Boxing

Floyd Mayweather's fight with Tenshin Nasukawa is a complete joke and is nothing but a money grab ... so says Bob Arum, who RIPPED Floyd for even taking the fight.

"It is a non-event. It is not a sporting event," Bob tells TMZ Sports.

Arum was out at Craig's this week when he made sure to stop for our photog, to crap all over Mayweather's highly-anticipated New Year's Eve exhibition in Japan.

"That's pretty much a joke, isn't it? I think so. I think so. Because, it's not a real fight ... the people who are watching that nonsense are pretty well jerks."

In fact ... Bob tells us he thinks the ONLY reason the tilt is going down is 'cause Mayweather straight-up NEEDS the cash!!

"He needs money for Christmas and the New Year, and this is a good way for him to make some money. God knows Floyd always needs money!"

Andrew Berto says Tenshin Nasukawa has a huge chance ... the chance to ruin Floyd Mayweather's legacy FOREVER, all he's gotta do is go in there and beat Floyd.

Mayweather is 50-0 and has beaten everyone from Canelo Alvarez to Oscar De La Hoya ... but, according to Berto, that all goes out the window if he loses his December 31 exhibition match with Tenshin.

"It would tarnish it for sure. You cant be 50-0 fighting some of the best fighters in the world then get knocked out by some kid."

Berto faced off against Mayweather back in 2015, and says the chances that Tenshin gets the upset in Tokyo are SLIM ... but sees one strategy he can use to pull off the upset.

"Go in there and try to knock his head off, and if you throw a kick ... f**k it."

It's going down in a couple days, 3 3-minute rounds for an eight figure payday, a lot of fun, and maybe Floyd's reputation ... could it happen?

They were teammates and roommates ... but now MMA rising star Kayla Harrison says she's gunning to take Ronda Rousey's place as the greatest female fighter of all time.

"Ronda always used to call us 'Frenemies,'" Harrison tells TMZ Sports ... "I've always kinda had a chip on my shoulder. Like, anything Ronda could do, I could do better."

"She's always sorta been my motivation behind the scenes."

Kayla trained with Ronda every day for 7 years back when they were coming up in the judo world together ... but says they're very different people.

Harrison won 2 gold medals in her Olympic judo career -- one in 2012 and another in 2016. Now, the 28-year-old is focused on destroying people in MMA.

"I want to be the best fighter in the world. I want to go down in history as one of the most dominant female combat athletes there ever was."

Kayla is 2-0 as a pro MMA fighter, and takes on Moriel Charneski at the PFL 2018 World Championship on New Year's Eve at Madison Square Garden.

As for her next opponent, Kayla's manager Ali Abdelaziz says he's got his sights set on Cris Cyborg.

Roy Jones Jr. says a new deal he inked with UFC to stream his boxing events won't just benefit his own sport -- it'll elevate UFC as well ... and it might make a potential fight between himself and Anderson Silva that much more likely to happen.

We got the 6-time boxing champ at LAX Friday on the heels of a joint announcement Roy and Dana White rolled out just hours earlier -- UFC Fight Pass will stream up to 72 pro boxing events put on by Roy Jones Jr.'s Boxing Promotions company ... for 3 years!

Roy certainly seems jazzed about the news, telling us it's a partnership that he and his pal, Dana, have been circling for a while ... but only took about a month or so to hammer out on paper once everything was in place. He says it's a win-win for both sports.

Now for the juicy part ... we ask if he still thinks he'll get in the ring one last time to fight Spider himself, as he'd previously expressed interest in doing this past January.

Check out his response ... sounds like he's still waiting on DW to sign off, but ya gotta think this new contract can only help the cause.

Even the President of the United States has issues with his cable provider ...

Donald Trump has a bone to pick with DirecTV -- after he ordered a UFC fight back in July ... but didn't get to see how it ended.

According to Dana White, Trump REALLY wanted to see UFC 226 -- Daniel Cormier vs. Stipe Miocic -- and ponied up the $65 to order the pay-per-view on DirecTV.

But, Dana says some "Presidential stuff" went down during the July 7 event, and Trump had to step away from his TV.

