Top Boxing Manga Recommendations

Oemo Jisangjuui

Also known as Lookism.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Comedy , Drama , Supernatural

Daniel is an unattractive loner who wakes up in a different body. Now tall, handsome, and cooler than ever in his new form, Daniel aims to achieve everything he couldn't before. How far will he go to keep his body... and his secrets?



Tags: Body Swapping , Gangs , Full Color , Delinquents , Martial Arts , Ensemble Cast , Coming of Age , Male Protagonist , School , Bullying , Surreal Comedy , Fitness , Heterosexual , Boxing , Love Triangle , Meta , Found Family , Fashion , Cult , Parody , Homeless , Gambling , Detective , Drugs , Memory Manipulation , Primarily Teen Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Long Strip , Yandere

The Boxer

Also known as The Boxer.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Sports

You’ve got the raw talent. Or you’re the underdog. But do you have the heart? Do you have what it takes? Let’s see what you’re made of. The real fight starts now!



Note: The chapter count includes 10 extra chapters, an 18-chapter side story and 2 epilogues.

Tags: Boxing , Philosophy , Male Protagonist , Martial Arts , Athletics , Full Color , Primarily Male Cast , Tragedy , Bullying , Time Skip , Religion , Military , School , Meta , Ensemble Cast , Heterosexual , Long Strip

Hajime no Ippo

Also known as Hajime no Ippo: Fighting Spirit!.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Comedy , Drama , Sports

Makunouchi Ippo has been bullied his entire life. Constantly running errands and being beaten up by his classmates, Ippo has always dreamed of changing himself, but never has the passion to act upon it. One day, in the midst of yet another bullying, Ippo is saved by Takamura Mamoru, who happens to be a boxer. Ippo faints from his injuries and is brought to Takamura boxing gym to recover. As he regains consciousness, he is awed and amazed at his new surroundings in the gym, though lacks confidence to attempt anything. Takamura places a photo of Ippo’s classmate on a punching bag and forces him to punch it. It is only then that Ippo feels something stir inside him and eventually asks Takamura to train him in boxing. Thinking that Ippo does not have what it takes, Takamura gives him a task deemed impossible and gives him a one week time limit. With a sudden desire to get stronger, for himself and his hard working mother, Ippo trains relentlessly to accomplish the task within the time limit. Thus Ippo’s journey to the top of the boxing world begins.



Tags: Boxing , Shounen , Male Protagonist , Primarily Male Cast , Primarily Adult Cast , Ensemble Cast , Coming of Age , Heterosexual , Bullying , Delinquents

Holyland

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Psychological

Yuu is a high school kid who doesn't really fit anywhere. To find a place he can belong, be accepted, he will do anything. However one thing leads to another and he is forced to fight to keep his place, his holyland.

Tags: Martial Arts , Gangs , Delinquents , Philosophy , Boxing , Bullying , Male Protagonist , Seinen , Educational , Drugs , Suicide , Tragedy , Meta

Ashita no Joe

Also known as Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow.

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Slice of Life , Sports

Joe Yabuki is a troubled young man who runs away from an orphanage. Wandering through the Tokyo slums, he meets former boxing trainer Danpei. Joe is later arrested and goes to a temporary jail where he fights Nishi, his future best friend, ​and leader of a group of hooligans. He and Nishi then go to a juvenile prison miles away from Tokyo. There Joe meets Rikiishi, a former boxing prodigy, and a rivalry develops between them. They face each other in a match in which Rikiishi dominates Joe until the latter hits him with a cross-counter, resulting in both being knocked out. This inspires the other prison inmates to take up boxing. Joe and Rikiishi vow to fight again.



