Joe Yabuki (矢吹 丈, Yabuki Jō or nicknamed just Joe, ジョー, lit. Jō) is the protagonist of Ashita no Joe. He was a Bantamweight professional boxer and member of the Danpei Tange Gym. He became the OPBF Champion after defeating Kim Yong-Bi and went on to challenge Jose Mendoza for the WBC and WBA Belts. However, Joe died after the last round during from his harsh weight cutting, advanced stages of CTE, and damage from the match.
His most prominent boxing matches were gainst Tōru Rikiishi, Carlos Rivera, Kim Yong-Bi, and Jose Mendoza.
Background[]
As a child, Joe did not have parents. He spent a majority of his youth alone until he was taken in by an orphanage. His quick to fight nature had him transfered from orphanage to orphanage. Joe hated that life. He wanted to be free. This is why he always looked forward to the yearly field trips they would take them on. He used these opportunities to escape. Although alot of the time, they caught up to him, one day he succeeded in escaping. From that day onward, Joe walked alone. He spent his days gambling, streetfighting, and scamming others for money. Things just seemed to work out in the end. Soon after he turned 17, he arrived to Doya Town.
Signature Blows/Techniques/Speciality:[]
The Cross Counter or Variations of it. Double Cross Counter, Triple Cross Counter. Left Jab, Body Blows, Gut Punch, Counter, Uppercut, Right Hook, Overhand Right and Corkscrew Blow/Punches, Kangaroo Punch Konnyaku Tactics.
History[]
After arriving to Doya Town, Joe was followed by Tarō, Kinoko, Chūkichi and Tonkichi. They attempted to throw a barrel of garbage at Joe, however he deflected it and kicked it away. Joe would notice them hiding around him, and threaten them, mocking them in the process. This is when Joe first met Danpei Tange. Danpei asked to borrow money from Joe. However, after Danpei grabbed his collar, Joe kicked Danpei's walking stick, making him fall to the ground. He warned Danpei not to touch him with anger. Danpei attempted to fight Joe, however he made quick work of Danpei in his drunken state. Joe attempted to hit Danpei again but Danpei stopped both of his punches. Danpei then asked Joe to become a boxer with his help, of which Joe was confused. Joe declined his offer and warned Danpei to stay away from him.
This is when Joe met Sachi. She was being carried by 2 henchmens. Although not paying attention to them at first, one of them told joe to move out of the way. Joe got angered by this and insulted the 2 henchmens. After they slapped Sachi, Joe started fighting them, defeating the 4 of them with ease. This is when he befriended Sachi, and the other neighborhood kids. He mocked Sachi before running away. At night, Joe searched through the inns for a place to stay, however he was declined by every single one he went to. As he went to rest on the hill, he was approached once again by Danpei. He tried to convince Joe to become a boxer. However, Joe ignored him and simply went to sleep. As he woke up, he realized Danpei had given him is coat as a makeshift blanket, and bought him food with the little money he had.
Boxing Abilities[]
Joe is rude and quick to fight, but he can also be very frivolous at times. Because of his rough upbringing he is a delinquent who likes solitude, but he later grows to appreciate his new friends and rivals. He is not very good at understanding women, and essentially only treats them nice out of obligation. As a result of Rikiishi's death he temporarily suffered and failed to hit people in the temple, but he later overcomes this.
Joe
He is a bantamweight and his specialties include the cross counter and the No Guard stance. He has extraordinary punching strength, fortitude, and fighting spirit, often standing up after taking killer blows and has been known to counter cross-counters (a double-cross), possessing a raw, natural talent for the sport. He has even countered double crosses with a triple-cross, implying he has high-level technical abilities. Following his fight with Rikiishi, he begins to better develop his guarding.
Feats[]
Strength:
Particularly known for his amazing power.
Sends Gondou -- a yakuza brawler, to the hospital for 3 months with only 3 body blows
During his comeback win-streak, his body blows caused many of his opponents hemorrhages and organ damage.
Rips open a sandbag with one (barefisted) punch.
Manages to bruise Pinang Sarawak's arm just by punching wildly in one round.
Punching power that has forced several fighters into permanent retirement.
Made a little hole in the glass door by throwing a coil into it. (87.2-366.24 Joules) (God tier feat tbh)
Before learning boxing, casually broke a wooden fence while throwing a human with a single punch (120.75 Kilonewtons)
Sent a large wooden window frame flying so hard it ended up in pieces (131.822 Kilojoules)
In the same fight against lots of Yakuza not only put them down in a single hit but even broke ribs.
Broke Wolf Kanagushi's jaw with a Triple Cross Counter.
