Boxing

Floyd Mayweather has signed a deal to fight on New Year's Eve in Japan -- and it might be an MMA match -- but, it ain't against Conor McGregor or Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Just like TMZ Sports told you would happen ... the 41-year-old boxing superstar announced he'll be fighting at RIZIN 14 on Dec 31, against an undefeated 20-year-old kickboxer named Tenshin Nasukawa.

We broke the story ... Floyd was in talks to get a fight done in Asia back in September. The plan is to get 2 fights under his belt ... a tune-up fight and then a bigger opponent, someone like Manny Pacquiao.

Floyd says he's still working with the promotion to decide on whether it will be boxing rules, kickboxing rules, MMA rules, etc.

Floyd says the fighting rules will be sorted out in the coming weeks. Floyd also says the two sides are still figuring out what weight the fight will be at.

Floyd held a press conference in Japan late Sunday night -- Floyd did not say how much money he expects to make for the fight.

As for Tenshin, RIZIN says he's 20-years-old and has more than 30 fights under his belt. His kickboxing record is 27-0.

The fight will go down at Saitama Super Arena -- the 3rd largest indoor arena in the world. It seats around 36,500 people.

As we previously reported, Floyd has had some MMA training in the past -- and UFC champ Tyron Woodley has offered to work with him because he believes Mayweather can really win.

Floyd says he chose to have this fight in Japan because he loves the country and the people.

As for his opponent, Floyd says the guy is in great shape -- "very young, very fast" -- and he's impressed with Tenshin's physique. Says the guy looks like a serious gym rat.

Tenshin says Floyd is taller than he looks and he believes he'll be able to "hit him" when they fight.

Floyd is 50-0 as a pro boxer -- with his last victory coming over Conor McGregor.

Mayweather has recently told us he's been itching to fight again and predicted his next bout would be a 9-figure boxing match against Khabib. Now that he's inked this deal, seems the Khabib fight will be on the backburner ... at least for now.

"I'm very happy to be back in Tokyo," Mayweather told the media ... "I look forward to coming back more often."

Move over, Floyd ... GGG says HE wants in on fighting UFC stars -- telling TMZ Sports he'll fight BOTH Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov!!!!

The MMA-boxing crossover fights are all the rage these days, after Conor-Mayweather RAKED IN cash ... and now everybody wants in on the action.

Nate Diaz called out Canelo after Alvarez signed his blockbuster $365 MILLION dollars ... and Tyron Woodley told us he's down to step in the boxing ring too.

So, will a Gennady Golovkin vs. MMA star fight actually happen? Maybe, maybe not.

We will say this ... Dana White says he met with Floyd Mayweather's camp about a possible MMA fight with Khabib -- which is how things got cooking with Conor McGregor.

The issue ... Floyd told us he would only take a boxing match. Dana is adamant it can only happen in the Octagon.

Khabib's manager tells TMZ Sports if a fight with Floyd Mayweather goes down ... it's gotta be in the boxing ring -- 'cause the UFC star would end up behind bars if the two fought MMA!!

"An MMA fight, I don't think any state athletic commission should allow that," Ali Abdelaziz tells us ... "It would be illegal. It would be voluntary manslaughter."

Of course ... a fight between Nurmagomedov and Floyd has been rumored for weeks -- with Ali telling us he's actually had conversations with Money and his team about a possible tilt.

But, Dana White told us earlier this week, if the two do square up -- it's gotta be MMA ... and that's something Ali says is a horrible idea for BOTH Floyd and Khabib.

Instead ... Ali seems much more open to the idea of a boxing match -- and says Khabib could easily win that too -- without going to jail for murder.

"Khabib is wide. When Khabib is boxing him, he will cover him. He will put his body on him, make him tired. Carry the weight and get him tired. I think 100 percent [Khabib can win]."

The problem? Khabib's manager tells us he thinks Floyd wants no part of the match -- saying Mayweather's all talk.

"I think Floyd just wants to keep his name relevant. He's 57 years old. He's almost 60 ... He can't do nothing to Khabib."

