Hajime no Ippo (TV)

In the original manga, Ippo was inspired by the story of Mike Tyson of also being a victim of bullying to start boxing. And when Takamrua first gives Ippo videos in the anime to watch, in the manga they were Mike Tyson videos

Prior to the release of the anime, the Hajime no Ippo PlayStation 2 game did come to the U.S. (and is no longer in production for the U.S.). It is under the name, Victorious Boxers: Ippo's Road to Glory. You can probably still find it used or can still find it in your local Sam's Club. It also features fights that were shown after the end such as Ippo's fights against Yamada Naomichi, Yi Yonsu, and Sawamura Ryuuhei.

Despite how many episodes the anime went, it only goes up to volume 33 (Ippo vs. Sendo II) of the manga and it is still in continutation. Volume 73 will be realeased on July 15, 2005.

In the anime when Sendo is begged by the kids to buy a PS2, in the manga it's a Super Famicon

The Hachinohe gym where Jason Ozuma trains at is a real life gym nearby Misawa Air Force Base in the Aomori area. It also produced a real African American champion named Rick Yoshimura.

In real life, there are two version to Mashiba's Hitman style. One style is called the Detroit version used by Thomas "Hitman" Hearns. It represents more of an offensive style. The other version is the Philadelphia style used by "Smokin'" Joe Frazier. It represents more of a defensive/coutner style demonstrated by Miyata.

Ippo's Peek a Boo guard and his gazelle punch were developed by legendary trainer Cus D'amato. D'amato taught the peek a boo guard to Mike Tyson and the gazelle punch to Flloyd Patterson both of which became world heavyweight champions.

Rocky Marciano, the boxer that Sendo models himself after, retired as the only heavyweight champion undefeated with 49 wins with 43 KOs

Yagi's first name is Haruhiko, Shinoda's first name is Tomoyuki, Ippo's mother's name is Hiroko, and Ippo's father's name is Kazuo. However Miyata's father's name (as of chapter 702) still has yet to be revealed.

Sendo Takeshi is based off Akai Hidekazu, a famous Jr. welterweight boxer from Osaka who also earned the nickname the Naniwa Rocky.

The North American DVDs from Geneon Entertainment (USA) used the broadcast version of episode 61 rather than the Japanese home video version.

In episode 72, at around 16:10, Mouri Kogoro from "Meitantei Conan" series makes a brief appearance as part of the cheering crowd.