Before being seriously trained boxing broke a sandbag in a single punch after Danpei’s brief explanation (49,779.9-151,489 Joules).
Stronger than Harimau who at the age of 12-13 was already able to throw hands with every Jungle’s animal. This includes such animals as Tiger (who can bite with over 1,000 psi), Saltwater Crocodile (which have a measured bite-pressure of 3,700 psi or 25.5 MPa and weight from 408-770kg up to 2 Tons), Rhinoceros (which can push large cars and weight over 2.3 tons), Gaur (which can easily flip small vehicle), Elephant (that can bring down trees, destroy small homes, and even push down walls), etc.
Broke a concrete wall in a fight against Gondo (4.273-5.027 Megajoules) or 0.0009-0.0011 tons of TNT
Stronger than Nishi who was able to shake the entire Tange Gym while training (178,055 Joules-5.63 Megajoules).
Was able to punch faster than Harimau doing a flip (From 309 Megajoules or 0.07 tons of TNT to 443.39 Megajoules - 15.96 Gigajoules or 0.1-3.81 tons of TNT)
Speed:
Is able to continuously dodge numerous punches either from normal people or professional boxers.
Was able to run faster than a bicycle (7.8 m/s)
Faster than Aoyama who effortlessly blitzed a guy (210.84-342.62m/s) for the record Aoyama was also easily moving faster than the eye could see to this guy
Even before getting boxing training, casually dodged a falling bucket (437.96m/s)
Joe's punches created smoke while hitting the target.
Was able to counter Wolf's counter to Joe's cross counter punch, which normally people couldn't notice with their eyes (142.3-462.5m/s)
Was able to run around Aoyama while creating afterimages (135-463.91 m/s)
Intercepts Harimau faster than his Double Corkscrew Back-flip Uppercut could launch (Mach 3.84)
As fast as Toru Rikiishi who was able to blitz charging horde of pigs (Mach 0.7-Mach 11.82)
Punched faster than Harimau's flip (From Mach 10 to Mach 11.92 - Mach 71.55)
(Debatable) Could see Carlos' light punches which Joe described as light
Endurance:
He has the heart to always get up.
Not only manages to fight Jose Mendoza, the strongest puncher in the series, at full strength despite taking constant punishment. He gets even better at the same time. And he does all of this with one eye.
Often destabilizes opponents by taking a lot of punishment but bouncing right back unphased.
Jumps out of a window two stories up and lands perfectly fine.
Continued to fight hordes of yakuzas despite being injured in the beginning of the series.
Was tortured by numerous prisoners in a cage for a long period of time only to get up a few moments after and beat everyone.
Back in the colony was able to take hits from Rikiishi who managed to put bulls unconscious in one punch. (122.3 Kilojoules)
Can take hits from Carlos Riviera who was able to put Japanese professional boxers unconscious in a single punch. Including Tiger Ozaki, №1 Champion in Japanese rankings.
Took hits and continued to fight after Kim’s Chom-chom, a technique which killed boxers whenever it was used on them.
All while having an extreme diet to be in a bantamweight, to the point that he intentionally wasn’t eating nor drinking anything for weeks straight and had put himself in rooms with high temperature and even had to remove blood from his body to weight as much as needed.
Took hits and continued to fight after Jose Mendoza’s numerous Corkscrew punches, which put Carlos Riviera into Punch Drunk Syndrome and killed №1 boxer in WBA Bantamweight Championship rankings Harold Gomez, both in a single Corkscrew Punch.
Survived multiple hits from Harimau’s Double Corkscrew Back-flip Uppercut (2.315 Megajoules) or 0.00055 Tons of TNT
Far more durable than people in the slums who were able to tank firework explosions (0.0283-0.088 Tons of TNT). As well was able to tank punches with multipliable amounts. 0.113-0.352 Tons of TNT through Cross Counter, 0.226-0.704 Tons of TNT through Double Cross Counter and 0.339-1 Tons of TNT through Triple Cross Counter.
Intimidation:
Joe generally scares the hell out of his opponents, scared a whole crowd, scared Inagaki to the point of desperation, was able to make Harimau tremble in fear and run away from him. Joe scared Yong-bi Kim so much that he was paralyzed with fear, Kim even thought Joe was some kind of a monster, and the thing is that Kim was like a computer, cold and calculating with a machine like personality, he never showed a ounce of emotion during a fight, but Joe completely destabilized him with fear. José Mendoza became so fearful of Joe during the fight that he went temporarily insane, screaming in complete terror and fighting like scared animal, José was convinced that he was fighting a ghost, the experience of fighting Joe was so abnormal that José got much older and and his hair got all white due to the sheer stress and fear he went through during the fight.
