Boxing

Light heavyweight boxing champ Sergey Kovalev says he's driven to be a champion by the memory of Roman Simakov ... the man who died 3 days after fighting Sergey back in 2011.

We talked to Kovalev about Conor McGregor revealing he's been seriously disturbed by the fact he trained MMA fighter Charlie Ward for a match where the opposing fighter ended up dead.

That's when Kovalev opened up to us ... saying after Simakov slipped into a coma and died three days following their 2011 fight, he immediately decided to dedicate the rest of his career to his memory.

"I will be champion for me and him ... this helped me and still helps me to fight."

You gotta check out the clip -- Sergey says there's one thing he wishes and thinks about every time he steps into the ring.

Former heavyweight champion Charles Martin was shot in the forearm earlier this week, and is laid up in the hospital ... TMZ Sports has learned.

A passenger in Martin's car told LAPD officers they were in downtown L.A. around 5 AM Tuesday when 2 men approached the vehicle and got into an argument with the boxer. According to the police report ... the men started shooting, but missed and fled. Martin got in his car and chased the alleged shooters, but crashed into a utility pole.

Police say that's when the suspects returned and opened fire again. This time, Martin took a bullet to his forearm, and the suspects fled again, this time in a car.

Officers responded and transported Martin to the hospital.

We reached out to Martin and he says the officers saved his life -- he was losing a lot of blood when they arrived at the scene. Martin says he doesn't know the suspects, and has no idea why they had beef with him.

One big difference in Martin's version of the story is he says he was trying to get away from the gunmen -- not chasing them -- when he crashed.

The former IBF heavyweight -- who lost the belt earlier this year -- adds he was worried the shooters were coming back to finish the job. He says he jumped in the bed of a parked pickup truck when he "looked down, and saw a pool of blood. I said to myself, 'I gotta get outta here. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna bleed to death.'"

"I have to pay respect to the cops. They saved my life."

Roy Jones Jr. says he's super stoked his kid is an elite athlete ... and even happier it's not in boxing ... 'cause according to Roy the sweet science is too dangerous and cutthroat for his boy.

Roy and his kid, Roy III, came on "TMZ Sports" (Thursday at 8:30 PM PT on FS1) when the guys asked why RIII -- who's a high school hoops star ... didn't pick up the boxing gloves like his old man.

Roy answers ... and we gotta say ... it's a pretty good one.

BTW -- stick around for some AWESOME father/son smack talk when we ask who'd win in a one-on-one game.

Shannon Briggs is declaring war on boxing champ David Haye -- claiming the guy's a "sucka" who weaseled his way out of a heavyweight fight ... because he's scared.

Briggs says Haye PROMISED him a bout if he fought on the undercard of Haye's last fight -- so Briggs did (and won) ... and now he wants to collect.

Problem is, Haye's running ... and Briggs is calling him out.

"He's a SUCKA ... he's not a real fighter! He's going back on his word."

In fact, Briggs chased Haye down at the Carl Frampton fight in Brooklyn over the weekend -- but Haye couldn't even look him in the face to talk like a man.

Now, Briggs is calling out the ENTIRE heavyweight division -- saying he'll fight ANYONE, ANYTIME.

#LetsGoChamp

There's only one thing crazier than spending $3.5 million on a Bugatti Gran Sport Vitesse ... spending $50k just to get the damn thing serviced ... but that's exactly what Floyd Mayweather just did.

We spoke to Obi Okeke from DoctorBugatti.com who tells us he just serviced Floyd's Bugatti ... and it came out to a little bit more than your annual trip to Pep Boys.

Here's the breakdown ... 4 2015 Bugatti tires $33k ... basic service (oil & fluid changes) $23k ... then to top it off a $3k detailing service where the damn Armor All must be made out of 24k gold.

Final price tag was well over $50k.

Wanna feel even LESS normal? Obi says he's had to start AN ENTIRELY SEPARATE COMPANY to service Floyd's cars because he has to move them around for service so often.

Just ... wow.

It's been 38 years since Leon Spinks upset Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight title ... but that didn't stop the former champ from taking one last jab at his old opponent.

Neon Leon, and his brother Michael, attended the Pat Cairo cancer outing in Lido Beach, NY on Tuesday when Leon was asked if he wanted to lay a hit on a cardboard cutout of the GOAT.

"I'm gonna give him a little rest today," he joked before adding, "he's still ugly, too."

Leon went on about his relationship with Ali, saying, "he always talked s***, but we loved him anyway."

Proceeds from the event -- which included a tribute to Ali -- were donated to a local hospital for the terminally ill and for cancer research efforts.

The UFC is cracking down on PED usage in a way boxing DESPERATELY needs ... that's according to former boxing World Champ Paulie Malignaggi ... who says it's HIS sport that needs a scrubbing.

