Thurman promises to end Pacquiao's legendary career

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Thurman promises to end Pacquiao's legendary career

2019-05-22 03:32 Last Updated At：04:10

Keith Thurman keeps calling Manny Pacquiao a legend, and in the boxing world, he probably is correct.

Then the undefeated welterweight champion keeps promising to end the ring career of the senator from the Philippines.

That could happen, too. For once, Pacquiao is the underdog in the July 20 fight in Las Vegas for the WBA belt.

Or Pacquiao, holder of titles in eight weight classes during 24 years in the sport, could continue his Hall of Fame-caliber career at age 40 with another impressive win.

"I have been in boxing for two decades and I am never scared or intimidated with my opponent, and I am so excited for this fight," Pacquiao said Tuesday at a news conference announcing the Fox pay-per-view bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. "Keith Thurman is the kind of fighter you can respect. He is undefeated and this gives me more encouragement, motivation to work hard — like I did before, in my previous fights with big names in boxing.

"I will make sure I am in 100% condition and ready for the fight, and let's see who is tougher in the ring on July 20. It is going to be exciting and I like it. I like it I am the underdog for this fight, this is fun, this is what I want."

What Thurman wants is to fully establish himself as the top gun in a loaded division. It's his first pay-per-view fight despite being 29-0 with 22 knockouts. It's also an opportunity to prove that the rustiness he showed in a January decision over Joselito Lopez is gone after Thurman fought only three times in three years, in part due to injuries.

And yeah, it's a chance to send Pacquiao packing to full-time politics.

"Come July 20, he will disappear. He belongs as a senator in the Philippines," Thurman said. "What I am doing to Manny Pacquiao is what he did to Oscar De La Hoya."

That would be the 2008 manhandling that sent De La Hoya into retirement and established Pacquiao as a worldwide boxing force.

"This is a big fight, bombs are being dropped," the 29-year-old Thurman added. "I waited 22 months to get back in the game (after injuries). We have our ups and downs in this sport; your boy Keith Thurman is back on the rise. You will want to be there, especially because this will be this man's last fight."

Pacquiao smiled at Thurman's boast. He smiled a lot at the smack talk on Tuesday, though the verbiage never got out of hand like it did for his previous bout, when he toyed with Adrien Broner for 12 rounds in January.

Pacquiao-Thurman is an intriguing matchup. Although Pacquiao had lost a unanimous decision to Jeff Horn in 2017, he determined he was not through when many — possibly most — in the boxing world had written him off. He won the WBA crown from Lucas Matthysse a year later, then easily beat Broner.

If nothing else in a 61-7-2 career, he has staying power.

Thurman seemed headed toward elite status in the sport when he won the interim WBA title in 2013 and the full championship in 2015. His wins over Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia were close but fair, and his performances were stellar.

But right elbow surgery slowed him in 2017 — he jokes that his "One Time" nickname became "Sometimes" — and he's been an infrequent defender of his title.

Thurman vows that will change once he sends Pacquiao into retirement.

"Come July 20 you will see the best," he said. "It has been four years since I fought two times in one year.

"Trash talk doesn't mean nothing, but when he is on that mat and catching that 'night night,' it's really going to mean something."

The undercard will feature two unbeatens. Caleb Plant (18-0, 10 KOs) makes the first defense of his IBF super middleweight belt against Mike Lee (21-0, 11 KOs).

John Krasinski’s ‘IF’ hits a box office nerve with $35 million debut

2024-05-20 00:34 Last Updated At：00:51

John Krasinski’s imaginary friends movie “IF” claimed the top spot at the box office this weekend according to studio estimates Sunday. Its $35 million North American debut was also a bit lower than some projections.

Is that a disappointment? An ominous sign of the box office times? Or is the final story on “ IF " yet to be written? It's not just your imagination: In these bumpy early weeks of the 2024 summer box office season, in which nothing has been a runaway hit and every new movie has more and more pressure to succeed, “IF” hit a nerve.

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Cailey Fleming, and an army of A-list voices including Steve Carell, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Louis Gossett Jr., Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Maya Rudolph, “IF” was an original idea from Krasinski, who wrote, directed and co-stars.

Paramount debuted the film, which cost a reported $110 million to produce, in 4,041 locations in North America. Internationally, it earned an estimated $20 million from 56 markets, adding up to a $55 million global debut.

“Families came out in force and they loved the film,” said Chris Aronson, who heads Paramount’s domestic distribution.

There are several somewhat contradictory narratives swirling around its performance as well. With its PG-rating, “IF” was the first major family friendly film to open in theaters in weeks. And unlike a front-loaded superhero or horror movie, family pics are often running a marathon not a sprint. Last June, Pixar’s “Elemental” was assumed to be dead on arrival when it opened with $29.5 million domestically. But it continued earning throughout the summer and ultimately made nearly $500 million globally.

“IF” got middling reviews from critics (it's currently sitting at a “rotten” 49% on Rotten Tomatoes), but, as with “Elemental,” audiences gave it a solid A CinemaScore this weekend. The studio considers it a successful debut and is optimistic about its longevity as summer actually begins for school age children.

“I think it bodes well for moviegoing in general as we move into the summer movie season," Aronson said. "Kids are out of school starting this coming week and I couldn’t think of a better film to be in the marketplace than this one: It’s new, it’s fresh, its original, and it’s such a heartwarming film.”

“ Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes ” continues to be a bright spot. In just 10 days, it surpassed $100 million domestically and $237 million globally. It came in second place in its second weekend with $26 million (down 55%).

But there also hasn’t been a major movie moment akin to last year’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” “Barbie” or “Oppenheimer” in quite some time. Last year on this weekend “Fast X” opened to over $60 million.

“This is a very unusual summer. It got off to an unusual start without a Marvel movie," said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “The box office has been in a holding pattern 20% down from last year.”

“IF” wasn’t the only new film to open this weekend either. Lionsgate’s horror “The Strangers—Chapter 1” overperformed with a $12 million debut from 2,856 locations. The innovative marketing campaign staged some viral moments by bringing the “strangers” to major events, from the Trump trial to Coachella.

The Amy Winehouse biopic “ Back to Black " opened in North America to an estimated $2.9 million from 2,010 screens.

The filmed-for-IMAX documentary “ The Blue Angels ” also made $1.3 million this weekend from 227 screens. It’s playing on the premium large format screens through May 22 before flying to Prime Video on May 23.

The summer, which for Hollywood begins the first weekend in May, is still getting started and could rev up next weekend with the infusion of “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” and “The Garfield Movie."

Dergarabedian noted that Memorial Day weekend is a time when moviegoers play can play catch up with films they've missed and heard about. For a film like “IF," which picked up over the weekend with word of mouth buzz, that could bode well. Still, there is no sugar-coating the reality that the 2024 box office is not going to build on 2023.

"On almost every level this is a non-traditional summer in the lineup of films and the trajectory of the box office," Dergarbedian said. “But collectively these films should have a solid Memorial weekend.”

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “IF,” $35 million.

2. “Kingdom of hte Planet of the Apes,” $26 million.

3. “The Strangers—Chapter 1,” $12 million.

4. “The Fall Guy,” $8.5 million.

5. “Challengers,” $2.9 million.

6. “Back to Black,” $2.9 million.

7. “Tarot,” 2 million.

8. “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” $1.7 million.

9. “The Blue Angels,” $1.3 million.

10. “Unsung Hero,” $1.1 million.