Ring IQ
Commented on as being a natural born boxing genius.
Intuitively uses ropes to his advantage
Notices Carlos Rivera's slyly hidden elbow blow that everyone else missed
Kind of a technique sponge -- Learned the Cross Counter, Corkscrew Punch, and Konnyaku simply by seeing them.
Personality
Very volatile both in an out of the ring.
His boastfulness attracts a lot of fans.
Is a little misogynistic
Misc:
Is actually a natural Featherweight-Lightweight Boxer by the last quarter of the series.
Never graduated Elementary School
Scared of doctors/hospitals.
Just barely manages to lose enough weight to hit the upper limit of the Bantamweight class, even going so far as to pass out in a hot sauna just to shed the extra pounds.
Fights and KOs:
Breaks the ribs of a Yakuza Gang Member
Takes on a group of Yakuza thugs by himself.
Beats up an entire gang of Yakuza by himself (Anime Original)
Beats up a department of Police Officers KOs Rikiishi Toru, a welterweight pro boxer. (Sucker punch)
Knocked out a large number of Juveniles using the cross counter.
Manages to get a Double KO on Rikiishi, using the Cross Counter
KOs Wolf Kanagushi, breaking his jaw, using the Triple Cross counter
KOs 5th ranked OPBF undefeated fighter, Usman Somkit, 1m6s into the first round.
KOs 3rd ranked OPBF fighter, Turney Alfonso, 2m54s into round 2.
KOs Korean National Champ, Kim Binwan, 1m36s into the 4th Round
KOs OPBF Champ Kim Yong-Bi in spite of his terrible weight loss leading up to the fight.
KOs highly rated Bantamweight boxer, Chiko Stainboard, with only 4 punches using 16Oz sparring gloves
KOs world contending boxer, Pinang Sarawak brutally in 2 rounds.
Scores multiple knockdowns on Jose Mendoza, who had never been knocked down before in his career
Beating undefeated World Champion, Jose Mendoza, one-sided by the end of the bout.
Talent and Adaptivity: Joe is a naturally talented fighter, who is able to grasp even highly difficult techniques with relative ease. He was able to copy Aoyoma's guard, footwork and sway techniques through simple observation. In his fight with Harimau he managed to copy Harimau's unorthodox and acrobatic jumping punches to win. In his fight with Mendoza, he unconsciously used Mendoza's own trademark Corkscrew punch against him, despite having never used it himself before.
Willpower: Joe possesses an extraordinary fighting spirit. No matter how many times he gets hit, or how many times he gets knocked down he will still keep fighting. He was able to fight fifteen rounds against World Champion Jose Mendoza, who was capable of ending most fights in just one round, so much that Mendoza actually became fearful of Joe during the fight,Perhaps the biggest ace in Yabuki’s pocket isn’t Cross Counter or Corkscrew Punch or any other technique but rather sheer willpower. No matter how many times he gets hit, or how many times he gets knocked down he will still keep fighting. Joe is able to take horrible beatings and continue to fight, he can stand up and keep fighting after getting hit by devastating attacks time and time again to the point of exhaustion through sheer determination alone. He was able to keep fighting while unconscious multiple times during the series. Joe was able to stand up after taking Yong-bi Kim's chom-chom technique, a technique that no boxer was able to stand up after receiving it. Joe was able to keep fighting after taking a beating that would render any human's physical and psychological state destroyed, he was even able to beat Kim, despite having no stamina left on his body, due to the grueling weight loss he had while preparing for this fight. While trying to lose weight for the fight, Joe refused to eat and drink for dangerously long periods, even going so far as to pass out in a hot sauna just to shed the extra pounds. His willpower is strong enough to overcome his advanced punch-drunk state, something that defied even medical knowledge. In his fight against Jose Mendoza, Joe was able to fight against Jose, while severely punch drunk and blind of an eye, Joe was even dominating the fight during the last round despite being practically dead.
Instincts:
Joe was able to keep fighting while unconscious multiple times during the series,instinctively dodging an uppercut from Rikiishi, often utilizing his mental effort on planning strategies rather than using to perform his offensive/defensive moves. Joe's instincts can even warn him when his opponent is about to do something deadly.
Joe Yabuki skill features[]
Jab:
“For the sake of Tomorrow” #1. The first lesson Joe ever took from someone is also the first punch he ever learnt - Jab. The principle is simple. To get your attack through or to slow down your opponent, you continuously punch with your left, keep the left elbow close to the body, aim slightly inside, and punch with a thrilling motion. A right following three good jabs increases that right punch’s power by a factor of three.
