Boxing

Wanna know what Larry Merchant WON'T be doing on Saturday night?

Watching Floyd Mayweather fight Andre Berto ... 'cause the legendary boxing commentator says that any Mayweather fight that doesn't involve GGG is a total waste of time.

Merchant was out in L.A. recently when we, of course, had to ask for his expert opinion on the huge fight (with the not so huge buzz) in Vegas this weekend.

That's when Merchant WENT IN on Floyd ... saying he won't watch because Berto is not a "serious opponent," saying that Floyd is afraid to fight the guy everyone wants to see him battle ... GGG.

BTW, it's not like Gennady Golovkin is afraid to fight Floyd -- in fact, he recently appeared on "TMZ Hollywood Sports" and called out the champ ... saying he'd beat Floyd's ass AND put on a show!

Check out the clip -- and remember that if this were 50 years ago, Larry would kick Floyd's ass himself.

The NFL's first female coach is getting some major support from an unlikely ally ... Floyd Mayweather ... who reached out to Jen Welter and offered her ringside seats to his next fight because he's a huge fan.

FYI -- Welter made history earlier this year when she was offered a coaching "internship" with the Arizona Cardinals ... working primarily with the linebackers.

We spoke with Welter's rep who tells us ... after her story attracted national attention, they got a call from Team Mayweather ... who offered 2 ringside seats to his upcoming fight against Andre Berto.

We're told Mayweather is a fan -- and wanted to show his support. As for Welter, she's flattered and we're told she's definitely planning on attending.

Manny Pacquiao's boxing career is on its last legs ... with his promoter saying the fighter will retire next year -- to focus on becoming President of the Philippines!

Bob Arum was out at Craig's Tuesday night when he told us Manny is planning to fight again next year once he heals up -- but that's probably the very last bout for the 36-year-old.

"He's gonna fight again next year but his goal is to become a senator in the Philippines, which he will be next year, and then to be president."

Arum added, "I think Manny will retire once he's elected to the Senate of the Philippines which is next year ... he's gonna hang up the gloves."

Here's a first ... Floyd Mayweather is using the Forbes list as diss fuel -- saying Ronda Rousey is still way too poor to be mentioned in the same breath as the boxing champ.

Chad Johnson thinks the animosity between Floyd Mayweather and Ronda Rousey is built up sexual tension ... and the only way to diffuse the situation is to hump it out.

After Ronda trashed Mayweather again this week ... saying he's illterate and she makes more cash-per-second than he does ... Johnson decided it was time to weigh in.

"Ronda Rousey & Mayweather might as well date & stop the verbal jabs at each other."

This video is HILARIOUS -- ya gotta watch as boxer Ricardo Mayorga straight up SLAPS Shane Mosley's girlfriend on the ass ... and violent pandemonium ensues.

If Floyd Mayweather is the master of self-promotion, Paris Hilton is the mistress -- and she used Floyd's purchase of a super rare $4.8 mil hyper car to let the world know her BF is super rich too.

"Sugar" Shane Mosley won the first round against Don King -- a judge refused to let King shut down Mosley's comeback, but in the process also crapped all over the fight.

The ruling came down in federal court in Miami where King failed to get the injunction he sought ... believing Mosley's opponent, Ricardo Mayorga, is still under contract with him. The judge said allowing the fight would not damage Mayorga's career in the future ... because his career is almost over.

The judge said of the 41-year-old boxer ... "The undisputed evidence is that Mayorga is not ranked, that he is not at the peak of his physical capabilities and that whether he will participate in any future bouts is purely speculative."

King can still try to prove he has a valid contract with Mayorga, but it won't affect Saturday night's fight at the L.A. Forum ... and, by the way, sounds like there are plenty of seats available.

It's the fight BEFORE the fight for 'Sugar' Shane Mosley -- his courtroom showdown with Don King -- and Mosley thinks King is trying to pull a fast one on the judge.

We got Mosley at LAX Wednesday night ... as he was jetting off to Miami, where he hopes to testify in federal court. As we've reported, King is suing to block Mosley from fighting Ricardo Mayorga. Don claims Mayorga's still under contract with him.

