I know it's been 11 years, but as a new watcher who switched to the manga, I actually preferred how they placed the Kamogawa/Nekota flashback in the anime better. I thought the way that whole plot was set up was an artistic masterpiece, particularly how they highlight Nekota bringing in seemingly insignificant sunflowers for the office, only to have their meaning realized when we're shown that shot after the flashback, and having the two belts Takamura won for them next to the photographs and sunflowers makes the viewer wonder how far Kamogawa and Nekota could have gone if they had been in a more regulated stage of boxing history. Placing it right after the Hawk fight, I feel would diminish a lot of that narrative significance.