Right Straight:
Yabuki has learnt Jab but it was far from enough to compete with Rikiishi. So to match him and further evolve in boxing levels, Joe learnt a second lesson “For the sake of Tomorrow” - The Right Straight. Principle is to put your entire mass into your right arm and hit like you’re trying to pierce a target. After performing straight you must bring your arm back the same speed and in the same direction you punched from.
Konnyaku Tactics:
A technique that Joe’s trainer, Danpei Tange, taught to Aoyama after seemingly abandoning Joe (which was in fact secretly a way to teach Joe proper footwork that he is too stubborn to learn by himself). This is a certain style of boxing meant to be used against bigger and stronger opponents - you comfortably dodge their attacks for an extending amount of time while putting in minimal effort, tiring them out. Once they’re out of breath, you deliver a series of relatively weak punches that accumulate to deal some major damage over time. Joe overcame this technique by developing excellent footwork mid-fight, and he proceeded to use it himself in his final fight against Jose Mendoza.
“Turtle” Guard Stance:
So, during the match between Aoyama Joe couldn’t land a single hit on him. During it however Joe managed to realize one important thing, defense matters too. So with that realization Joe not only improved his footwork, but developed a defense stance for himself, a stance where he covers his body as if he was a turtle, not allowing to hit on a body nor head.
No Guard Stance:
Unlike the previously mentioned stance this one uses an entirely different strategy. Instead of keeping guard and blocking damage this stance leaves arms down, no defense whatsoever, but higher agility. Using this stance, Yabuki fooled boxes numerous times to hit him, awaiting perfect timing to anticipate his opponent when he least expects it, like in the example you may see below.
Cross Counter:
The most famous technique of Joe which was originally invented by the Mexican champion, José Medel. What Joe does is attack right as his opponent is punching him, and if he does it while also having their arms cross, he can essentially redirect his opponent’s and his own strength back at him (so assuming Joe’s opponent is as strong as he is, that punch is four times as strong as a normal one). A strong move which created an entire trope behind itself, at least when it comes to manga and anime.
Double Cross Counter:
When seeing Joe’s cross counter in action, his first official rival and fellow boxing prodigy Wolf Kanagushi with his trainer developed the double cross counter, essentially a counter to a counter. Due to more anime boxing magic, this counter stacks with the first one, dealing 8x a normal punch when pulled off correctly.
Triple Cross Counter:
Wolf’s counter to cross counter was tough, however during the same match in which we see him using said counter, Yabuki already developed own counter. In other words, Triple Cross Counter which counters the straight punch used in Double Cross Counter in basically the same way Joe counters straight punch with cross counter. If Cross is 4 times stronger than straight punch and double cross is 8 times, triple cross is essentially 12 times more powerful than average straight.
Elbow Blow:
Carlos Rivera’s signature technique which he uses for shits and giggles against opponents he doesn’t consider worthy of a real fight. Is very well hidden, to the point where Joe himself was the only person capable of noticing when Carlos uses it. Joe himself has shown to use it, but, it being an illegal attack, he’s only willing to use it when his opponent cheats too (or in a street fight).
Rope Fighting:
Joe is an expert at using the ropes of a boxing ring in combat. In his first fight against Rikiishi he bounced off of the ropes in order to add more power and momentum into his cross-counter. And against Carlos he even managed to use properties of ropes in the boxing ring to deliver punches described below.
Kangaroo Punch:
A technique Joe used in his fight against Carlos Rivera - he lays his arm on the ropes, then releases it and uses spring action to speed up his attacks and give them more kinetic energy (like a kangaroo!). This attack notably can send a man flying with a body blow, which is something that Joe can only do with punches aimed in the face otherwise.
Rope Uppercut:
imilar to the technique above, once Carlos cleverly counters the kangaroo punch by holding the ropes in place with his arm, Joe instead drops down on the lower ropes, then uses them to spring his entire body up, delivering a devastating uppercut.
Jump Punch:
Basically what Joe does here is jumps really high and with help of gravitation punches the opponent down into the earth. It’s simple but effective and helps to counter opponents with high mobility techniques such as Harimau with his acrobatic combat which involves flipping and traveling across the entire arena.
Corkscrew Punch:
The signature technique of World Champion - Jose Mendoza. A high level punch which further increases damage by adding additional spin just like a corkscrew (hence, the name). Force of that punch is strong enough to be spread into the bones of a human body. Joe himself even managed to copy this punch later on during his match with Mendoza.
