Minoru Fujii

Fujii is a veteran reporter who often knows about any given boxer's current situation. He has been following Makunouchi Ippo's career since his second spar with Miyata Ichirou and could possibly be viewed as Ippo's first fan. He often visits the Kamogawa Boxing Gym in order to give Ippo info on his upcoming opponents and is, among many others, greatly looking forward to Makunouchi vs. Miyata III. Fuji covered the Rookie King Tournament that Ippo participated. He gave more attention to Makunouchi Ippo than the other reporters because he already knew Ippo's potential. Fujii is very laid back and unkept, often looking as though he just woke up. His hair is usually uncombed and he often has stubble in addition to his regular moustache. In addition to Ippo, he also seems to be friends with Takamura Mamoru and Date Eiji. He used to be accompanied on assignments by a younger reporter, but sometime before Ippo's second match against Sendou Takeshi he gained a new partner in Iimura Mari. A seldom-noticed running gag of the series is Fujii's constant attempts to quit smoking. He changes between cigarettes and nicotine replacement tubes regularly.