The Looooong Period... 2007 Edition

Ah, October and early to mid November. Quite possibly the busiest time of the year, with a myriad of papers, work, and exams to do almost back-to-back. Despite all of this, there were still a number of news bits coming down the anime and boxing pipelines. With things settling down a bit, I'll consolidate some of this in a nifty little post...like this one.

::Pacquiao defeated Barrera in a more competitive match than what was last contested. So much for the KO prediction.

::Juan Manuel Marquez apparently ran through Rocky Juarez in the Barrera Beaters Stakes semifinals. Pacman's co-promoter (also Marquez's) Oscar "Golden Girl" de la Hoya appears to agree that a rematch of the two controversial fight is "the only match that could be made next for the two." It also seems to appear that I have heard that one before... (greater chance now, since they are both under the same umbrella)

::Miguel Cotto squares off against GBP cohort "Sugar" Shane Mosley tomorrow night at NYC's Madison Square Garden. I'm definetly not a Cotto bandwagoner and I do not think that he is Teflon, but I am not blind to his ability to stick it out and plow his way to victory with his tenacity. Mosley's good and has improved in the right spots in lieu of his defeats, but he will need to pull off a technical masterpiece if he wants to beat Cotto, whom I doubt he'll be able to KO, much less TKO. Cotto, though, has the skills and power to feasibly KO him. Prediction: There's a first time for everything, and either Puerto Rico's current favorite son will be defeated or Mosley will taste canvas for ten counts. I'd gather the latter, late. Cotto, KO8 (Mosley, UD if fight goes his way, the right way)

::Trinidad vs. Jones in January--two future Hall-of-Famers, two former holders of multiple championships across multiple weight classes; two men of great skill and physical prowess; two fighters that I never really liked all that much and thought were a bit overrated... *avoids torrent of chairs from legions of fans*

::I haven't watched much of The Contender in a while, so when I read of its championship match being a heavy Fight-of-the-Year candidate, I was pretty skeptical and taken aback (skeptical because I read the story on Fightnews.com, which posts promotional headlines from networks and promoters). Doing some deeper research and finding like praise for the bout piqued my interests and caused me to watch one of its repeat showings. In the end, the FotY talk was very deserving, as veteren Sakio Bika fought young upstart Jaidon Codrington in a dramatic bout with a ton of heart shown from both combatants, and a touch of bittersweetness. If anyone has the chance, it's a must see. (Aside: Huh? Sam Soliman and Bika were on the show and I never knew of it?)

::With IGN Anime going live and playing host to a number of free anime offerings, and with FUNimation having so many show sites playing free episodes, I am beginning to rethink the categorization of their listings, perhaps consolidating them into single entries to conserve space. Just a consideration at this point...

::Starz Edge appears to be taking over sister channel Encore Action's (or since they're mean, tough channels, shouldn't they be "brothers"? But hey, girls can kick butt, too!) anime block, Animidnight, now on Tuesdays instead of Fridays. Black Lagoon (finally on a major network), Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie - The Conqueror of Shamballa, and Hellsing Ultimate are a few of the shows and movies that will be appearing on it.

::I am seriously considering adding a boxing promoters section to the Link bar to the right, as well as a pound-for-pound list. Very certain of the former, more on the fence for the latter...

::FUNimation's CEO is eyeballing former(?) Geneon titles Hellsing, Black Lagoon, and Sailor Moon...intriguing...

::Watching grass on a freshly-painted field grow and wondering if it will outpace the paint drying...not intriguing (or perhaps...)