In Garouden: The Way of the Lone Wolf, Juzo forms an unexpected friendship with a boxer named Joze Carlos Nagato.
Joze is a talented boxer who, like Juzo, is a wanted man. While being chased by the police, Joze meets Ranbo.
Ranbo immediately discerns that Joze also has a beast inside him and offers to help him control it.
Recognizing that Joze is very similar to Juzo, Ranbo trains Joze not to become a better fighter, but to avoid fighting altogether.
Joze’s traumatic past
Although people assume that Joze is a foreigner, he was born and raised in Japan. At the age of ten, his mother passed away.
After her death, his father, who was a boxer, took him in. Joze accompanied his father on tours, which was a happy time in his life.
When Joze was seventeen, he went pro. He and his father received a lot of publicity as a father-son boxer duo.
Soon after, a drunk thug stabbed his father to death. Despite the loss, Joze continued to train hard and rise through the ranks.
When he reached eighth in the world ranking, he was offered a title match. During this time, Joze got into a bar fight.
A man pulled out a knife, triggering Joze’s trauma from his father’s death. Joze lost control and beat up the man, resulting in him losing everything overnight.
Joze is an exceptional boxer, but he can no longer compete in matches because of what happened that night. His past memories continue to haunt him to this day.
Taking on the role of Juzo’s advisor
Joze is still young and childish compared to Juzo. He does not have a family, but Ranbo and Miyuki treat him like family when he starts training with Ranbo.
Joze wants to participate in KODOKU to turn his life around, and he can gain direct entry by defeating Juzo.
Although Joze gets along with Juzo, who teaches him some of his moves, he still challenges him to a fight.
A reluctant Juzo fights him and defeats him by breaking his arm. Juzo is then forced to participate in KODOKU by the Sergeant.
As Juzo does not have an advisor, Joze offers to be his advisor during the tournament, and Juzo decides to trust him.
Joze proves to be a good advisor as well as a friend, supporting Juzo at every step. Juzo even shares his past with Joze, just as Joze had shared his own with Juzo.
Joze’s wish of seeing Juzo fight till the end comes true; he gets to watch all of Juzo’s fights. Juzo eventually wins the tournament.
However, upon hearing about his former master Izumi’s defeat, Juzo rejects the prize promised to him by the Sergeant.
Instead of his own freedom, he asks the Sergeant to clear Joze’s name so that Joze can box again, and Joze gets a second chance to achieve everything he always wanted.
Thanks to Juzo, Joze’s life changes for the better. In the end, he is seen watching Juzo’s match and rooting for him with Ranbo and Miyuki.
Also Read: The Sergeant: Garouden: The Way of the Lone Wolf character explained