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Yu (유, Yu; "Yu") is the main character of The Boxer. He is a former World Champion boxer in nine weight divisions, currently working at an orphanage after his match with J.
Appearance
Yu has a very dark and melancholic appearance, with unstyled jet-black hair that drapes down loosely on his head, distinctively coal-black eyes with even darker pupils and a wholly disinterested facial expression painted on his face with an equally 'dead' look in his eyes. He has a very skinny body which belies his deceptively athletic abilities.
After being taken under K's wing, the latter re-styles Yu's hair into a spiked style (in a typical shōnen protagonist style). After training with K for two years to become a pro-boxer, Yu has put lean muscle on his skinny frame.
Furthermore, after another roughly 2-3 years, Yu has gained much more muscle mass, and seemingly changed his physical body structure. Prior to the events of reaching heavyweight, Yu was seemingly an ectomorph, someone who was very slim with a thin body structure. However, with his intense training, he has grown to seem like he has a very muscular mesomorph body structure.
Personality
Yu has a startlingly emotionless and disinterested persona, taking little to no interest in anything other than his pet cat. He is shown to be alarmingly apathetic, simply taking hits because he couldn't be bothered to dodge them[1] and giving zero response when threatened by an obviously vicious person.[2] However, after his encounter with K and then seeing Injae trying to fight Ryu Baeksan, he gains an interest in boxing after asking whether hitting people was fun.
He seems to not understand how to experience living and what it means to be human.
Plot
Abilities
Yu is a deceptively athletic individual. It was revealed that he was actually pretty good at sports in his PE test, but he told Injae that he sits out anyway because he finds it boring; shortly after this conversation, Yu nonchalantly catches a ball midair with one hand that Ryu Baeksan had kicked at Injae's head,[3] showcasing his hidden athletic prowess.
Inhuman Temporal Perception: Yu's most obvious trait is his seemingly superhuman temporal perception and the kinetic vision that accompanies it. When K first tested him by throwing a one-hit kill punch from behind, not only was Yu able to easily evade the strike in the minimal amount of time but was also able to casually track K's fist with his eyes as he did so; by K's own admission, it is not simply a matter of reaction time but more accurate that Yu lives in his own "dimension of time". With his incredible temporal perception and kinetic vision, Yu is able to instantly react to strikes and evade them with minimal effort, even from those of incredible fighting prowess in their own right.
- Parry: Thanks to his temporal perception, Yu has a great habit of dodging, managing to follow the trajectory of his opponents' punches and deflect with relative ease.
- Precision: Thanks to his temporal perception, Yu manages to punch with incredible precision and dexterity, being able to change the trajectory of the blows while delivering them and ensure that the punch causes the greatest possible damage, even managing to injure another boxer striking the weakest part of his fist with the strongest part.
Enhanced Strength: Yu even though he has a slim body and is able to deliver very strong punches does severe damage in addition to being able to knock out professional boxers with a single blow. He has been shown punching holes into his heavy bags, destroying several in the process.
Immense Speed and Agility: Yu has superhuman speed and agility, professional boxers are not able to see his punches approaching only when they perceive the punch after being hit, even world-class boxers like Jean-Pierre Manuel had difficulty in avoiding their punches, only avoiding a few. His agility combined with his inhuman temporal perception makes it impossible for anyone to hit him by dodging punches even by world-class boxers.
Enhanced Stamina: Yu has a great reserve of energy that he was improving by training his stamina for two years in a row to prepare for professional fights, managing to dodge non-stop in a fight and managing to deliver a burst of consecutive punches without showing fatigue.
Intimidation: When K explains his first encounter with Yu, the legendary trainer remarks that his gut feeling was that of bloodcurdling fear. After finally becoming a professional boxer, his visibly frightening presence manifests itself in the minds of those who fight him; John Taker, an experienced and domineering boxer in his own right, was stunned by Yu's sheer aura, imagining Yu as a giant gun when he faced him.
Natural Intuitive Physical Aptitude: Yu has been shown to have the remarkable ability to grasp and replicate physical actions, such as boxing techniques, with ridiculous speed and efficiency. Having only been shown the basic one-two combo once,[1] Yu was able to perform the punching technique to startling effect multiple times on his first attempt.[4] Immediately afterwards, he went on to utterly destroy Ryu Baeksan[5] despite having no formal training in the boxing (or any martial art) and Ryu being touted as having the world-class boxing potential by K himself.
