LAS VEGAS (AP) — Soft-spoken Sebastian Fundora acknowledged that his opponent has done more to promote their fight for the WBC super welterweight championship.
And if it came down to a war of words, Keith Thurman would be the unquestioned winner.
But as far as the actual bout, Fundora is a substantial favorite, listed at -375 at BetMGM Sportsbook to retain his belt.
The closest Fundora came to trash talk at Thursday's news conference was to invoke his nickname and say, “I expect The Towering Inferno to burn Las Vegas down again.” And it came across as a forced proclamation before he quickly sat back down at the podium.
Fundora, a 28-year-old who lives in Coachella, California, brings a 23-1-1 record with 15 knockouts into this matchup, his lone loss a seventh-round knockout by Brian Mendoza nearly three years ago. Mendoza, who failed to build on that victory by losing his next two fights by unanimous decision, is on the undercard and will face Yoenis Tellez.
Thurman (31-1, 23 KOs), the former unified welterweight champion, said he plans to follow “the cheat code” that Mendoza provided with that victory.
“Sebastian Fundora has had some great wins in the last two years," said Thurman, a 37-year-old from the Tampa Bay area on Florida's west coast. "He’s been evolving to become a greater champion than he was before. That’s what it’s all about. Boxing smart, learning from your mistakes and just being better. But there’s always somebody out there who’s got your number. Always somebody, and I believe I’ve got it.”
Perhaps, but Thurman enters a fight in the rare role as the underdog.
He once ruled the welterweight division, his only loss occurring July 20, 2019, in a split-decision loss to Manny Pacquiao.
“Being the hunter is just a lot of fun," Thurman said. "You get to be that lion, tiger on the prowl. There’s nothing like becoming world champion when you take it from the previous champion and especially a highly qualified champion such as Sebastian Fundora.”
Fundora and Thurman were scheduled to meet in October, but the champ injured his hand in training camp and the fight was postponed.
If Fundora wins, he could try to make the argument he's the best boxer in his family, but that might be a hard sell. His sister, Gabriela, is the unified flyweight champion and is 18-0 with 10 knockouts. They are the first brother-sister duo to be simultaneous champions in the sport's history.
As for his fight with Thurman, the 6-foot-5 Fundora is nine inches taller than his opponent. Fundora prefers to downplay his height, but his reach is an undeniable asset.
Not that Fundora likes to talk about himself much anyway. He kept his answers mostly brief at the presser designed to build up energy for the fight card. Thurman did what he could to make up the difference.
Fundora knows it's what occurs in the ring that truly matters.
“It's one of the biggest (bouts) for sure, and I see it as another fight," Fundora said. "A big fight. Very grateful to be fighting on such a big platform, of course, but I've just got to take it as my job. This is work for me, and it's time to clock in on Saturday.”
AP boxing: https://apnews.com/boxing
FILE - Keith Thurman, left, throws a punch against Manny Pacquiao in the eighth round during a welterweight title fight, July 20, 2019, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
FILE - Tim Tszyu, left, fights Sebastian Fundora in a super welterweight title boxing match, July 19, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday he would sign an order instructing the Homeland Security secretary to immediately pay Transportation Security Administration agents as Congress struggles to reach a deal to end the budget impasse that has jammed airports and left workers without paychecks.
Trump announced his decision in a social media post saying he wanted to quickly stop the “Chaos at the Airports.”
“It is not an easy thing to do, but I am going to do it!” the president posted.
With pressure mounting, the White House had floated the extraordinary move of invoking a national emergency to pay TSA workers while senators reviewed a “last and final” offer from Republicans to Democrats to end the funding impasse. Details of the president’s plan were not immediately available, but a national emergency declaration would be politically fraught and almost certain to face legal challenges. Instead, the president may simply be shifting money from other sources.
Democrats have been refusing to fund the Department of Homeland Security as they demand changes to rein in Trump’s immigration enforcement operations. The Senate came to a standstill and senators, ready to leave town for their own spring break, had prepared to stay all night to reach a deal.
“The president is doing absolutely the right thing," said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the GOP whip. “The TSA agents are going to be paid."
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, has said there was funding elsewhere that can be legally used to pay TSA as well as the Coast Guard, without declaring a national emergency.
The shutdown of funding for DHS, now in its 41st day, has resulted in travel delays, missed paychecks and even warnings of airport closures. TSA workers are coming up on their second missed paycheck Friday, with thousands refusing to show up for work.