Tags: Boxing , Tragedy , Coming of Age , Male Protagonist , Rehabilitation , Orphan , Urban , Athletics , Class Struggle , Shounen , Primarily Male Cast , Delinquents , Prison , Foreign , Yakuza , War

Kengan Ashura

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Sports

Since the Edo periods of Japan, gladiator arenas exist in certain areas. In these arenas, wealthy business owners and merchants hire gladiators to fight in unarmed combat where winner takes all. Tokita Ohma, nicknamed "Ashura", joins these arenas and devastates his opponents. His spectacular ability to crush his enemies catches the attention of the big business owners, including the Nogi Group chairman, Nogi Hideki.

Includes 24 extras/side stories.

Tags: Martial Arts , Ensemble Cast , Wrestling , Male Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Boxing , Tragedy , Athletics , Shounen , Revenge , Gore , Yandere , Gambling , 4-koma , Historical

Yuu☆Yuu☆Hakusho

Also known as Yu Yu Hakusho.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Drama , Romance , Supernatural

Yusuke Urameshi was a tough teen delinquent until one selfless act changed his life...by ending it. When he died saving a little kid from a speeding car, the afterlife didn't know what to do with him, so it gave him a second chance at life. Now, Yusuke is a ghost with a mission, performing good deeds at the behest of Botan, the ferrywoman of the River Styx, and Koenma, the pacifier-sucking judge of the dead.



Note: Volume 7 contains the special story "Yuu Yuu Hakusho Tales: Two Shot" (外伝. TWO SHOTS)

Tags: Shounen , Super Power , Demons , Primarily Male Cast , Cultivation , Male Protagonist , Coming of Age , Delinquents , Martial Arts , Urban Fantasy , Dissociative Identities , Philosophy , Ghost , Youkai , Heterosexual , Boxing , Conspiracy

Sonyeo the Wild's

Also known as Girls of the Wild's.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Drama , Romance

Wild's High has a 42 year history as an all-girls private high school, meant solely for the elite. The girls of this school are trained daily in some of the deadliest forms of fighting around, from boxing, to sword-fighting, to taekwondo! This specialty school is the place where the most popular sporting event in the country is held, The Wild's League - the only place in the world where teenage girls partake in brutal fights... often to the death.

This year, Wild's has changed to a mixed-gender school. Despite opening their doors to males, the only one to apply is Song Jae-Gu. He has been granted a full 3-year scholarship regardless of grades, which he snaps up without second thought. For the past two years, every moment of his life has been spent taking care of his younger twin siblings.

But after meeting Queen, the bloody champion of Wild's League, drenching her in coffee and calling her a 'monster'... things are about to get messy - especially when he gets tied up with all the other unusual girls at this school!

Follow Jae-Gu's struggle, from being the only male in school full of beautiful and deadly women to learning to fight and stand up for himself!

Tags: Love Triangle , Martial Arts , Primarily Female Cast , Bullying , Full Color , Heterosexual , Male Protagonist , Female Harem , Boxing , Primarily Teen Cast , School , Gangs , Fitness , Age Gap , Twins

Shijou Saikyou no Deshi Kenichi

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Drama , Ecchi

The story is focused on Kenichi Shirahama, an average 15-year-old weakling, whose life turns to Hell with the appearance of the naive, beautiful, and strong transfer student, Miu Fūrinji. After Kenichi witnesses Miu's skills in martial arts, he joins the Ryōzanpaku dojo, the gathering place of those who are truly strong, which also happens to be Miu's home. After beating a karate student in a match, he is soon targeted by all the delinquents in the school. Since then, Kenichi's routine is divided between his hellish training with the masters of Ryōzanpaku, and his fights against the members of Ragnarok, a gang who views him as either a possible ally or an impending threat to their plans.



Tags: Martial Arts , Shounen , Delinquents , Male Protagonist , Nudity , Boxing , Bullying

RAINBOW: Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin

Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological

Six minors (16-17 years) answering to the nicknames of Joe, Mario, Suppon, Baremoto, Heitai, and Kyabetsu are put into a reformatory for offenses such as aggravated assault, swindling, flight, etc. Their stay in hell begins immediately. Accommodated by a doctor pedophile, they are placed under the watch of a despotic and brutal crew. Cellmates with a certain Sakuragi (called Anchan), the tension rises between the band of buddies and their new "friend." A brawl breaks out, and our six prisoners are done rossés by the mysterious young man, thanks to his boxing talent.