- Boxing Prodigy: After spending two years doing only physical strengthening training and watching title match videos of boxing champions,[6] Yu was still able to show prodigious skill in his debut boxing match. During his fight with John Taker, Yu was able to throw a flurry of ridiculously fast jabs so precise that when the ring doctor checked the cuts made on John's face, he was left in awe at how neat the cuts were, despite being made with boxing gloves.[7]
Wealth
He has an estimated net worth of $2 million, just like Tim Tszyu.
Relationships
- Injae: Though unknown if Yu sees him as a friend, Yu does not seem to mind Injae. Injae proclaiming he will be a boxer to Ryu is one of the influences on Yu becoming a Boxer and describes him as a "Light".
- K: He and Yu have a master-student relationship, with K always encouraging him to explore his monstrous potential to become a Boxing champion. He cuts tie and disappears after Yu's match with J; his current status is unknown.
- Carmen: Though unknown, it seems that Yu has romantic feelings towards Carmen, shown with how Yu wanted another date with her and his grief when she was hospitalized. They are now working at an orphanage together and seem to be dating or married.
Match History
| Match History | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Result | Record | Opponent | Time | Type | Notes | ||
| 23 | WIN | 23-0-0 | J | (12) | DC | Middleweight Champion Title Defence Match | ||
| 22 | WIN | 22-0-0 | Aaron Tide | (7)
(1 min 13 sec) |
KO | Heavyweights Champion Title Match | ||
| 21 | WIN | 21-0-0 | Grigoryev Viktor | (1) (1,1seg) | KO | Cruiserweight Champion Title Match | ||
| 20 | WIN | 20-0-0 | Gojoria Mukuku | (1) (0,9seg) | KO | Light heavyweight Champion Title Match | ||
| 19 | WIN | 19-0-0 | Anion Chichi | (1) (0,9seg) | KO | Light heavyweight Match | ||
| 18 | WIN | 18-0-0 | Luke Stone | (1) (1,9seg) | KO | Super Middleweight Champion Title Match | ||
| 17 | WIN | 17-0-0 | Breeze | (1) (1,5seg) | KO | Super Middleweight Match | ||
| 16 | WIN | 16-0-0 | Santorino Fabrizo | (12) | KO | Middleweight Champion Title Match | ||
| 15 | WIN | 15-0-0 | Lloyd | ?? | KO | Junior Middleweight Champion Title Match | ||
| ?? | WIN | ??-0-0 | Unknown Boxer | ?? | KO | Welterweight Champion Title Match | ||
| 9 | WIN | 9-0-0 | Takeda Yuto | (6) | KO | Junior Welterweight Champion Title Match | ||
| 8 | WIN | 8-0-0 | Elliott Von Heinberg | (2)
(11 sec) |
KO | Junior Welterweight Match | ||
| 7 | WIN | 7-0-0 | Jean Pierre Manuel | (2)
(9 sec) |
KO | Lightweight Champion Title Match | ||
| 6 | WIN | 6-0-0 | Kasim Al Hajad | (1) | KO | |||
| 5 | WIN | 5-0-0 | Unknown Boxer | (1) | KO | |||
| 1 | WIN | 1-0-0 | John Taker | (1) | KO | Debut Match | ||
Notes & Trivia
- Yu's full name is unknown with him remembering it as "유◯◯" when asked by K.[8]
- He trains under K at the Lions Boxing Club gym.
- Yu may have a mental condition called tachypsychia. Tachypsychia is a neurological condition that distorts the perception of time, usually induced by physical exertion, drug use, or a traumatic event.
- Yu passed away at the age of 84.
References
| Main Characters | Injae | K | Yu | |
| Pro-Boxers | Aaron Tide | Elliot von Heinberg | Gang Amseok | Injae | Jean-Pierre Manuel | John Taker | Kasim Al Hajad | Santorino Fabrizo | Takeda Yuto | Yu | |
| Supporting Characters | Ryu Baeksan | |
| Other Characters | Josh | Kim Tae-Pung | Peter Kent | Steel | |