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).

'The Fall Guy' gives Hollywood a muted summer kickoff with a $28.5M opening

2024-05-06 02:10 Last Updated At：04:41

NEW YORK (AP) — “The Fall Guy,” the Ryan Gosling-led, action-comedy ode to stunt performers, opened below expectations with $28.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, providing a lukewarm start to a summer movie season that’s very much to be determined for Hollywood.

The Universal Pictures release opened on a weekend that Marvel has regularly dominated with $100 million-plus launches. (In 2023, that was “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” with a $118 million debut. ) But last year’s strikes jumbled this year’s movie calendar; “Deadpool & Wolverine,” originally slated to open this weekend, is instead debuting in July.

So in place of a superhero kickoff, the summer launch went to a movie about the stunt performers who anonymously sacrifice their bodies for the kind of action sequences blockbusters are built on. Going into the weekend, forecasts had the film opening $30 million to $40 million.

“The Fall Guy,” directed by former stuntman and “Deadpool 2” helmer David Leitch, rode into the weekend with the momentum of glowing reviews and the buzz of a SXSW premiere. But it will need sustained interest to merit its $130 million production budget. It added $25.4 million in overseas markets.

Working in its favor for a long run: strong audience scores (an “A-” CinemaScore) and good reviews (83% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). Jim Orr, distribution chief for Universal, believes things line up well for “The Fall Guy” in the coming weeks.

“We had a very solid opening,” said Orr. “We’re looking forward to a very long, very robust, very successful run throughout the domestic box office for literally weeks if not months to come.”

But the modest start for “The Fall Guy” hints at larger concerns for the film industry. Superhero films haven’t been quite the box-office behemoth they once were, leading studios to search for fresher alternative. “The Fall Guy” seemed to check all the boxes, with extravagant action sequences, one of the hottest stars in the business, a director with a track-record for crowd pleasers and very good reviews.

But instead, the opening for “The Fall Guy,” loosely based on the 1980s TV series, only emphasized that the movie business is likely to struggle to rekindle the fervor of last year’s “Barbenheimer” summer. “The Fall Guy” stars one from each: Gosling, in his first post-Ken role, and Emily Blunt, of “Oppenheimer.” Both were Oscar nominated.

“It’s going to be a very interesting, nontraditional summer this year,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore.

In part due to the effects of last year's work stoppages, there are fewer big movies hitting theaters. Expectations are that the total summer box office will be closer to $3 billion than the $4 billion that’s historically been generated.

“The summer season is just getting started, so let’s give ‘The Fall Guy’ a chance to build that momentum over time. It’s a different type of summer kickoff film,” said Dergarabedian. “There’s always huge expectations placed on any film that kicks off the summer movie season, but this isn’t your typical summer movie season.”

In a surprise, No. 2 at the box office went to the Walt Disney Co. rerelease of “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.” The first episode to George Lucas’ little-loved prequels collected $8.1 million over the weekend, 25 years after “Phantom Menace” grossed $1 billion.

Last week’s top film, the Zendaya tennis drama “Challengers,” slid to third place with $7.6 million in its second week. That was a sold hold for the Amazon MGM release, directed by Luca Guadagnino, dipping 49% from its first weekend.

The Sony Screen Gems supernatural horror film “Tarot” also opened nationwide. It debuted with $6.5 million, a decent enough start for a low-budget release but another example of horror not quite performing this year as it has the last few years.

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

1. "The Fall Guy,” $28.5 million.

2. “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace,” $8.1 million.

3. “Challengers,” $7.6 million.

4. “Tarot,” $6.5 million.

5. “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” $4.5 million.

6. “Civil War,” $3.6 million.

7. “Unsung Hero,” $3 million.

8. “Kung Fu Panda 4,” $2.4 million.

9. “Abigail,” $2.3 million.

10. “Ghostbuster: Frozen Empire,” $1.8 million.