The story will not only follow the lives of these seven characters surviving in their hellish environment, but also their disillusions due to the rejection by the outside world and by their close relations. This is about the extraodinary and invincible friendships between these young men.

Note: Won the 2005 Shogakukan Manga Award for seinen/general category.

Tags: Historical , Tragedy , Seinen , Boxing , Coming of Age , Philosophy , Rehabilitation , Heterosexual , Disability , Revenge , Autobiographical , Prison , Gore , Ensemble Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Drugs , Suicide , Fugitive , Crime , Male Protagonist , Time Skip

Shamo

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Psychological , Sports

At the age of sixteen Ryo Narushima was a genius and looked to have no trouble of getting into Tokyo University and joining the elite of society. However, that summer something cracked inside Ryo's head. With a small knife he brutally murdered both of his parents only leaving his sister alive and cowering in a corner. It is at this grotesque incident that our story begins.

Note: At volume 20, the series changed publishers, which created a restart of the chapter numbers. Starting from chapter 61 in volume 26, the first chapter from when the series returned from a long hiatus, the series has been completely written & drawn by Tanaka Akio. While Hashimoto Izou did write the series in the beginning, he had been doing less and less work starting from volume 4. Tanaka and Hashimoto reached a settlement and Shamo continued.

Tags: Martial Arts , Anti-Hero , Rehabilitation , Seinen , Tragedy , Male Protagonist , Survival , Gore , Boxing , Coming of Age , Prison , Gangs , Yakuza , Swordplay , Delinquents , Triads , Bullying , Drugs

Saotome-Senshu, Hitakakusu

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Ecchi , Romance , Sports

High-Schooler Tsukishima Satoru gets confessed to by local female High-School boxing-talent Saotome Yae. He rejects her initially because he does not want to impede her boxing career (and prevent getting beaten up by her fans). Her female coach, Shioya hears about this and decides to install him as Saotome's trainer so that they can secretly date each other. This situation is also aided by his extensive boxing knowledge.

Tags: Tomboy , Boxing , Coming of Age , Heterosexual , Seinen , School Club , Female Protagonist , School , Love Triangle , Nudity , Time Skip

Rikudou

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Sports

Riku experienced a lot of pain and tragedy in his early life. After his father's death, a former-boxer Yakuza man taught him how to do a basic punch, and that punch saved his life when he had to defend himself from his mom's drug dealer. He ended up taking the drug dealer's life, marking him as a killer. Criminals continued to come after him, leading to more tragedy for the people who attempted to care for him. All of this drove him to ask that same former boxer to teach him to become stronger, which led him to a rundown gym, his door to the world of pro boxing!

Tags: Boxing , Seinen , Male Protagonist , Primarily Male Cast , Ensemble Cast , Tragedy , Gore , Prostitution , Yakuza , Time Skip

Kengan Omega

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Sports

Sequel to Kengan Asura. Takes place 2 years after the tournament.

Tags: Martial Arts , Athletics , Ensemble Cast , Conspiracy , Male Protagonist , Boxing , Primarily Adult Cast , Wrestling , Assassins , Judo , Ninja , Clone

Hanma Baki

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Drama , Sports

Baki trains for the the final showdown between him and his father.

Tags: Martial Arts , Shounen , Gore , Boxing , Cultivation , Demons , Primarily Male Cast , Dinosaurs , Crime , Military , Cannibalism ,

New Grappler Baki: In Search of Our Strongest Hero

Also known as Baki: The Search of our Strongest Hero.

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Sports

BAKI: THE SEARCH OF OUR STRONGEST HERO is the official name of the 4th saga in which Baki will find strongest enemies in his path, and the way to challenge his dad once again, and this time… To lose is to die.