Still ... Khabib clearly wants it -- writing on his Instagram Friday, "Where are you? @floydmayweather #27vs50."

Farrah Abraham will not step into the ring for the celebrity boxing match she's been talking up for months, and her camp says it's because the promoter screwed her ... on the deal, that is.

The ex-'Teen Mom' star was supposed to go toe-to-toe with Nicole "Hoopz" Alexander November 10 in Atlantic City. Sources close to Farrah tell us when she signed the contract ... the promoter, Damon Feldman, agreed hotel, travel and fight tickets would be included for her friends and family.

We're told there was never a concrete number of rooms, tickets or flights specified in the contract -- but Feldman made promises to Farrah and her team as planning continued. In total, Farrah was supposed to get 32 hotel rooms, 6 plane tickets and a couple dozen fight night tickets.

Feldman recently informed Farrah's team he can't deliver those numbers ... according to our sources, so she won't deliver on the fight. We're told she's standing firm -- no gloves, if there's no love for her friends and fam.

We spoke with Feldman and fight investor Samantha Goldberg who tell us the fight contract never specified Farrah would get accommodations for friends and family. Goldberg says Farrah's team made the outlandish demands just last week, and there will be severe consequences if she backs out.

Feldman provided us proof he's booked first-class flights for Farrah and her daughter ... and says he's got the hotel rooms locked down too.

It wouldn't be a total loss for her. Farrah's been training for months, so she'll still have the killer bod -- which can definitely help her make a few bucks.

We reached out to Abraham's manager, David Weintraub, who had no comment.

Dana White tells TMZ Sports ... if Floyd Mayweather is serious about fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov, it ain't gonna be a boxing match -- it's the Octagon or nothing!

Floyd has said he's 70% certain the two sides will get a deal done to box -- he expects to make a 9-FIGURE CHECK if it comes to fruition.

But, when we saw Dana at Mr. Chow in Beverly Hills over the weekend, he had an ultimatum for Floyd.

"Listen, if Mayweather wants to fight, come fight. You fight in the UFC. We're not boxing him. We did that once. That's over."

Of course, Dana's referring to Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor -- which clocked in at the 2nd highest pay-per-view fight of all time. But, apparently, Dana's not down for a second bite of that apple.

"You wanna fight? You come fight ... a REAL fight."

Mayweather has previously teased that he was training for an MMA fight -- but it doesn't seem like he ever followed through with it.

UFC welterweight champ Tyron Woodley has offered to personally train Floyd and said he truly believes the 41-year-old could have real success in the Octagon.

As for Khabib, White says his next UFC is pretty obvious ... he's gunning for Tony Ferguson, as long as they can overcome a few obstacles.

Oscar De La Hoya loves his girlfriend sooooo much ... he rented out an entire bar and threw a kick-ass party for her birthday ... and TMZ Sports has the vid!!

Sources tell us the Golden Boy booked the White Horse in Pasadena last weekend for Anna Valencia's 30th ... decking the place out in a casino theme, complete with blackjack tables and chips featuring her face!!

We're told the boxing champ footed the entire bill for the night (even the open bar) -- which he can definitely afford after putting together the largest contract in the history of pro sports.

Remember, it was Golden Boy that negotiated Canelo Alvarez's $365 MILLION fight contract with DAZN ... in which Canelo will take 11 fights over 5 years. Oscar's cut has gotta be pretty sweet.

As for Valencia, she's a model and an actress ... and has even done work with Golden Boy Promotions as an on-camera reporter.

The couple has been dating since earlier this year ... and by the looks of it, they couldn't be happier.

Happy birthday!!

Tekashi69 is getting serious about protecting himself -- he's hired 2 dudes who've proved themselves guarding boxing champ Floyd Mayweather.

Sources close to the Brooklyn rapper tell TMZ ... Tekashi brought on a couple of dudes from Floyd's old security detail -- both of whom are simply known as "The Great Wall." They have actual names though -- Big Church (the biggest dude in the back here) and Big Adam (the slightly shorter dude in the leather jacket up front).

