Pacquiao vs Marquez III

November 13, 2011 (Phil. time) was the day that these two fighters fought for the third time. It was a battle for supremacy, who is better, and who is stronger.

This third fight is rather controversial, honestly I did not watch it live and just found out that Manny won via majority decision through a text from some of my friends. After the fight, I asked some people about the result of the battle and they have different opinions about it. Some say that Marquez should be the winner, others say that Pacquiao deserved it, some even said that it was "luto" or scripted that Manny will win, some said that it was cheated and many other opinions. I was intrigued by this so I watched the replay and have my own opinion.

Honestly on this fight we did not see the usual fighting style of Manny Pacquiao, his usual speed and agreesiveness was not seen much on this. For the first few rounds, it is clear that both fighters are measuring their strength, speed and distance. Both fighters showcased their talent in the world of boxing as they exchanged punches. For the first few rounds, Marquez have a slight advantage as he was throwing punches stronger than Manny. But for the ending rounds, Manny dominated it. Marquez lost to Pacquiao via majority decision, during the 12 round fight, Marquez had largely controlled the pace of the fight, adopting a cautious approach to right-hand counter punches in an attempt to keep Pacquiao on the outside.

Marquez was favoured to have won the match. Maybe we are just expecting too much of Manny. For me, the decision of the judges were correct. Manny is the winner of this fight. All throughout the fight, Manny is the one who is more aggressive and the one who is attacking Marquez. I even heard one of the commentators say "He is the champion but he is the one carrying the fight". The challenger should be the one who is more aggressive and has the hunger of winning and taking out the belt from the champion. As a result, Manny won by  majority decision of 114-114, 115-113, and 116-112.

All in all, it was a great fight. I hope that there will be a rematch between these two boxers and hopefully, if it happens, there will be a TKO. ^^

Hunter X Hunter 2011

Remake of the 1999 TV series of Hunter x Hunter based on the manga by Togashi Yoshihiro.

After becoming 12, Gon leaves his home and takes on the task of entering the Hunter exam, notorious for its low success rate and high probability of death to become an official Hunter. He befriends the revenge-driven Kurapica, the doctor-to-be Leorio and the rebellious ex-assassin Killua in the exam, with their friendship prevailing throughout the many trials and threats they come upon taking on the dangerous career of a Hunter.
Ref: http://myanimelist.net/anime/11061/Hunter_x_Hunter_%282011%29

At first, I thought it will be a continuation of the previous series which ended on Greed Island but as I watched the first episode I found out that it was a remake of the old series but in a faster pace. By a faster pace, meaning, there are events from the old series that were skipped.

I am actually a fan of this series and I enjoy watching it and I already read all the chapters of this manga. There's not much difference between the characters of the previous one and this new series. The only noticeable difference for me is the voice of "Hisoka", it is much deeper now, honestly I like the voice of the old Hisoka. The series has just begun and they are currently on the Hunter exam part.

I will continue watching this series and hopefully they will continue it after the Greed Island part.

Jason Mraz - Live in Manila (2011)

October 30, 2011 was the day Jason Mraz performed live at the Smart Araneta. It is a special one night only, acoustic evening for the Filipino audience. It is a very memorable night as the sold out concert packed the big dome. People are singing and dancing along the beats from two talented artists, Jason and Toca.

Michelle, my colleage, invited me to watch this concert together with her sister, and I immediately agreed and came along. This was my first time watching a concert from an international artist and is actually one of my dreams to watch one. :) The performance lasted for about 2 hours and on those 2 hours there are no idle moments. Jason started singing right after he went up the stage and he continues to sing right after the other. He sang most of my favorite Jason Mraz songs like "The Beautiful Mess", "The Remedy", "I'm yours" and many others.

It is really a great night filled with emotions as he continues to sing his wonderful songs. Hope to watch another concert of him again or other international artist.

Meral, Michelle, Jamie

(Concert Buddies)