Boxing

10:34 AM PT -- TMZ Sports has now obtained the original criminal complaint filed against Tarver in Nevada in 2013 ... which shows he was charged with fraud and theft for taking out the money in 2012 and never paying it back.

According to the criminal complaint, both charges are felonies ... which means Tarver could be facing some real slammer time.

Former boxing champ Antonio Tarver never paid back $200,000 in gambling markers to the Wynn Las Vegas from a gambling binge in 2012 ... so says a lawsuit obtained by TMZ Sports.

Tarver was arrested in Florida over the weekend on a warrant out of Nevada -- the arrest documents were vague about the nature of the alleged offense.

Now, we know ... Tarver is the target of a criminal investigation for allegedly not settling several gambling markers he took at the Wynn during a 4-day gambling binge in July 2012.

According to the Wynn, Tarver took out $50k on July 24, 2012 ... another $50k on July 26 ... and $100k on July 27 ... totaling $200k.

2:48 PM PT -- According to court records, Tarver's legal problems in Nevada stem from a beef with the Wynn Las Vegas ... and it appears Wynn is accusing Tarver of not paying back a gambling marker.

The records show that Wynn went after Tarver for "breach of contract" ... which happens to be the same accusation that Wynn made against "Girls Gone Wild" honcho Joe Francis for allegedly not paying back a $2 million gambling marker he took out in 2007.

Former boxing champ Antonio Tarver -- who also appeared in "Rocky Balboa" -- was arrested in Florida on Saturday stemming from a warrant out for his arrest in Nevada.

Law enforcement sources tell us the 45-year-old fighter was pulled over by the Florida Highway Patrol for a routine "tag violation" ... and during the stop, the trooper noticed the warrant.

According to reports, Tarver was wanted in Nevada for failing to appear in court. Apparently, Tarver was out on bail at the time he skipped court ... so the bench warrant was issued.

We're still working on finding out details from the original Nevada court case ... but it appears he's accused of writing bad checks.

Now, Tarver is locked up in FL -- but officials in Nevada are looking to extradite him back to the Silver State.

The UFC is exploding in popularity ... but the sport of boxing is still more respected than MMA ... so says former boxing champ Sugar Shane Mosely.

The 42-year-old was leaving Supper Club in Hollywood Saturday night when he explained why he thinks the UFC is still playing catch up to boxing when it comes to respect.

Shane -- who's retired -- also says he still thinks he can fight with the best in the world ... but wants to leave the sport in younger hands ... like his 23-year-old son, who's training to be just like his old man.

The mother of ex-boxing champ Pernell Whitaker tells TMZ Sports ... she was "shocked" her son EVICTED her from her home Wednesday -- but says she refuses to beg him to stay in the house.

We spoke to Novella Whitaker -- who had been living in a Virginia home Pernell said he bought for her more than 30 years ago ... until Pernell went to court and had her legally evicted so he could sell the place to pay bills.

73-year-old Novella tells us, "I was shocked when I heard what Pernell was doing. I wish I had been smart and had the house put in my name. Then he couldn't have done this."

Novella says she refuses to beg Pernell to let her stay in the house -- explaining, "I'm not asking him for anything. I'm gonna be okay."

"My daughter Zelda is taking me in," Novella says ... "She has enough room. I feel comfortable over there. I'm fine now, but I thought it was such a mean and sad thing for my son to do to me."

As for Pernell, he bought the place for his mom back in 1984 at the height of his career when he was rollin' in dough. Now, he's desperate for cash ... and after a judge signed off on the eviction, he called the court victory a "beautiful moment."

The stripper who was fired for taking photos with Katy Perry -- INSIDE A STRIP CLUB -- has moved on to bigger and richer things ... Floyd Mayweather Jr.

The stripper -- Devon -- Instagrammed the photo Wednesday night in Vegas after randomly running into Money May ... who's worth a reported $170 million ... way more than Katy Perry.