Shoulder Grab:
Another technique Joe copied from Mendoza and used against him. Joe grabs an opponent to his shoulders and allows them to punch anywhere. From the viewer's perspective it may seem that Joe (and originally Jose) just demonstrably shows his superior durability. In reality however, due to this grab holding boxer’s shoulders opponents’ punches become far weaker (due to them not being able to use enough upper body strength for a decent punch) and tires him out, later allowing Joe to push the opponent back and do more offense. Jose himself used said technique since he has low durability and thanks to it, he managed to outlast his opponents and beat them more easily.
Quick Development and Growth[]
To no surprise Joe often becomes more and more stronger throughout the series and fights. For instance, when Joe learnt Cross Counter, with each time, his Cross Counter punches were more and more powerful than before. Or when at first punches from Rikiishi managed to take Joe down relatively quickly, in the second official match, Joe became far more tough to be knocked out as easily. When Aoyama at first was much quicker than Yabuki, Joe eventually became just as quick if not quicker in movement. Carlos, when fully serious was able to blitz Joe to the oblivion, in the same round, Joe eventually started to see his invisible punches and fight back. This kind of development of becoming stronger and stronger with each day, opponent and fight happens throughout the entire Ashita No Joe series up until the end.
Fights[]
Anime[]
Tooru Rishiki Ep 14-15 - Draw
Mamoru Aoyama Ep 19-20 - Win
Shouhei Inagaki Ep 30 - Win
Murase Takeo Ep 32 - Win
Wolf Kanagushi Ep 39 - Win
Tooru Rishiki Ep 51 - Loss
Tonoya Kosuke (Ashita no Joe: Ep 58 ; Ashita no Joe 2: Ep 2) - Win
Tiger Ozaki (Ashitano Joe: Ep 61 ; Ashita no Joe 2: Ep 4) - Loss
Harajima Ryu (Ashita no Joe: Ep 62 ; Ashita no Joe 2: Ep 5) - Loss
Nango Koji (Ashita no Joe: Ep 64 ; Ashita no Joe 2: Ep 6) - Loss
Carlos Rivera (Ashita no Joe: Ep 79 ; Ashita no Joe 2: Ep 12) - Draw
Usman Somkit (Ashita no Joe 2) Ep 15 - Win
Tarny Aronzo (Ashita no Joe 2) Ep 16 - Win
Kim Yongbi (Ashita no Joe 2) Ep 25 - Win
Pinan Sarawaku (Ashita no Joe 2) Ep 29 - Win
Leon Smiley (Ashita no Joe 2) Ep 34 - Win
Harimau (Ashita no Joe 2) Ep 39 - Win
José Mendoza (Ashita no Joe 2) Ep 47 - Loss
MANGA :[]
Murase Takeo (Ch.63 ) - Win
Sawai Seiji (Ch.64) - Win
Numakawa Hirohshi Ch.64) - Win
Tooyama Juuzou (Ch.64) - Win
Wolf Kanagushi (Ch.67-68) - Win
Tōru Rikiishi (Ch.70-73) - Loss
Tonoya Kousuke (Ch.79) - Win
??? (Ch.79) - Win
??? (Ch.79) - Win
??? (Ch.79) - Win
??? (Ch.79) - Win
Tiger Ozaki (Ch.83-84) - Loss
Ryuu Harajima (Ch.85-86) - Loss
Koji Nangou (Ch.88) - Loss
Carlos Rivera (Ch.101-102) - [NC]
Usman Somkit (Ch.102) - Win
Kim Binwan (Ch.102) - Win
Eddy Beserra (Ch.102) - Win
Turney Alonso (Ch.102) - Win
Kim Yong-Bi (Ch.103.2 - 104) - Win
Pinang Sarawak (Ch.105) - Win
Harimau (Ch.107) - Win
José Mendoza (Ch.108-108.20) - Loss
Quotes[]
"I'm not fighting because of my feelings of debt or obligation to others. I fight, 'cause in the end, I love boxing. It's certainly quite a world apart from the bright youth you talk about, but that burning sense of worth and completeness is something i've only tasted on a bloodied ring.
And this burning sensation isn't a momentary sputter that others my age go through. It's so intense that it burns your entire body up in an instant.
And when it's over, only white ashes remain.
Not even any tiny cinders... Just pure white ash."
"The world's strongest man is waiting for me on that ring. That's why…I've gotta go."
Trivia[]
- He likes waffles.
- When the series first came out, it inspired the Japanese audience of the the time heavily. So much so a group of Japanese communists hijacked a plane.
- Defend Championaship Pacific and wonner one Trophie Chapter 166
- He probably dies of dementia pugilistica.