We're told 6ix9ine and his team decided they needed to beef up his security presence after a fan was able to rush him onstage, during a show in Moscow.

His crew stomped out the dude, but our sources say the incident made Tekashi and co. rethink his protection.

Talk about great protection ... a TMT bodyguard tells TMZ Sports he'd straight-up box anybody -- INCLUDING BRUCE LEE -- if he had to, to protect Floyd Mayweather.

The Money Team defender's name is Jizzy Mack -- one of Floyd's longtime protectors -- and he tells us it doesn't matter who's comin' after Mayweather ... he's ready to be there to stop them.

"Whether it's Khabib, whether it's Conor, whether it's Bruce Lee, I don't care," he tells us ... "I'm coming at you."

Of course ... this whole discussion kicked off because Floyd's angling to fight Khabib -- and Khabib, after UFC 229, is now known for taking things just a little too far.

So, when we asked Jizzy what he'd do if Nurmagomedov and his crew tried to pull that same stunt on Floyd -- he says it'd get violent in a hurry.

"At the end of the day, my job is to protect Floyd. And, if they're all about that life, they can get it if they want to."

BTW ... if Floyd does eventually get in the ring with Khabib -- you can bet Jizzy's throwin' down cash on it -- 'cause he says he's put AT LEAST $100k on EVERY Floyd fight.

Nick Diaz says Canelo Alvraez is fighting BUMS -- and if he wants a REAL superfight, Oscar De La Hoya needs to call him, ASAP.

He's not joking -- telling TMZ Sports, "Let's be real. Canelo moving up to my weight? You ain't gonna win that fight."

Diaz says he's sparred with top-flight boxers like Andre Ward, and honestly believes he can compete and defeat Canelo, widely regarded as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

"You're just basically one of them little guys I spar before I fight," Diaz says ... adding, "Nothing personal. Motherf**ker don't speak English so he ain't knowing what I'm saying anyway."

So, we went to Oscar -- Canelo's promoter -- to ask if there's a chance he'd make it happen.

Oscar ain't exactly saying "no."

Don't get your hopes up when it comes to seeing Floyd Mayweather box Khabib ... 'cause the fight is NEVER HAPPENING -- so says ex-UFC star Brendan Schaub.

We got the UFC fighter-turned-MMA analyst out at LAX ... and dude wouldn't even let our photog finish his question about a possible Nurmagomedov-Floyd tilt.

"Stop it," Brendan tells TMZ Sports ... "It's never happening. It's never happening."

"It's not happening. EVER."

Why's Schaub so confident about that??

"Khabib's not a striker!!!!!!!"

Khabib feels otherwise -- he's bragged about putting Conor McGregor on his ass with an overhand right during their fight at UFC 229.

Of course ... all this Khabib-Floyd talk has gotten real recently 'cause Mayweather told us the fight is 100 percent going down.

Sorry, fight fans ... Floyd Mayweather's making it clear -- the Manny Pacquiao tilt is off.

"I don't give a f*** about what's going on with Pacquiao," Floyd tells TMZ Sports.

Remember ... Floyd was singing a little different tune just a few weeks ago -- when he said, "I'm coming back to fight Manny Pacquiao this year another 9 figure pay day on the way."

But, Floyd tells us that's now off, saying, "We not going to make that happen right now. Not right now. We must take that fight and let that fight build. And then, down the line, let that fight happen."

So, what happened??

Mayweather says it's kinda complicated ... but, basically, since Pacman's now signed with Floyd's manager, Al Haymon -- they wanna go a different route.

"I think the best fight for Pacquiao -- what I told Al Haymon -- was probably the Adrien Broner fight. And then we got Errol Spence and Terence Crawford."

In the meantime ... Floyd seems sure as hell set on getting in the ring with Khabib and/or Conor McGregor.

Move over Khabib, Conor and Floyd ... Cody Garbrandt wants in on the MMA-boxing crossover action -- and he's callin' out Manny Pacquiao!!!