Shane tells TMZ Sports, "Don has some fraudulent stuff going on" -- and thinks the signatures on King's alleged contract with Mayorga don't match.

He also thinks there's a jurisdiction problem ... as in Don's not even in the right court!

"Sugar" Shane Mosley is power-dialing his travel agent right now to get on a flight to Miami ... in a last ditch effort to take down Don King in court -- and save his comeback fight.

TMZ Sports has learned Mosley got bad news from Wednesday's hearing in a Miami federal court -- where King is trying to shut down Mosley's Aug. 29 bout with Ricardo Mayorga. Shane is not only the main event, he's also promoting the fight -- but King claims Mayorga is still one of his fighters.

Our Mosley sources say after today's hearing … Shane is looking to jump on a red-eye in order to make it to Miami in time to get in front of the judge Thursday.

Should be interesting -- we're told the hirsute one will also be in court.

One of Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s protege's just made a crucial mistake by showing weakness ... in the locker room -- and now the Money Team is piling on the dude.

Ashley Theophane ended a workout by climbing into a cold tub, and whined like a bitch while doing it. That was his first mistake. The second was allowing someone to record the session ... because now it's all over social media.

Theophane's teammate Ishe "Sugar Shay" Smith called him out, saying ... "Wow this guy is embarrassing." It's just a matter of time before Floyd joins the fun.

When ex boxing champ Kassim Ouma gets out of Africa, he could land right in jail -- there's now a warrant out for his arrest after he went M.I.A. from court last week.

According to docs, Ouma was supposed to be in front of the judge on Aug. 5 for a progress report in his felony drug possession case. TMZ Sports broke the story ... Ouma was arrested in April 2014 after allegedly fighting with a man he claims made a pass at him. He ended up getting charged for cocaine possession, and not the fight.

But last week, when Ouma's attorney told the court the former IBF junior middleweight champ was in Uganda ... instead of the L.A. courtroom ... the judge issued a bench warrant.

Floyd Mayweather is known as “Money” ... but he's also "The Greatest" ... if you buy what he's saying about Muhammad Ali.

Floyd joined "SportsNation" on ESPN Deportes to rank his top 5 boxers of all time.

The undefeated champ put himself at the top of the list … however, the surprise came at the bottom ... where Floyd put Ali (at #5) ... whom most experts consider to be the greatest boxer ever.

Thanks to our friends at BSO for pointing out the ego trip.

No más Floyd, no más.

Mayweather-Berto has turned into full-on STAR WARS -- and Andre Berto is armed and ready to do battle after Sylvester Stallone took a serious pot shot at him.

We got Berto as he and Floyd Mayweather Jr. were leaving the news conference for their fight -- and we had to tell him about Stallone's jab. If you missed it, Rocky told us the only way Berto could win the fight is if Mayweather has a heart attack in the ring.

Berto tells us he WAS a fan of Stallone, but since he's "talking crazy" ... he's ready and willing to jump to another famous actor/boxer's corner.

He also hints Matt McConaughey, Chris Brown and some other celebs might be showing him some love in Vegas on Sept. 12.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Andre Berto held the first news conference for their upcoming fight -- and the standout moment wasn't even about them ... instead the under card stole the show.

Before Floyd and Andre spoke ... Orlando Selido and Roman "Rocky" Martinez talked to reporters in the L.A. Convention Center, but only spoke Spanish -- they're Mexican and Puerto Rican, after all.

This did not sit well with Floyd, who said, "We ain't gonna have nobody translate?" When no one stepped up ... el jefe took control, but you gotta see who he pulled out of the crowd.

#Gringo

Sylvester Stallone knows the secret to defeating Floyd Mayweather Jr. … but it doesn’t have anything to do with his next opponent, Andre Berto.

Almost no one is giving Berto a chance to win the fight -- so we asked Sly if he thinks he's even got a puncher's chance to upset Money. Check it out ... Sly says there's a chance, but not a puncher's one.

Stallone also throws a playful jab at "Southpaw" star Jake Gyllenhaal's on the topic of big screen boxers. We'll give you one guess which actor/fighter he IS backing.