Hanma Baki (named “Wild Fang” by his father) is a boy born under an unlucky star. Since the day of his birth, Baki has been rigorously training at all kinds of martial arts, strengthening himself at his father’s command. For he must obey his father’s rule that at his “coming of age” Baki surpass his own father, Hanma Yuujiro, “the most powerful creature walking on earth.” Baki’s life has been nothing but trouble. This has given Baki a wild nature and convinced him that “to be the most powerful” is his way of life. Tenacious and fearless under all adverse conditions, Baki continues his training looking for new masters and new challenges to strengthen his personality and become “the strongest man on earth.” That road is a lonely one and Baki experienced the cruelty of his sick dad in a move that would change his life forever.

Tags: Martial Arts , Shounen , Gore , Fugitive , Boxing , Surreal Comedy , Male Protagonist , Primarily Male Cast , Ensemble Cast , Love Triangle , Assassins

Guard Pass

Also known as Guard Pass.

Status: Releasing
Genres: Action , Comedy , Sports

While Se-Jun Im settles things with his fists, his best friend, Ha-Jin Seo, eats and breathes grappling. Together, they fend off bullies on their school campus, but everything changes after a fight that sets Se-Jun on a mission to hold those responsible accountable for their crimes. What began as a schoolroom brawl quickly turns into a fight for justice and truth as Se-Jun hits the streets looking for any leads as to what happened on that fateful day.



Tags: Full Color , Martial Arts , Revenge , Male Protagonist , School , Bullying , Delinquents , Boxing , Crime , Gangs , Long Strip

Jing Jiu

Also known as Pirouette into My Heart.

Status: Finished
Genres: Romance , Sports

Known as “the little swan” of his ballet studio, Shen has big dreams of leaving the humble farming town he grew up in and shooting to stardom. Though soft-spoken and timid, he meets his match in the stoic, wealthy, and equally as intense Jinyi, who pursues boxing next door. An unlikely pair, they cheer each other on and raise each other up through thick and thin. Determined to achieve their separate ambitions in the midst of their personal troubles, will their deep connection be strong enough to endure the journey and take flight?

Note: Season One has 74 chapters, plus prologue and two extras. Season Two has 69 chapters, plus prologue, extra, and three epilogue chapters, followed by a 10-chapter side story.

Tags: Boys' Love , Dancing , Full Color , Boxing , Coming of Age , Male Protagonist , Urban , Rural , Foreign , Time Skip , Iyashikei

Touch

Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Romance , Slice of Life , Sports

The story centers around three characters - Uesugi Kazuya, his twin older brother Tatsuya, and Asakura Minami. Kazuya is the darling of his town as he's talented, hardworking, and the ace pitcher for his middle school baseball team. Tatsuya is a hopeless slacker who's been living the life of giving up the spotlight to Kazuya, despite the fact that he may be more gifted than him. Minami is the beautiful childhood girlfriend and for all intents, sister from next door who treats both of them as equals. Society largely assumes Kazuya and Minami will become the perfect couple, including Tatsuya. Yet as time progresses, Tatsuya grows to realize that he's willing to sacrifice anything for the sake of his brother, except at the expense of giving up Minami to Kazuya. And thus the story is told of Tatsuya trying to prove himself over his established younger brother, how it affects the relationship between the three, and both brothers' attempts to make Minami's lifelong dreams come true.

Tags: Baseball , Coming of Age , School , Shounen , Twins , Primarily Teen Cast , Heterosexual , Boxing , Athletics , Tragedy , Love Triangle

Rokudenashi BLUES

Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Drama , Sports

Maeda is a new student in the Teiken High School. He stutters when he's nervous and he's rather clumsy. He gets noted immediately because he hits a teacher during the entrance ceremony. Some clubs search to enlist him as they see in him a force they can use to get even with other clubs. But Maeda is a loner and has only one dream: becoming boxing champion. His first objective is to beat the leader of the boxing club. "Rokudenashi" translates as "good for nothing".

Tags: Delinquents , School , Boxing , Shounen , Episodic , Primarily Male Cast