Boxing

Shots fired from boxing legend Bernard Hopkins -- who's dissing McGregor vs. Mayweather in a BIG way ... saying the whole thing is a "fake news" fight.

FYI, B-Hop works for Golden Boy Promotions and is hyping the other superfight of the year -- Canelo vs. GGG ... a fight Hopkins says is undoubtedly the superior event.

In fact, he has a message to people leaning toward buying the MayMac PPV over the Canelo fight.

"You got a chance to get in a Ferrari but you choose the Pontiac?!?"

Yeah ... he's not holding back. In fact, he won't even say Conor's full name.

Floyd Mayweather spent 4 hours in an L.A. gym training for Conor McGregor -- repeating a mantra to himself during the workout, "You name him. I beat him."

The Best Ever hit up Ten Goose Boxing Gym in Van Nuys with the TMT crew and NBA star, DeMar DeRozan -- and busted his ass in preparation for the August 26 fight.

Mayweather was talking to himself during the session saying, "I be trying to tell ya'll ... I can get a black eye, a bloody nose. I can have a bad day in the gym. At the end of the day, I don't have a bad payday and I don't have a bad night under the lights."

He added, "I get bumps, bruises ... but I don't have a bad night."

Floyd's famous for his grueling workouts -- and this one was no exception.

Oscar De La Hoya is firing back at Dana White -- saying it was "disrespectful" for the UFC boss to book McGregor vs. Mayweather three weeks ahead of Canelo vs. GGG.

White had previously attacked Oscar in a expletive-filled verbal smackdown after ODLH bashed the McGregor fight as nothing more than a "circus."

Fast forward to Wednesday when Oscar appeared on ESPN with Canelo Alverez and Gennady Golovkin and was asked how he felt about Dana upstreaming him.

"It was disrespectful," Oscar said.

"I would have thought that Dana White would have a little more respect with this boxing event taking place, because look, you just don’t do that."

"It's like having the Super Bowl and then three weeks later the World Series takes place, the final game. It just doesn’t happen."

"We have the whole year to stage these types of big events ... They could have maybe staged it in November or December but, look, it is what it is."

"We have a superfight here. We have a real fight, and that’s exactly what we’re focusing on."

Boxing star Mikey Garcia says he's gonna kick Adrien Broner's ass ... and there's nothing his BFF, Floyd Mayweather, can do about it.

Broner and Mayweather are as thick as thieves -- Broner not only refers to him as his "Big Bro" but they they've trained and lived together. Floyd's like his mentor.

Garcia and Broner are set to face off on July 29 -- and while Mikey says he LOVES the Floyd connection because it helps with promotion, TBE is helpless to save AB from the punishment he's about to receive.

Broner has other plans ... telling TMZ Sports he expects to get through the fight unscathed so he can take on Nate Diaz on the Mayweather, McGregor undercard less than a month later.

Good luck with that ...

Another day, another guy saying Mayweather is going to kick the hell out of Conor McGregor ... this time it's George Lopez who says the fight is so lopsided, McGregor won't land a single punch.

George was out at LAX when he was asked his thoughts on the superfight set to go down at T-Mobile Arena (sorry, Ice Cube) on August 26.

Floyd's not only gonna win the fight, but George says it won't even be a watchable contest -- because McGregor will be swingin' at air.

"Sugar" Ray Leonard thinks Conor McGregor is a very tough dude -- but when it comes to his fight with Floyd Mayweather he has one piece of advice ... "DUCK!"

The boxing legend -- who beat Floyd's dad in 1978 -- was at LAX when he told us why he believes the Irish superstar is in for a beating when they face off on August 26.

Here's some nice, cool SHAAADE ... courtesy of Ice Cube.

As we previously reported, Cube's BIG3 basketball league is in a standoff with Mayweather, McGregor over the T-Mobile Arena for August 26.

BIG3 says it booked the venue first and won't budge (unless the price is right) -- while the boxing promoters aren't backing down either.

So, we asked Cube about the big fight when we saw him at LAX on Monday -- his response?

"Oh, that fight is uh happening?"

Adrien Broner just called out a BIG name for the Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor undercard ... telling TMZ Sports he wants to fight UFC badass Nate Diaz.

There's just one minor issue ... Broner is taking on undefeated Mikey Garcia in a big Showtime boxing event on July 29 at Barclay's Center -- one month before MayMac. But AB has a plan.

"If I come out unmarked ... like I usually do, I’ll be willing to fight on Floyd’s undercard," Broner said. "If we can make it happen, let’s do it."

Might sound crazy -- but remember, Broner is Floyd's boy -- they're super tight -- and Team Mayweather has complete control when it comes to booking the undercard. Don't completely rule it out.

No response yet from Diaz ... who has been chillin' since his rematch with Conor in August.

And get this ... Broner also explains why he thinks McGregor has a REAL SHOT at beating Floyd.

Ice Cube has a message for Conor and Floyd -- if you want the site, the money's gotta be right.

The rap icon -- who also runs the BIG3 basketball league -- appeared on "Undisputed" on FS1 Monday morning to address the standoff over the T-Mobile Arena.

