Summary
Aoki Masaru is an unorthodox lightweight boxer and a core member of the Kamogawa Boxing Gym, trained by Shinoda. Standing at 171 cm with a 171 cm reach, he fights from an orthodox stance. Born on September 9, 1971, in Tokyo, Japan, Aoki worked as a Chuuka Soba chef before his boxing career fully took off. He was scouted into boxing alongside his close friend Kimura Tatsuya by Takamura Mamoru, whom they originally swore to defeat but eventually came to admire. A former delinquent who endured a harsh defeat at the hands of middleweight Takamura during high school, Aoki dropped out of school with Kimura to pursue boxing. While their initial motivation was to land a clean hit on Takamura, they grew to love the sport and honed their skills. Aoki adopted a clownish fighting style, utilizing signature techniques like the Frog Punch and Look-Away, which helped him secure a draw in a Japanese title match against then-champion Imae Katsuka. He currently shares a long-standing rivalry with Papaya Dachiu, the lightweight champion of the Philippines, having drawn two consecutive matches against him. Throughout the series, Aoki is depicted as playful, immature, and mischievous, traits that extend to his boxing matches where he uses deception, confusion, and ridicule to compensate for his unexceptional technical skills. A recurring gag involves him revealing impressive talents that have no connection to boxing. His prankster nature often targets teammates, particularly Makunouchi Ippo and occasionally Takamura Mamoru. Together with Kimura, he is paired as the Aokimura duo by Itagaki Manabu. Aoki’s taste in women is another running joke; unlike his gym mates, he prefers women considered unattractive by others, a preference stemming from a past traumatic breakup with a beautiful girl. Despite this quirk, he maintains a relationship with his girlfriend Tomiko longer than most of his peers, though the status of any potential romance with Kumi remains uncertain.
