A massive cultural phenomenon, made even bigger by the hit anime based on it. To this day, "Ashita no Joe" remains one of the most important manga of all time, and now it will finally see the light of day in English for the first time! RIVALRY GIVES WAY TO OBSESSION Joe's cunning and intuition have forced open the door to the pro career he feared might be locked away forever, his showdown with Rikiishi now tantalizing within reach...but he'll have to fight his way through rookie-of-the-year Wolf Kanagushi first! Reckoning with the fact that instinct alone--even the instincts of a natural-born boxer--may not be enough to carry the day, Joe gets serious about his training. But Rikiishi is serious too--deadly serious. How far will these two go to settle the score...? Hitmaker Asao Takamori was arguably the biggest manga author of his day, while Tetsuya Chiba, winner of innumerable awards, was recently given the prestigious Order of Culture by the Japanese government, the first manga artist ever to receive that honor.