Multiple airports are experiencing greater than 40% callout rates of TSA workers and nearly 500 of its nearly 50,000 transportation security officers have now quit during the shutdown. Nationwide on Wednesday, more than 11% of the TSA employees on the schedule missed work, according to DHS. That is more than 3,120 callouts.
Trump, who has largely left the issue to Congress to resolve, had warned he was ready to take action, even threatening to send the National Guard to airports, in addition to his deployment of ICE agents who are now checking travelers' IDs — a development drawing concerns. The White House has been considering a menu of options.
“They need to end this shutdown immediately or we'll have to take drastic measures,” Trump said Thursday during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
At George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Melissa Gates said she would not make her flight to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after waiting more than 2½ hours and still not reaching the security checkpoint. She said no other flights were available until Friday.
“I should have just driven, right?” Gates said. “Five hours would have been hilarious next to this.”
Earlier Thursday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., announced he had given the final offer to the Democrats.
Thune did not disclose details of the new framework, but he said that it picked up on what had been the Republican offer over the weekend, before talks with the White House and Democrats had broken off.
“Enough is enough,” he said.
But at senators retreated to privately discuss the offer the action stalled out.
Democrats argue the GOP proposals have not gone far enough at putting guardrails on officers from ICE, Customs and Border Protection and other federal agencies who are engaged in the immigration sweeps, particularly after the deaths of two Americans protesting the actions in Minneapolis. They want federal agents to wear identification, remove their face masks and refrain from conducting raids around schools, churches or other sensitive places.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said they needed to see real changes. “We’ve been talking about ICE reforms from day one,” he said.
Any deal will almost certainly need to involve a compromise as lawmakers on the left and right flanks revolt. Conservative Republicans have panned their own GOP proposals, demanding full funding for immigration operations and skeptical of the promise from leaders that they would address Trump’s proof-of-citizenship voting bill in a subsequent legislative package.
Republicans said after a private lunch meeting that there were other options than invoking the national emergency.
The GOP’s big tax cuts bill that Trump signed into law last year funneled billions to DHS, including $75 billion for ICE operations, ensuring the money is flowing for his immigration and deportation agenda even with the funding shutdown. ICE and other immigration officers are still being paid.
Republicans say the Trump administration has already made strides to meet Democrats’ demands, particularly after swearing in Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin as the new homeland security secretary to replace Kristi Noem.
“This is a dire situation,” the acting TSA administrator, Ha Nguyen McNeill, testified at a House hearing Wednesday.
She described the multiple hardships facing unpaid TSA workers — piling up bills and eviction notices, even plasma donations to make ends meet — and warned of potential airport closures if more employees refuse to come to work.
“At this point, we have to look at all options on the table,” she said.
McNeil also said TSA officers working at the nation’s airports have experienced a more than 500% increase in the frequency of assaults since the shutdown began.
“This is unacceptable,” McNeill said.
Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti, Mary Clare Jalonick, Rebecca Santana and Ben Finley in Washington, Lekan Oyekanmi in Houston, Wyatte Grantham-Philips in New York, Rio Yamat in Las Vegas, Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, and Gabriela Aoun Angueira in San Diego contributed to this report.
Prior to votes, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., makes a statement to a forum on climate change and the consequences for home insurance, grocery prices, and health care costs, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is met by reporters after a closed door meeting with fellow Republicans on the Homeland Security budget stalemate, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
A young passenger waits in line with his mother to be checked in with TSA at O'Hare Airport in Chicago, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Passengers stand in the TSA pre-check line at Laguardia Airport, Thursday, March 26, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)
Passengers stand in the TSA pre-check line at Laguardia Airport, Thursday, March 26, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)
Travelers line up at a TSA checkpoint at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi)
Sen. Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks during a news conference after a policy luncheon on Capitol Hill,Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
Travelers line up at a TSA checkpoint at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi)
Travelers line up at a TSA checkpoint at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Lekan Oyekanmi)
President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Thursday, March 26, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Passengers wait in a security checkpoint line at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Passengers wait in a security checkpoint line at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill, left, testifies as Nicholas Andersen, acting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, right, listens during a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
Passengers wait in a security checkpoint line at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Passengers wait in a security checkpoint line at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Travelers wait in a TSA line, Wednesday, March 25, 2026, at LaGuardia Airport in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
