Keigo Okita 沖田佳吾

A boxer at Nakadai Gym who preceded Ippo as the Rookie of the Year. Okita, an exceedingly serious young man, idolizes Eiji Date to the point of mimicking his style and special techniques. Date's favor of the relatively inexperienced Makunouchi Ippo inflamed Okita's jealousy, and he challenged Ippo to a match. Though confident that his special "corkscrew blow", a punch copied from Date, would carry him through the fight, Okita was soundly defeated by Ippo in the first round. Later, he was seen as one of Date's assistants during his fight with Ippo.