Boxing

Evander Holyfield finally has a date to the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight ... a mystery fan who just dropped $40,100 for one of the most V.I.P. boxing experiences EVER.

The "Real Deal" was part of an INSANE package featured in an eBay auction -- where the lucky winner gets:

-- One ticket to the fight ... sitting with Evander
-- 1st class airfare to and from Las Vegas
-- "Deluxe" room accommodations at the MGM Grand
-- A fancy steak dinner with Evander before the fight
-- One year of products from Quest Nutrition

There's more ... the proceeds from the auction benefit the CharityVision organization -- which helps visually challenged people in developing nations.

The package received 81 total bids -- and people who bid more than $25k had to pre-qualify with an independent agency.

There's finally a place Lil Za can say he's better than Justin Bieber ... the boxing ring ... 'cause Andre Berto tells TMZ Sports Za would DOMINATE the Biebs if the two laced 'em up.

Bieber's dabbled around in the squared circle recently, training with his pal Floyd Mayweather in the pugilistic arts ... and posting the videos to social media for everyone to see his skills.

Za one upped the Biebs this past weekend ... actually stepping in the ring FOR REAL and winning his first amateur fight at a college fight night in L.A.

We spoke to Berto, who trained Lil Za for his fight -- and he says that he's seen Bieber's skills and right now Za would have a clear edge.

"Lil Za would edge him out in the ring. He's been training a lot more than Justin and that comes into play."

Fear not Beliebers ... Berto says that if JB showed the same dedication to the sport that Za has, things could definitely change 'cause in his expert opinion, Justin's got the goods.

"Justin is bigger and he is pretty quick, but Lil Za puts in the time and training."

Soooo ... after Mayweather/Pacquiao then?

Manny Pacquiao ran away from home at the age of 12 ... when he caught his father eating his pet dog ... this according to his trainer Freddie Roach.

Roach was talking to Yahoo! Sports about how the boxer's family struggled with poverty in the Philippines when he was a child -- and apparently, things were so tough ... Manny's father cooked the family dog for food.

When Manny realized what had happened, he ran away from home -- and began to live on the streets.

"He slept in a cardboard box. He fought his way through all this, turned pro at 14, and look at the man he is today," Roach said.

Wladimir Klitschko says he wasn't laughing when Shannon Briggs chased him with his speedboat last year ... warning that someone needs to stop Shannon's wild antics before someone gets hurt.

Briggs (a former heavyweight champ) has been following Klitschko around the world -- from restaurants to news conferences to training sessions -- trying to goad the champion into a pay-per-view fight.

Most of Shannon's stunts are harmless and mostly based around yelling at WK ... but Wladimir says Briggs crossed the line when he chased him on the water last year.

"We need to save Shannon Briggs from Shannon Briggs," Klitschko said.

"We can laugh about it, but chasing me with speedboats while I was paddleboarding ... it's not funny. It's just ridiculously bad."

So far, no word back from Briggs ... yet.

Another HUUUGE boxing role for Jamie Foxx -- 'cause he's just been tapped to sing the national anthem at the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight!

Our sources confirm ... Foxx -- who's starring as Mike Tyson in an upcoming biopic -- was recently approached about belting out the "Star-Spangled Banner" ... and jumped at the chance!

Foxx is a MAJOR boxing fan -- and famously starred as Muhammad Ali's right-hand man Drew Bundini Brown in "Ali."

This isn't the first time Foxx will be singing before a fight -- he belted out "America the Beautiful" before the Pacquiao vs. Mosley fight back in 2011 ... and CRUSHED IT!!!!

If you don't wanna pay $100 for the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight, ya might wanna head south of the border ... because the entire country of Mexico is getting the fight for FREE!!!

The World Boxing Council tells TMZ Sports ... two major Mexican TV networks have agreed to air the fight, Televisa and Azteca --so if you have a TV, you're good to go.

The WBC tells us, "Televisa and Azteca must be recognized for their great commitment, for bringing to Mexico this bout for free. This has never, ever happened in any country of the world."

FYI -- Mexico also happens to be a major sponsor of the fight ... and the official beer of the bout is Tecate. Bottom line, Mexico is HEAVILY invested in the matchup despite the fact neither fighter is Mexican.

Hayden Panettiere's face during her man's boxing match at Madison Square Garden this weekend can be summed up in two words ... FINISH HIM!!!

Heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko defended his title against Bryant Jennings on Saturday night, and while he might have done most of the work ... you gotta give Hayden major support props ... just for her gold-trimmed blazer alone.

If the world didn't know it before, HP's not only riding the Wlad train ... she's also its whistle.

All aboard.

Justin Bieber was part of ANOTHER boxing entourage last night ... to watch his BFF Lil Za get in the ring during a college fight night in Los Angeles ... and TMZ Sports has the footage.

Bieber -- who's usually in Floyd Mayweather's corner -- sat in the front row and held up a sign saying, "WE LOVE YOU ZA" ... as JB's posse member made his boxing debut.

Once the bell rang, Za actually held his own ... and looked PRETTY GOOD as he traded blows with his opponent at the gym at Valley College.

Ultimately, Za WON the fight by decision ... and even got some props from pro boxing superstar Andre Berto, who happened to be in the crowd.

Boxing stud Deontay Wilder -- the reigning WBC heavyweight champion -- says he's ready and willing to fight Shannon Briggs ... but says the guy needs to PROVE himself before he steps in the ring.

Wilder and Briggs -- a FORMER 2-time heavyweight champ -- went ballistic on each other during a boxing event in NYC on Friday. And now, Wilder says he's ready to back up his smack talk.

"If he wants to fight me, I'll fight. Enough talking," Wilder tells TMZ Sports ... "But he needs to get some fights under his belt first and get back into the top 15."

Briggs has been gunning for a fight with Wladimir Klitschko ... but now it seems he may have a new target.

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.