Boxing

Wanna see a couple of rich guys demonstrate their richness in ridiculous fashion?

Well, here's Diddy and Mark Wahlberg making a $250,000 bet on the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight ... like it ain't no thing.

Diddy's got Floyd. Mark's got PacMan.

The best part of the video is how casually these guys throw around their dough. In fact, the bet started at $100,000 ... but Mark wanted to know, "Why so little?"

For the record, the man who's wagering the MOST on the fight isn't even in the video ... it's 50 Cent -- who says he'll be plunking down $1.6 MILLION on Floyd.

Mark Wahlberg might've been a week early and minus a Floyd Mayweather ... but he still had the best seat in the house to watch Manny Pacquiao today ... dropping in on Pac Man's gym session.

Wahlberg brought his entourage (see what we did there) to Wild Card Boxing in Hollywood and got an up close and personal look at the Filipino slugger just days before the May 2nd mega fight.

Things had been really tight at Wild Card recently -- with Manny's trainer Freddy Roach restricting anyone who wasn't on the training staff from watching Pacquiao work ... including Dave Chappelle.

Guess Whalberg can keep a secret ... 'cause it was all smiles and handshakes today as Mark's crew got full access to watch the strategy that could finally put a blemish on Mayweather's record.

Things just went NUCLEAR between heavyweight boxing champ Deontay Wilder and former champ Shannon Briggs -- with the two TEARING INTO EACH OTHER in the middle of NYC.

The boxers were at the weigh in for the Wladimir Klitschko vs. Bryant Jennings fight when they started talkin' smack to each other.

Shannon called Deontay a phony champion ... "they GAVE you that belt." And Deontay essentially called Shannon a pathetic has-been.

The whole exchange was captured on video by ANOTHER boxing champ, Lennox Lewis -- who posted the footage on Twitter.

Briggs has been trying to lock up a fight with Klitschko ... but now, his focus may be changing.

George Foreman says Floyd Mayweather is RIGHT ... telling TMZ Sports, "Pound for pound, Floyd is better than me and Muhammad Ali ever were."

Mayweather received tons of criticism this week after saying HE should be considered the greatest fighter of all time ... and now, it seems Foreman's backing him up in a major way.

"This is a better generation BY FAR," Foreman tells us ... "They're smarter, they're stronger, they're overall just better fighters."

Of course, Foreman is extremely qualified to weigh in on the subject, having fought Muhammad Ali in the famous, "Rumble in the Jungle" in 1974 ... in addition to his 80 other pro fights.

"We were good and we liked the attention that we got. But boxing is on a different level. This is an amazing generation."

As for the fight, Foreman says he's rooting for Mayweather -- and believes he's the better fighter -- but says he thinks Manny will ultimately win the fight.

And just like that ... THEY WERE GONE!!!!

Less than 60 seconds after tickets to the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight went on sale to the public on Ticketmaster's website, they were sold out!!

ALL OF THEM.

EVEN THE $7,500 TIX!!!

Several people in our office timed the sale, and some say they got the "No Tickets Left" graphic less than 20 SECONDS after it started. Insane!

So, if you wanna be at the fight, you have to go to the secondary market ... where seats are going for up to $80,000-a-pop!!!

Good luck!

The delay over the sale of the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao tickets was all about GOOD SEATS -- with Manny's team holding up the deal because they felt Floyd's team got the better quality tickets.

Here's the deal ... sources connected to the negotiation tell TMZ Sports ... the sides had agreed to split 9,600 tickets evenly between Team Manny and Team Floyd for the May 2nd fight.

Team Manny includes Bob Arum's Top Rank Boxing and HBO. Team Floyd includes Al Hayman's company and CBS. Each side got 4,800 tickets.

But the rift, we're told, all had to do with seat location -- with Manny's people claiming Floyd's camp got the better tickets because of Mayweather's relationship with the MGM Grand.

As one source put it ... "Floyd's camp got more seats in the first few rows, including the front row, and that's a big deal." We're told Manny's camp demanded equality.

We're told Manny's camp refused to lay down on the issue -- thus delaying the ticket release indefinitely. And Wednesday, with 10 days 'til the fight, CBS honcho Les Moonves stepped in.

Sources say there was an emergency meeting in which Les stepped in and "played Solomon" (a reference to the biblical figure's negotiating expertise) ... and fixed the situation.

Finally ... tickets to the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight are going on sale TODAY -- but you gotta move fast, because we're told there will only be 500 available to the public!

The tickets will go on sale on Ticketmaster at Noon PT -- starting at $1,500-a-pop and going all the way up to $7,500.

Promoters are limiting the amount of tickets per household to just 4.

Seems the 50 Cent vs. Floyd Mayweather feud is finally OVER -- with the two superstars coming together Wednesday night .... months after they TRASHED each other in public.

Don't forget ... these two HATED each other after a bitter falling out -- with 50 publicly saying Floyd was so dumb, he couldn't read. Mayweather called 50 irrelevant.

