Posted in: The champ See in context
All credit to him, he fought hard and simply out-boxed Naito. Koki has never lacked skill, he was carried somewhat early in his career but that was just his management trying to give him a soft ride to the top.
Sharpie - I would say he has learned quite a lot since the Daiki fight mess. The way he conducts himself in interviews is much better now and he was obviously respectful of Naito after the fight. I think he understood how close he came to losing his career a year ago. As for raising his hands early in the fight that's just part of the game - young boxers do it all the time.
I think he has the talent to go far - he has good speed, stamina and work ethic so he could stay at the top for a long time to come (he's only what 23/24). His only weakness is that he doesn't have real knock out power in either hand and he drops his guard too much in the early rounds. Beyond that I look forward to his future fights, a guy like him makes the fly weight division more interesting.
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Posted in: Whalers get reprieve as protest ship refuels See in context
Whale meat is a delicacy in Japan and Tokyo accuses critics of insensitivity to its whaling culture.
I find it odd that sometimes the critics cry that it's 'scientific whaling' and then at other times they whinge that the protesters are infringing on their culture. If it's so important culturally to these Japanese, why are the fleet using grenade tipped harpoons in waters near Australia? It would be akin to using a microwave oven and pre-bought green tea from Daiei for a tea ceremony held in America.
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Posted in: Daisuke Matsuzaka and his wife to make first appearance on 'SMAPxSMAP' See in context
Apparently she started dating him when he was 19, she had her hooks into him early. It seems to be a right of passage for those few Japanese players who make it to MLB to marry an announcer from back home, usually they are older and know how to 'look after' their husband (essentially be their mother and PR manager). The biggest exception being Matsui.
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Posted in: Japan mobile phone shipments up 2.2% in June See in context
I did the same thing a few years back - I 'upgraded' my old 2G Vodafone to a 3G model and regretted it for the next year and a half. I recently got a new phone because I thought my old one was broken (turns out it was just a bad SIM card) but the new phone is much more like the old 2G model - I will never get another phone again.
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Posted in: Putin says he won't start war with NATO, but Western bases hosting Ukraine F-16s would be targets
Posted in: Putin says he won't start war with NATO, but Western bases hosting Ukraine F-16s would be targets
I presume Thompson gets hers by default. She's hardly in the league of Judy Dench.
Posted in: 'Oppenheimer' director Nolan and wife to get British knighthood and damehood
Posted in: Putin says he won't start war with NATO, but Western bases hosting Ukraine F-16s would be targets