Toru Rikiishi

Rikiishi and Joe first meet in the juvenile detention center, where Rikiishi was introduced as a boxer who was sentenced to the juvenile detention center because he had punched an member of the audience half to death after they had claimed that the match was rigged in Rikiishi's favor, enraging him. On their first encounter Joe challenges Rikiishi without knowing he was once a professional boxer and manages to punch him in the face once before Rikiishi knocks him out in one punch. Thus he was quintessential in motivating Joe to start taking boxing seriously, even if his only reason is to beat Rikiishi in a rematch. Rikiishi is widely considered to be one of the most promising rookie boxers in the world, but his career is tragically cut short, as he dies immediately after his and Joe's rematch from his injuries and the toll his extreme weight loss training took on his body.