We got Paulie -- the former junior welterweight and welterweight champ of the world -- in NY training for his big Showtime PPV fight against Gabriel Bracero on Saturday and asked him about recent drug scandals in combat sports.

A fair share of those have gone down in the UFC ... where high-profile guys, like Brock Lesnar and Jon Jones, have been popped just recently for doping.

Paulie's been a vocal critic of PED use in boxing for a long time ... but given recent history it's still interesting to hear him say that it's HIS sport ... and not the UFC ... that has the real problem.

Boxing legend Ricky Hatton says he has a lot in common with Conor McGregor -- and he's even got some advice for the UFC superstar.

Hatton was a damn good boxer back in the day -- racking up a 43-0 record before finally losing to Floyd Mayweather in 2007.

We asked how he felt about comparisons between him and Conor over the years -- and Hatton seems pretty flattered by it ... explaining why he thinks they're two of a kind.

BTW, Ricky has now transitioned into trainer -- and is getting Sergey Rabchenko ready for his big Showtime fight Saturday night at Barclays Center.

Meantime, check out Hatton's greatest hits -- dude was beast.

Here's supermodel Gigi Hadid ... proving she's one hell of an athlete -- by hitting a heavy bag -- IN HEELS!!!

Hadid hit up Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn -- and despite the fact she was wearing (what appeared to be) leather leggings and chunky heels ... she went all Rocky Balboa anyway -- and looked damn good.

Gigi's been boxing for a while -- and she's picked up a pretty solid overhand right.

#Respect.

Muhammad Ali's legacy ... is in Flavor Flav's hands -- 'cause the rap legend tells TMZ Sports he's managing Muhammad's grandson's boxing career!

Flav was out in Bev Hills with TV pitchman Ron Popeil -- when he told us all about his 15-year-old prodigy Nico Ali Walsh ... a rising star in the sport (check out video below, he's in white trunks).

"The boy is good," Flav tells us ... "That's all I gotta tell you, he's good. Come see the fight."

Flav says Nico's fighting in L.A. on July 30th.

Flav's also a huge fan of Nico's brother, Biaggio -- a big-time high school football star and model ... who also happens to be Flav's godson.

47-year-old Roy Jones Jr. says he's finally ready to hang 'em up ... but he wants to go out by flooring 5 more fighters.

The boxing legend tells TMZ Sports he was inspired by the way Kobe Bryant called it quits this year -- and says he'd really like a farewell tour of his own.

In fact, RJJ says he wants to line up 5 more fights before the end of the year ... but he wants to take on guys he KNOWS he can beat.

"Five guys you should be able to deal with and call it a day."

Justin Bieber got in the ring over the weekend to fight ANOTHER big guy -- and it wasn't terrible.

One month after throwing down with a dude twice his size in Cleveland, Bieber rolled into the gym at the Chelsea Piers Sports Center to work on his David vs. Goliath game.

Sources at the gym tell us ... Bieber arrived to the gym with the other dude, who they kept calling "Doc" -- and they sparred for almost 3 hours.

We're told Bieber was super nice and didn't pull any diva antics -- he was like any other gymgoer.

As for the fighting ... Bieber's been training with Floyd Mayweather ... who told us the pop star "ain't no bitch."

Less than 48 hours after the fight of the year, Keith Thurman is ready to do battle again ... and he wants a piece of Manny Pacquiao!

The WBA champ joined the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs Monday night on FS1) -- and was asked about rumors of a possible matchup with PacMan.

"I would love to see a contract with Manny Pacquiao's name on it," Thurman said ... "I'm down to fight the best in the world!"

Heavyweight boxing champ Deontay Wilder is sick and tired of Tyson Fury -- telling TMZ Sports the guy needs to stop running his mouth and FIGHT HIM already!

Fury has been trashing Wilder all over the media -- even threatening to sexually assault Deontay ... it's pretty insane stuff.

Wilder says Fury "crossed a line" -- and now he needs to be dealt with ... IF he beats Wladimir Klitschko next month.

Gennady Golovkin dished out karmic justice when he KO'd Dominic Wade back in April -- 'cause Wade had beaten the hell out of a woman in the months before the fight ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Another bad ass notch on Adrianne Haslet's belt ... 'cause the woman who lost her leg in the Boston Marathon bombing -- is now BOXING with George Foreman's son!

Haslet was training with George Foreman III earlier this week at his EverybodyFights boxing gym in Boston.

FYI, GF3 was a pretty good boxer himself -- racking up a 16-0 record as a pro.

It's another impressive feat for Haslet -- who already completed the 2016 Boston Marathon on a prosthetic leg ... and picked up ballroom dancing again after the incident.

#BostonStrong