TMZ broke the story ... Devon lost her stripper job in Santa Barbara earlier this month after management found out she'd been taking pics with Katy inside the strip club ... where Katy spent thousands of dollars.

TMZ later posted the photos.

Boxing legend Roy Jones Jr.'s career isn't over -- in fact, he tells TMZ Sports, he's officially taking a shot at a brand new title ... MAYOR.

45-year-old Jones -- the first former middleweight champion to win a heavyweight title in 106 years back in 2003 -- tells us, he plans to run for Mayor of his hometown Pensacola, Florida at the next election.

And he's serious too -- the HBO analyst says he's already prepared all the necessary paperwork ... and got TEN TIMES the required number of signatures to make himself eligible (nearly 5,000 to be exact).

As for his policies -- Jones says he wants to focus on children, telling us, "A lot of kids don't have proper leadership at home. I'm willing to try and be that person for them."

He adds, "I tell the kids, don't fight in the streets. Go into MMA, go into boxing. Do something that someone can be proud of you for."

Jones is confident he can win too -- "I've been opposed my whole life, and I've always won."

Can't argue with that.

George Zimmerman will not be bare-knuckle brawling ... TMZ has learned the celebrity boxing match has been canceled again after Trayvon Martin's family refused to accept any money from the fight's promoter.

As we reported ... FilmOn.com CEO Alki David wanted Zimmerman to fight multiple high profile opponents in a fight-club style match ... and said he would donate all profits to the foundation created by Trayvon Martin's family.

But late today the foundation told TMZ it would NOT take any money from the fight, saying it "stands boldly against any act of violence" and would reject David's donations.

When we called David for comment he decided to pull the plug altogether, saying ... "I respect the wishes of the family and in light of this we are canceling the event."

The original bout -- planned with DMX -- was axed when the first promoter got 2nd thoughts ... and death threats.

George Zimmerman's celebrity boxing match -- abruptly cancelled when the promoter pulled the plug yesterday -- is back on again ... promising to be a much bloodier event ... according to a promoter who claims to have taken over the fight.

An online streaming service called FilmOn.com says it secured the rights to a Zimmerman fight ... after the original promoter, Damon Feldman pulled out because of threats made against his kids.

FilmOn says it's gonna give the public what it wants -- blood -- and tells us DMX is out as the challenger because "much bigger names than DMX" want in.

The owner of FilmOn, Alki David, tells TMZ ... the fight will no longer be a celebrity boxing match... "this is going to be like Fight Club ... a very bloody event." Alki says the fight will happen March 15 from a secret location ... and all profits will go to the Trayvon Martin Foundation.

But TMZ has learned the resurrected fight is not yet a done deal -- we're told FilmOn is still negotiating with Feldman for the rights and nothing has been signed.

Feldman withdrew from the fight yesterday after he said he was bombarded with threats. One Tweet said, "Somebody should kill Damon Feldman's son and ask him would he put his son's killer in a celebrity boxing match."

Sticky Fingaz won't be satisfied seeing George Zimmerman knocked out in a boxing ring -- instead the Onyx rapper wants to see him SHOT ... and wasn't afraid to say it on camera.

Sticky laid down a major rant this weekend when we asked about the Zimmerman boxing match being canceled, telling us ... "Everybody gonna be mad at me for saying this, but I don't give two s**ts. Somebody should f**king clap that ni**a!"

Ironically, his rant came just hours after Trayvon Martin's own family held a rally for peace to mark what would have been his 19th birthday.

Sticky is not in a forgiving place, adding ... "Zimmerman is not a f**king celebrity. He's a f**king savage animal that killed a young black teen."

George Zimmerman will not be going toe-to-toe with DMX in a celebrity boxing event ... and the promoter says it's because his conscience finally kicked in.

The promoter for the event took to Twitter Saturday afternoon to officially cancel the event ... and said he finally realized there's "more to life then money."

The promoter adds, "Just looked at my son and daughter today wow I'm so lucky those people must be in so much pain ... all you people are right."

Unclear exactly what he meant by "those people" ... but probably a poor choice of words.