A few days later, when Trump finally got some free time to finish the fight -- White says the fight was already gone from his DVR ... and he couldn't watch the end on demand.

"So, he said, 'If I paid for the fight, shouldn't I get to watch the rest of the fight whenever I'm ready to watch it again?'"

Dana says he sees Trump's point and thinks POTUS is probably right ... but it's a beef the President needs to settle with DirecTV.

Of course, Dana and Trump are longtime friends -- with Dana even giving a speech for Donald at the Republican National Convention back in 2016.

Daniel Cormier is proving why he's the champ in AND out the Octagon -- the UFC star footed a $300 dinner bill for a woman who's battling Stage 4 cancer.

Pete Guzman and his mom, Rosario, were eating dinner at Sapporo Japanese restaurant in Monterey, CA on Thursday when in walks his favorite MMA fighter, Daniel Cormier.

Cormier was with his own family -- and, as fate would have it, they were seated with Pete and Rosario at the hibachi table.

Pete tells TMZ Sports ... Cormier and his fam couldn't have been nicer people. They had a great conversation and even posed for pics afterward.

And, since it was Rosario's birthday, the Cormiers busted out their singing voices for a rendition of "Happy Birthday."

When the time came to pay the check, the wait staff told Pete and Rosario their bill had already been covered ... by the reigning UFC heavyweight champion of the world!

"My mom was loving every second of it," Pete tells us.

Oh, and get this ... Pete says Cormier didn't know Rosario was battling stage 4 cancer (she never mentioned it at the table). But, the gesture provided so much happiness during this difficult time.

To top it all off ... Cormier even gave Rosario a handwritten birthday wish and autograph!!

C'mon ... even Jon Jones has to give Cormier props for this one!!!!

Jon Jones wants to see Conor McGregor get another crack at Khabib -- telling TMZ Sports he LOVED the first fight ... and really hopes Dana White locks 'em both in for a rematch.

"I would love to see that again," Jones said after the UFC 232 press conference ... "That was a great fight."

Of course, Khabib dominated Conor during the Oct. 6 bout at UFC 229 ... ultimately submitting the Irishman in the 4th round.

But, Jones believes one fight shouldn't define an athlete -- and he's confident McGregor still has the skills to compete with the best in the world.

"Wins and losses happen when you're fighting at the level that guys like Conor and I are fighting at ... it happens and it's a big part of the game but its not a race."

"As a martial artist, one fight never defines an athlete. It's a journey. It's about how you finish the race."

Adrien Broner found himself mugging for the wrong camera this holiday season ... after getting arrested just days before Christmas.

The boxing star was busted Sunday in Broward County, Florida after a warrant for his arrest was issued for failure to appear in court earlier this month. He was booked in county jail and then released ... court records show.

The bench warrant stems from a case dating back to December 2017 ... after he was arrested for having no driver's license, speeding, no registration or proof of insurance. Since that arrest, he's failed to appear in court several times ... which led to a previous arrest in July for failure to appear.

Deontay Wilder may have created a big-time movie role for himself -- because Michael B. Jordan tells us he LIKES the boxer's idea of playing Clubber Lang's son in "Creed 3."

Remember, Wilder -- the heavyweight champion of the world -- recently told TMZ Sports he's gunning for a Hollywood career ... and suggested playing the offspring of Mr. T's famous character in "Rocky III."

Hey, Michael B. is already playing Apollo Creed's son ... and "Creed II" was all about Ivan Drago's son ... so why not let Clubber's kid get in on the action???

"It's a good idea! It's a cool idea," Jordan told us in L.A. ... while praising Deontay Wilder.

Michael B. told us the 'Creed 3' storyline is still up in the air -- so it seems like Wilder has a real shot. Plus, Michael pointed out how Sylvester Stallone and his crew have always loved using real boxers in the 'Rocky' movies.

The one big issue ... Michael pointed out Deontay (at 6'7") is way bigger than Clubber Lang ... since Mr. T is only 5'10".

Logan Paul says Dana White needs to "get his head out of his ass" and sign him to a UFC fight already -- because it's easy money for everyone involved.