We got Cody outside of Mastro's with Russell Peters and Chuck Zito ... talkin' everything from Mike Tyson training Khabib to Nurmagomedov's chances against Mayweather in a ring.

But, then Peters brought up a dream fight for Cody -- a boxing match with Pacquiao ... and, turns out, Garbrandt's ALL FOR IT!!!

"I would love that fight, yeah, I would love that."

Cody tells us it wouldn't just be a money grab ... dude says he has a legit boxing background -- and seems confident he could take Manny!

Tyron Woodley says he spoke with Floyd Mayweather -- and the boxer told him he honestly believes there's a 70% chance the fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov actually happens.

You can see Tyron give all the details about his call with Floyd on this week's 'Hollywood Beatdown' ... where the UFC champ also reveals what Floyd's doing behind the scenes to make it happen.

"Floyd says it's the real deal."

Tyron also explains why he thinks BOTH guys in the Khabib vs. Conor fight looked terrible -- and tells us what he REALLY thinks about Canelo Alvarez's new $365-million contract.

Plus, Tyron also brings in a very special guest and drops some info about his hit song, "I'll Beat Yo Ass," that could make some people RICH!

Floyd Mayweather is proving you can never be too rich -- 'cause the dude just dropped $2,000 on lottery tickets in the hopes of winning the $1 BILLION jackpot!!!

Floyd rolled into a 76 gas station in L.A. on Thursday and told the cashier to start ringing up the Mega Millions tickets. You can see the stack of orange tickets in his hand as he walked out with his bodyguard.

The current jackpot is $1 BILLION -- but if there's a single winner and that person takes the lump sum, the take-home check would be about $565 million!!!

The drawing is set for Friday night -- but if nobody wins, the prize will be carried over to next week where the estimated grand prize could be over $1.6 BILLION!!!

Good luck, everyone ...

Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khaled have been hit with a lawsuit from people who claim the stars participated in an illegal cryptocurrency scam that screwed investors out of millions of REAL dollars.

The coin at the center of the scandal is called Centra Tech -- and, according to the class action lawsuit, Floyd and Khaled were influential celebrity endorsers who promoted the virtual currency on social media.

In fact, social media posts from Floyd encouraged people to buy the coin and he said he was so excited about it, "You can call me Floyd 'Crypto' Mayweather from now on."

Khaled called the company and its products a "game changer."

The problem ... the Securities and Exchange Commission says the company behind the coin was operating illegally, misleading investors and claims several of the execs listed on the company website don't really exist.

Centra Tech raised $32 million in backing during the initial coin offering in 2017 ... thanks, in part, to the celeb endorsements ... the lawsuit claims.

The founders of the company were arrested back in April and are facing several charges including securities fraud, wire fraud and some conspiracy charges.

In the suit, investors are going after the company founders and the celeb endorsers for fraud -- and they're seeking to get their millions of dollars back plus damages.

Oscar De La Hoya believes Floyd Mayweather is angling for a rematch with Canelo Alvarez -- claiming he's a broke-ass fraud who desperately needs a money fight to stay afloat.

The head of Golden Boy Promotions was celebrating the record-breaking $365-MILLION contract he made for Canelo Alvarez ... when we asked about his rekindled beef with Floyd.

As we previously reported, Floyd dug up an old photo of Oscar on Thursday and blasted him on social media saying some pretty offensive stuff.

But, Oscar didn't seem too bothered at the Intercontinental hotel in L.A. Thursday night -- saying Floyd is simply trying to ruin Canelo's moment because he's a jealous, bitter man.

"How fair is it that Canelo announces this big monumental deal and then here you have Floyd crawling out of his little rock, trying to sabotage or trying to steal the thunder."

"That's who he is," Oscar says ... "He's a lowlife."

Oscar tells TMZ Sports ... he honestly believes Floyd has blown through his fortune and needs money in a bad way -- and he's trying to pick a fight with Canelo to goose him into making a deal.

Oscar says he'll happily make the deal -- because Canelo wants it -- but believes Floyd's too chicken to make it happen.

"Floyd, stay under your rock dude."