Manny Pacquiao, 40, Defeats Keith Thurman and Father Time to Win WBA Welterweight Title

Manny Pacquiao knocked down Keith Thurman in the first round and went on to win a convincing split-decision victory Saturday night, capturing a WBA welterweight title after a thrilling 12-round slugfest.

The 40-year-old Pacquiao (62-7-2), who also serves as a Senator in his native Philippines and has has been a pro boxer since 1995, dropped the previously unbeaten Thurman with a combination late in the first round, and put on a performance that evoked the ferocious prime of the only eight-division champion in boxing history.

The 30-year-old Thurman (29-1) tested the legendary Pacquiao’s chin with big shots as both boxers fought at a furious pace in front of a sellout crowd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, but in the end, Pac-Man’s first-round knockdown made the difference.

“It was fun,” Pacquiao said after the fight. “My opponent is a good fighter and boxer. He was strong…I think he did his best, and I did my best. I think we made the fans happy tonight because it was a good fight.”

Two judges scored the bout 115-112 for Pacquiao, while a third scored it 114-113 for Thurman. 

Pacquiao, who already owned one version of the WBA welterweight title, continues his recent comeback after back-to-back wins over Lucas Mattyhysse and Adrien Broner, which came after a controversial decision loss to Jeff Horn in 2017. 

“I knew it was close,” Thurman said after the fight. “He had the momentum because he got the knockdown in Round 1…I wish I had a little bit more output to go toe to toe. My conditioning, my output was just behind Manny Pacquiao’s tonight. Tonight was a blessing and a lesson.”

Before the fight, Floyd Mayweather got into the ring and wished both fighters good luck. The retired pound-for-pound superstar watched from the crowd in the same arena where he thoroughly outboxed Pacquiao four years ago in their historic—if ultimately disappointing—superfight. 

Meanwhile, Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, has said he hopes Mayweather will come out of retirement for a rematch with Pacquiao, who has said he fought injured in their first bout. 

But many boxing observers believe the two most dangerous active welterweights for Pacquiao at this point are Terrence Crawford and Errol Spence, both undefeated fighters who are among the most highly-skilled in the sport. 

Here, some of the best Twitter reactions to the fight, from Sly Stallone to Stephen A. Smith:

Watch the First Trailer For Henry Cavill’s ‘The Witcher’

If there is a Game of Thrones—sized hole in your TV viewing habits, Netflix may have you covered with The Witcher, starring Henry “Superman” Cavill in a silvery-white wig. 

If the new trailer unveiled at San Diego Comic Con is any indication, it’s actually pretty intense.

Speaking at Comic Con, here is how Cavill explained the meaning of the title, which is also his character Geralt of Rivia’s profession:

“A Witcher is a young boy who has been left to fend for themselves and taken in by the group called Witchers and they are trained to levels of almost inhuman agility and endurance. And from there they become mutants, most of these children do not survive….after that they are trained in the art of monster hunting and travel the world hunting monster for coin, that is their one and sole purpose in the world,” Cavill said.

It’s all about elves and monster-hunting and there’s killer swordplay. Henry Cavill even gets to speak with his real accent. 

To solidify the Game of Thrones comparison, Witcher is also based on a series of fantasy novels by Polish author Andrezj Sapowski, which then inspired a series of video games. 

The show doesn’t have an official release date, but it’s likely to hit Netflix between October and December 2019.

TNT’s Snowpiercer trailer teases a return to what made the original film great

WarnerMedia

It’s clear from the first trailer for Snowpiercer that TNT wants more people to pay witness to the world Korean director Bong Joon-Ho’s created with his acclaimed 2014 film of the same name.

Based on a French graphic novel, Joon-ho’s original film is set in a post-apocalyptic future in which an attempt at changing the Earth’s climate went disastrously wrong, leaving the planet covered in a global ice age, and with the last remnants of humanity living on a massive train. TNT’s Snowpiercer will pick up seven years after the events of the original film. Not much has changed. The titular train driving the remaining members of Earth in a post-apocalyptic world is still operating under some warped socio-economic structures. Ed Harris’ de…

Continue reading…