But last night in Vegas, the two didn't just hang out -- they took a photo together ... and 50 posted it to Instagram with the caption, "THE original MONEY TEAM, you gotta love it. My brother ready,may 2 don't get scared now."

So, beef squashed?!

Here it is ... the $1 million emerald-studded WBC championship belt that Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will be fighting for on May 2nd ... in addition to their $100-million + paychecks!

TMZ Sports broke the story ... the World Boxing Council commissioned the belt when the fight was announced .. and adorned it with 3,000 real miniature emeralds.

The belt was revealed at a WBC event in Mexico -- and will make its way to Vegas this week ... escorted by a private security team.

Floyd Mayweather will do anything to beat Manny Pacquiao ... even subject himself to -220 degree nitrogen gas during Cryotherapy sessions ... intended to heal his body.

TMZ Sports spoke to David Levi ... owner of SubZero Recovery in Vegas ... who tells us Floyd makes daily ... and sometimes nightly ... trips to his business for the insanely cold therapy.

The Cryo sessions last 90 seconds to 3 minutes ... and according to Levi, it helps to enrich blood, expel toxins and also does a bunch of other cool stuff.

"Floyd comes in every day," Levi said, "I'm used to getting calls at 3 or 4AM with Floyd asking me to open the facility so he can use the machine."

As for the misery of sitting in -220 degree cold ... "Floyd hates getting in, but he knows what it does for him, so he tolerates it."

Legendary boxing promoter Don King is recovering from kidney stone surgery ... TMZ Sports has learned.

A rep for the World Boxing Commission confirmed King was hospitalized ... after doctors located several kidney stones in the 83-year-old's body.

We're told he's recovering at the hospital -- surgery went well and he's doing fine.

King was recently out in public to speak at an event at Howard University on March 28th and seemed fine.

Floyd Mayweather doesn't give a single DAMN about Conor McGregor -- telling TMZ Sports the UFC fighter is a joke ... who's using his name to try to get some cheap publicity.

Earlier this week, McGregor said he'd DESTROY Mayweather in a fight in less than 30 seconds -- because Floyd wouldn't be able to handle an MMA-style attack.

But sources close to Mayweather tell us ... Floyd "scoffed" when he saw the quotes and said, "I don't take that dude seriously. He's just trying to get himself some publicity."

TMZ Sports has obtained footage from Adrien Broner's DUI arrest in Ohio back in January -- in which the boxer insists he's NOT drunk ... but brags about making more than $100 MILLION in his career!!

The footage shows Broner being pulled over around 1:30 AM in his white Mercedes on January 11th -- after the cop sees the boxing champ driving in two lanes.

At first, things seem bad for Broner -- the officer is pissed and Broner can be heard slurring his words.

But things take a turn -- Broner professes his innocence ... and actually charms the cop, who eventually tells him she just wants the best for him.

During the arrest, Broner talks ... A LOT ... and says some interesting stuff. Among the highlights:

-- "Ya'll don't know who you arrested. If ya'll did, I'd be on the news right now."
-- The cop compliments Broner's physique.
-- Broner tells the cop, "I love you."
-- Cop asks Broner where he fights. Broner responds, "The world."

But the best part ... when Broner tells the cop he's "blessed" -- 'cause he's made more than $100 million in his career.

Conor McGregor's got some major support from his boss -- 'cause UFC honcho Dana White tells TMZ Sports he's 100% confident Conor would CRUSH Floyd Mayweather in a street fight.

Dana was out in NYC today ... when we asked about McGregor's fight prediction -- that he would WRECK Floyd in less than 30 seconds.

White doubled down even harder -- saying EVERY SINGLE FIGHTER on the UFC roster could take it to Floyd ... 'cause he's only skilled in 1 simple fighting style.

The MILLION DOLLAR championship belt that will be awarded to the winner of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao has its own private security detail that will escort it from Mexico to Vegas ... TMZ Sports has learned.

A rep for the World Boxing Council tells us ... the belt -- which is encrusted with more than 3,000 real miniature emeralds -- will be unveiled on Monday in Mexico ... at WBC headquarters.

After it makes its public debut, the belt will travel to the MGM Grand -- escorted by the President of the World Boxing Council and 2 private security guards.

Ultimately, the belt will be handed over to MGM officials -- who will safeguard the belt in a special case until the night of the fight.

UFC badass Conor McGregor says he would ANNIHILATE Floyd Mayweather in a real deal street fight ... saying, "I would kill him in less than thirty seconds."

McGregor told Esquire he looks down on combat athletes who only specialize in one type of attack method -- for example, boxers.

"I don't look at a man who's expert in one area as a specialist ... I look at him as a rookie in ten other areas. If you can box, what happens if I grab hold of your legs?"

That's when he brought up Money Mayweather: "If you put me face-to-face with Floyd Mayweather - pound-for-pound boxing's best -- if I fought Floyd, I would kill him in less than thirty seconds."

"It would take me less than thirty seconds to wrap around him like a boa constrictor and strangle him."

Here's the tale of the tape

Conor McGregor:
Age: 26 years old
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 145 lbs

Floyd Mayweather:
Age: 38 years old
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 151 lbs