Rocky drank raw eggs for protein ... but Manny Pacquiáo takes things a step further ... 'cause TMZ sports has learned, the eggs he likes to eat are filled with UNBORN BABY DUCKLINGS.

It's true ... the boiled duck fetuses -- called Balut -- are all the rage in the champ's native Philippines. The little duckies are cooked ALIVE right before they hatch ... and are eaten out of the shell.

Pac-man was at a press conference for his upcoming Timothy Bradley fight in NYC today ... when we asked him if the popular Filipino snack tastes as nasty as it looks.

Check out the clip ... Manny's face tells the whole story.

Boxing legend Bernard Hopkins says hip hop star Cam'ron must be CRAZY for calling him out in a rap song -- telling TMZ Sports, he'd run a CLINIC all over Cam'ron's face.

Cam'ron -- the guy behind the hits "Oh Boy," "Hey Ma" and "Horse & Carriage" -- put out a new song called "Humphrey" ... in which he says he wants to fight B-Hop and would "f**k him up."

So, when we ran into The Executioner in D.C. yesterday, we had to ask if he thought Cam'ron could take him in a fight.

Ya gotta watch the clip -- B-Hop makes it clear, if the two ever stepped into a ring, Cam'ron would be more humiliated than En'ron.

Here's Cam'ron's original diss track -- **WARNING -- EXPLICIT LANGUAGE**

Hold off on placing your wagers ... money has become a big snag in George Zimmerman's boxing match against DMX -- the rapper's rep tells TMZ, contract negotiations are STILL ongoing ... so the fight isn't official ... yet.

The rep Domenick Nati tells us, DMX verbally agreed to "beat Zimmerman's ass" ... IF and when he sees the terms of a contract ... which hasn't happened yet. Once an agreement has been finalized, we're told DMX will officially be down for the bout.

As we reported last night, the boxing promoter behind the fight released a statement, announcing DMX would face George Zimmerman in a 3-round match.

It's official ... X gonna give it to George Zimmerman -- TMZ has learned, rapper DMX has just been named Zimmerman's opponent in his upcoming celebrity boxing match.

Celebrity boxing promoter Damon Feldman tells us, DMX was selected out of 15,000 applicants ... all of whom wanted a piece of Zimmerman in the ring after he issued the open challenge to fight anyone willing to take him.

But no one wanted to beat Zimmerman's ass more than DMX.

As we first reported, DMX promised to massacre Zimmerman in the ring if he got the chance. To be exact, he said, "I am going to beat the living f**k out him … I am breaking every rule in boxing to make sure I f**k him right up." He then said he'd literally piss on George's face.

The boxing match will be 3 rounds.

George Foreman's 23-year-old son -- George Edward Foreman the 5th -- was arrested in Texas this weekend after cops say he assaulted his wife.

According to court documents obtained by TMZ Sports, officials say George the 5th choked Ashley McVea-Figueroa during an altercation on February 2.

The documents say George attacked Ashley by "impeding the normal breathing and circulation of the blood ... by applying pressure to [her] throat and [her] neck."

We're told Ashley was the person who called 911 ... and during the call, George threatened to leave the house with their child.

George was eventually arrested and booked for felony assault. Court docs show Foreman was released on $10,000 bond.

G5 is one of Foreman's 12 children -- his five sons are all legally named "George" ... but they all go by various nicknames.

Former middleweight boxing champ Kelly Pavlik was rushed to a hospital today after PASSING OUT in the middle of a court hearing in Ohio ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Courtroom sources tell us ... Pavlik was in court to face charges in a theft case (stemming from an incident where he allegedly stiffed a cab driver) ... when he suddenly collapsed.

We're told 31-year-old Pavlick was loaded up onto a stretcher and taken to an ambulance ... which transported him to a nearby hospital.

Sources say Pavlick was awake and alert inside the ambulance.

Officials have not released any information about what caused Pavlick to collapse ... but it's known he suffers from seizures -- which played a large role in his retirement from boxing.