The Lightweight Division this week feels as if it's vibrating. Every day brings another headline, another shift, another announcement pushing the entire weight class toward something bigger, louder, and more unstable.
And today's papers are the loudest yet. On Nakahara's desk, the bold top headline declares:
YANAGIMOTO'S FIRST TITLE DEFENSE — SEPT 24, UTSUNOMIYA CITY GYMNASIUM
A full spread shows Shinichi Yanagimoto ofTachibana Boxing Gym posing stiffly with the belt across his shoulder, and beside him, the challenger, Ranked No.1 Hisashi Murai of Kanuma Sei'un Boxing Gym, arms crossed, jaw set.
The article calls it "A Test of Legitimacy", noting that the fight will take place in the Champion's hometown, in Utsunomiya's old concrete arena.
Nakahara scans the lines again, absorbing what the division will look like after September. Whoever wins that fight becomes the man Ryoma will eventually have to chase.