As we previously reported, McGregor and Mayweather have been promoting their August 26 fight at the T-Mobile Arena. Problem is, Cube already had the venue booked for the BIG3 championship game.

But there's a solution -- cash.

Cube says he's absolutely willing to move if the MayMac people "do what they're supposed to do and make us happy."

There's a fight of the century over the fight of the century ... with two major sporting events vying for the T-Mobile Arena on August 26th.

In one corner ... Mayweather vs. McGregor. When the fight was announced, Dana White and Floyd Mayweather stated it will take place at the Vegas venue.

Problem is ... Ice Cube's BIG3 basketball league already booked the location for the league championship game on the same night.

Our BIG3 sources tell us they have no plans to move -- they still have the venue booked and expect to play there on August 26th. The league even tweeted about it on Friday evening and T-Mobile has game tickets for sale on its site.

Sources connected to May-Mac tell us there are plans in motion to move BIG3 to the nearby MGM Grand Garden Arena ... it's just a matter of time before that becomes official.

Andre Ward says Sergey Kovalev needs to be punished for his racist antics on social media, and tells TMZ Sports he's gonna do it with his fists when the two men meet on June 17.

Kovalev's been getting heat for a meme he posted to his social media recently, one that depicts a fake convo between him and Ward, where Andre repeatedly uses both the N- and F- words.

Sergey has since deleted the video meme, but the backlash was swift from those who said that making it sound as if Ward -- a devout Christian -- dropped nonstop n-bombs was racist.

BTW ... it's not the first time the Russian fighter has been accused of racism, but he has said in the past that cultural misunderstandings were to blame for the controversies.

Ward ain't buying it, and told us there was NO DOUBT the post was racist, and he's gonna make Kovalev pay for it.

"He's culturally sound enough to know some of the things he's been doing are racially motivated. It's more motivation, definitely more motivation," Ward says ... adding, "He needs to be silenced."

** HERE'S KOVALEV'S VIDEO -- WARNING: CONTAINS OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE**

If Conor McGregor doesn't put Mayweather on his ass in the first SIX rounds, he's dead in the water ... so says Dominick Cruz.

The UFC star/analyst says he's been racking his brain over the fight -- and says Conor has a real shot ... but he better act fast. The clock is his enemy.

No matter the outcome, Cruz says McGregor is doing MMA (and its fighters) a big favor.

Andre Ward is fired up his good friend, Kevin Durant, will be ringside for his rematch with Sergey Kovalev ... telling TMZ Sports the NBA Finals MVP has been pushing him to dominate.

Ward says he and KD are so close, they were texting back and forth during the NBA Finals -- sending pump-up messages to each other for their respective battles.

Ward says he's not only inspired by his fellow Roc Nation athlete, but his presence alone at the fight will force him to up his game -- admitting he fights better in front of big celebrities.

Kovalev has some famous friends too -- telling TMZ Sports some of the most famous Russian athletes on the planet will be in Vegas to support him ... but they gotta pay for their own damn tickets.

With just 10 weeks to go, Floyd Mayweather is rapidly booking the undercard for the Mayweather vs. McGregor superfight ... and he's already got one boxer locked in, TMZ Sports has learned.

We've confirmed super middleweight rising star J'Leon Love will fight on August 26 -- Floyd is still trying to lock in his opponent.

Love is a member of Floyd's TMT boxing team. He's got a 23-1-1 record. Love also happens to be one of Floyd's good friends. And he dated Blac Chyna back in 2015 (though they never consummated their relationship).

We broke the story ... as part of the negotiations with the UFC, Dana White agreed to let Mayweather book the entire undercard.

Boxing superstar Amir Khan says he easily could've destroyed all 3 men who got aggressive with him during a road rage incident in the U.K. on Friday ... but quickly realized he had way too much to lose.

Khan tells TMZ Sports ... three hecklers "tried to attack me" while he was driving around in Greater Manchester, England. Cops responded to the scene. No one was arrested.

"I was raging, I was really angry," Khan admits ... but says "I don't want to throw punches because I can definitely hurt someone quite badly."

"My hands are weapons. They're weapons."

Khan also says his religion played a huge role in his decision to walk away.

"It's the month of Ramadan ... It's a holy month. I'm a Muslim."

Former IBO welterweight champion Chris van Heerden knows firsthand what it's like to BOX Conor McGregor -- and tells TMZ Sports the guy is gonna get ROCKED by Floyd Mayweather.

The 29-year-old professional fighter stepped in the ring with Conor in May 2016 to spar for a few rounds -- and dominated the UFC star.

And to rub salt in the wound, van Heerden says he was out of shape and had just gotten back from vacation when around the time of the sesh ... and still "landed at will" on McGregor.

We asked straight-up if Conor has the knockout power to beat Floyd, van Heerden's response -- "No."

But just because he doesn't believe on Conor doesn't mean he won't get into business with him -- Chris says he wants to fight on the Mayweather v. McGregor undercard ... and he even names his opponent, Lamont Peterson.

Fun fact -- that's 'Purge' star Frank Grillo sitting next to Chris. Turns out, the actor also helps manage and train the fighter. Cool, right?