73894
Context: in the manga
[Rikudo](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%AA%E3%82%AF%E3%83%89%E3%82%A6),
Riku is going to fight against the number 2 of the OPBF (Oriental and Pacific
Boxing Federation), a Filipino boxer named Alan Sedenho. Alan has been offered
by the federation a match for the vacant OPBF title, but has to wait for a
strong opponent to appear.

> **Riku's trainer:**
> アランは空位のOPBF王座を賭けたタイトル戦のオファーを連盟から受けていて客を呼べる相手が現れる次第で〝おあずけ〟をくらってる無敗の帝王と言った選手だ。
>
> **Riku's friend:** そ… それっておい… OPBFタイトルの **調整役** としてふっかけられた話なのかよ！？
>
> **Riku's trainer** : コイツが〝誰のためへの〟 **調整** になるのかは水面下では既に決まってるがな

My translation attempt:

> **Riku's trainer:** Alan is an undefeated boxer that was offered from the
> federation a match for the vacant OPBF title, but has to wait until an
> opponent that can attract a big audience will appear.
>
> **Riku's friend:** Hey, so this means that... he is being forced to be a
> coordinator for the OPBF title?
>
> **Riku's trainer** : I think it has already been decided behind closed doors
> for whom he will act as a coordinator.

What does 調整役 mean in this context? Considering that Riku is supposedly weaker
than Alan, considering the fact that if Alan beats Riku his next match will
probably be the title match and considering the trainer's answer, does it mean
that Riku is being used as a かませ犬 so that Alan can then find a stronger
opponent for the title match after beating him? Also, an extra question: what
is the がな at the end of the trainer's answer? Uncertainty or hope?

[Here](https://i.imgur.com/YDRVH8S.jpg) you can see the original page. Thank
you for your help!

**EDIT:** here you can find the next pages for more context-->
[17](https://i.stack.imgur.com/5z1pm.jpg),
[18-19](https://i.imgur.com/G0NculK.jpg),
[20](https://i.stack.imgur.com/sGI2X.jpg). The man with the glasses is Akito
Hyodo, former world champion and now a powerful boxing promoter. He has a son,
Kaede Hyodo, who is a rising star in the boxing world (at the moment he is the
Japanese national champion) and has recently abandoned his father's gym
because of their bad relationship. Akito hates his son and is trying to stop
his career progression.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-15T00:13:01.310
73891
2020-01-15T15:09:00.900
2020-01-15T03:46:11.900
17797
17797
question
meaning nouns sports
Meaning of 調整役 in the following sentence
調整役 is usually translated as "a coordinator/liaison", and in the context of
boxing I think it typically means someone who arranges a match. However,
judging from the posted pages and [this article](https://readagain-
comic.com/%E3%83%AA%E3%82%AFvs%E3%82%A2%E3%83%A9%E3%83%B3%E3%80%80%E5%AE%8C%E5%85%A8%E3%82%A2%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A7%E3%83%BC%E3%81%AE%E5%AD%A4%E7%8B%AC%E3%81%AA%E9%97%98%E3%81%84%E3%80%8E%E3%83%AA%E3%82%AF%E3%83%89),
調整役 seems to mean something different here.

Here, 調整役 probably means "someone who Alan can use to tune-up his condition".
Alan hasn't had a match for a while, so he needed some weaker opponent he
could utilize to "get the rust off", and that was why Riku was chosen. This is
a fairly context-dependent interpretation, and 調整役 doesn't usually mean this.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-15T15:09:00.900
73894
2020-01-15T15:09:00.900
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73891
answer