since the start and knocks Joe down in ''five seconds''. He proceeds to knock him down once again before Joe can start moving and fighting back. Seeing Joe on the ropes apparently ready for the Kangaroo Punch, Carlos goes for a swing-and falls into Joe's trap: Joe first hits Carlos' elbow, deviating the punch, then uses the strength from hitting Carlos' swing to get the arm back on the ropes and use the rebound for an uppercut that [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom sends Carlos on the other side of the ring]]. After that terrifying uppercut, Joe and Carlos go for a melee that ends with Joe punched out of the ring and Carlos down on the ring, the latter after being hit by his own special attack. And while he gets back up, Carlos is the one who got out worse for it, and would have likely lost had Danpei, in a moment of excitement, not given a small push to Joe while he was almost back on the ring, getting him disqualified. And as this couldn't end just like that, Carlos all but ''forces'' Robert to sign him for a match, the impending fight with Mendoza for the world title be damned.
34	* The full match between Joe and Carlos. Joe manages to send Carlos [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom flying across the ring]] like how he did with Joe during the exhibition match.
35	* OPBF Bantamweight Champion Kim Yongbi, also known as "The Boxing Computer" for his combination of power, precision and coldness, has one in his first on-page match, where he inflicts a CurbStompBattle on a ''lightweight''. For reference, in boxing a lightweight weighs between 130 and 135 pounds, while a bantamweight goes to 118 pounds at most. And yet, Kim is not only so superior to easily smack his opponent around, at one point he ''stands back to gauge the damage and see the better way to take him down''-assuming he's stupid enough to come back for more. He is, and Kim finishes him off with an uppercut-hook combo.
36	* Joe vs. Yongbi for the OFBF Bantamweight Championship. Joe enters weakened by a terrifying diet and in a condition of psychological inferiority after Kim told him [[WarIsHell his backstory]] (where almost starving to death during UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar was only the set-up for something ''worse'') and yet manages to stand up to the champion, coming back after being knocked down again and again and fighting back, to the point that Yongbi starts going tilt.
37	* After defeating Yongbi and becoming the OFBF Bantamweight Champion, Joe goes to Hawaii to defend his title from Pinan. The World Bantamweight Champion Jose Mendoza shows up to greet the two combatants. Joe decides to take the chance to give him back a punch Jose had given him over his loud mouth and Jose dodges and ''forces Joe to shake his hand''.
38	* Mendoza has an exhibition match right with a boxer of a heavier weight class, one nicknamed the "Hawaiian Bull" for the strength of his fists. The match starts and Mendoza puts his hands on the Bull's shoulders and ''[[NoSell takes his attacks without flinching]]'', just to prove Joe, that was in the public, that he, differently from what he and Danpei expected from a heavy hitter like him, was not a GlassCannon. Quite awesome, even if it's a bluff. Then he takes down his opponent with ''two punches''.
39	* The anime-only fight between Joe and Leon Smiley. Leon Smiley is a hell of an opponent, as shown by his ranking: #1 in ''both the WBC and WBA rankings''. He may be one of the boxers said to be scared of Carlos, but the fact he's the top contender for Mendoza and the ''other'' world champion shows he's a formidable boxer himself.
40	* The manga has only one bantamweight champion, Jose Mendoza. The anime, however, specifies that Mendoza is the World Boxing Council bantamweight champion... And introduces the ''other'' champion, Harold Gomez for the World Boxing Association. And, of course, features [[CoolVersusAwesome the fight for the unification of the belts]]. [[DoomedByCanon As the final fight was already decided to be between Joe and Mendoza, Karold Gomez is obviously doomed to lose]]... But he didn't become a world champion by accident, and he proves it by fighting Mendoza head-on ''on his same level'', for three rounds, during which he has the upper hand. Considering Carlos went down halfway during the ''first'', just that is awesome.
41	* Since his introduction, Harimau had been hyped for his strength. Then, in the manga, Yoko managed to set him a match against OPBF #5 bantamweight Takigawa to get him ranked and allow him to challenge Joe for the title... And Takigawa, taking advantage that [[UnskilledButStrong Harimau's technique is incredibly poor]], gives him a terrifying beating, even ''ridiculing'' his gymmick technique of a jumping punch by [[DeadlyDodging moving to the side and letting him injure his hand on the ring's floor]]. It takes Harimau's ''second'' gimmick technique, that uses the ropes to jump, to win... And it's expressely stated that Takigawa would have won anyway had he been a bit more used to unorthodox boxing. [[{{Foreshadowing}} Just from that statement, one can imagine how his match with Joe will go]]. Realizing that to fight Harimau he needs his old wild spirit back, Joe calls a group of special sparring partners: [[FriendlyNeighborhoodGangster "Goromaki" Gondo and a group of yakuza sluggers]]. First four sluggers, then the rest, and finally Gondo himself. It works. During their fight, [[CurbStompBattle Joe gives Harimau a formidable beating]], neutralizing Harimau's gimmick technique, neutralizing Harimau's ''final'' gimmick technique in such a brutal fashion the beastman had a VillainousBreakdown, and then taking out a berserking Harimau ''without fouls''.
42	* Joe vs. Mendoza. There are many callbacks of previous events in the series, and Joe manages to be the first boxer to knock Mendoza down in the Champion's entire career.

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