Junk Dog faces off against Yuri, he’s clear outmatched and Yuri decides to give him a handicap, he won’t use his right hand. Junk Dog says that “he hopes that he doesn’t regret it.” Yuri continues to dominate him, but Junk Dog attempts to adjust and his hit from the an angle from the top, knocking Junk Dog to the ground and his mouth guard out. Junk Dog gets back up, claiming that he’s “having too much fun.”
Junk Dog challenges Yuri to fight with both his arms and Yuri agrees to show him “real Megalo Boxing.” JD charges in but Yuri see’s an opening and quickly knocks him out. Yuri leaves as the crowd chants his name, Junk Dog tells him he’s “not done yet.” Yuri tells him that if he wants to fight him again it has to be in “his” ring. Junk Dog’s battle with Yuri doubled JD’s audience and double their’s fees.
Junk Dog wants to go to fight in the Megalo box, however, he doesn’t have a citizen ID. Furthermore, only the top four fighters can fight and it’s unlikely that Junk Dog can get to the top four in three months. While in the ring JD, KO’s his opponent in the first round causing trouble for Mr. Nanbu. He’s taken to Mr. Fujimaki and begs for another chance and more time to pay him back.
Mr. Fujimaki agrees, handing Mr. Nanbu a knife to take out his other eye. Mr. Nanbu counters by telling Mr. Fujimaki that JD is going to enter and win the Megalo Box tournament. Junk Dog is given the identity of someone that Mr. Fujimaki appears to have killed, Junk Dog give himself a new name Joe. Another good episode, the name Joe not only seems to be homage to Ashita no Joe and also one of the themes about class.
JD seems to be inspired to name himself Joe after a billboard that reads, “It’s a wonderful District life. Not your average Joe.” Finally, the theme of around “dog” seem to be more obvious in the episode. JD is often compared to a “stray” dog and Yuri feels like he’s a more pampered domesticated dog, obedient to Yukiko. It will be interesting to see how JD will manage to defeat a lot of boxers in only 3 months.