Remember, Paul fought YouTube star KSI in a boxing match earlier this year -- and got real praise from real UFC stars including Tyron Woodley and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan.

Paul had said he wants a UFC fight next, but White shot him down saying he'd get hurt if he got in the Octagon with a real MMA fighter.

But, Paul says that's a bunch of crap -- telling TMZ Sports he's already proven he can hold his own in a fight ... and would dedicate himself to training if the two sides worked out a deal.

"If I get the chance to fight in the UFC, that's my life," Paul says.

"Dana, what's good? The people want it man!"

Of course, Paul's opponent would be a huge factor -- Logan says he understands he's not ready for a shot with a killer like Khabib ... but he WOULD be down to fight Conor McGregor.

"I would be honored for Conor to rip my head off."

Female UFC badass Cris Cyborg beats up grown fighting men ... so says her famous striking coach Jason Parillo ... who tells us Justino is an equal opportunity ass kicker.

Cyborg is no doubt one of the scariest women in combat sports history ... but when we talked to Parillo recently in L.A., he says that term should be persons because Cyborg gives it to guys all the time.

"When we're sparring, she can definitely compete with a lot of guys out there." Parillo says ... "She puts it on men. She busts them up."

Cris has a massive fight comin' up against Amanda Nunes at UFC 232 in Las Vegas later this month.

Adrien Broner is rocking over a million dollars worth of bling, but he's never paid for his ice because he bounced checks to the jeweler and still owes the bill ... this according to a new lawsuit.

Pristine Jewelers NY says the boxing star promised to pay for multiple jewelry orders totaling $1.252 MILLION, but his checks haven't cleared and he's refusing to follow through on a payment plan.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, Adrien told the jeweler he would pay for his bling after his April fight against Jessie Vargas, but the jeweler has only been able to collect $100k from Broner ... leaving an unpaid balance of $1.152 million.

It's been over a year since Broner first ordered his bling, and Pristine wants the boxer to pay up now and throw in another MILLION in punitive damages.

Broner has a big payday in his future, because he's fighting Manny Pacquiao January 19 in Vegas. Problem is ... the jeweler claims Adrien has already stiffed them after one big fight.

Once again, UFC superstar Jon Jones is apologizing for a failed drug test -- claiming the steroid found in his system this week was not consumed with the intention to cheat.

"I just wanted to take the time out to apologize to the fans for what is going on," Jones said in a video posted Sunday night ... "It's a situation that's completely out of my control."

In case you didn't know ... officials found traces of the steroid Turinabol while testing Jones for his upcoming fight against Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232 on Dec. 29.

But, officials from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) have essentially said the traces found in JJ's system were TINY -- and likely leftovers from when he tested positive in 2017.

Still, the Nevada State Athletic Commission would not let Jones fight in Vegas -- but he got the green light in California ... so, Dana White and the UFC relocated the event to L.A.

Some people (including UFC fighters) are furious -- claiming they already made plans, bought tickets, hotel rooms, airplane tickets, etc.

In his video, Jones acknowledges the situation is messed up but claims he didn't take any PEDs and never intended for this to happen.

"This is a situation that is completely out of my control ... but I still will man up and apologize for this happening."

"I realize there's a lot of people who lost out in the situation ... people came from Sweden, people came from Brazil ... I feel your frustration."

Jones says he's trying to make things right -- and has paid for hotel rooms and airplane tickets for some people -- but insists, "This is not a mistake I made."

Al Iaquinta is ready to take Conor McGregor's head off -- telling TMZ Sports he'll smash the Irishman if they ever step into the Octagon together ... insisting Conor's run at the top is OVER.

Of course, "Ragin" Al defeated Kevin Lee at UFC on FOX 31 -- and now the #4 lightweight fighter tells us he's earned a shot Tony Ferguson, the #1 contender ... which would open up a rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Al fought Khabib at UFC 223 in April when he stepped in for Max Holloway on 1 day's notice. Al went all 5 rounds with Khabib but lost by unanimous decision.

Al says he looked WAY better against Khabib than Conor did when they fought in October -- and says he strongly believes Conor has simply "lost it."

But, more importantly, Al says his track record shows that he can wreck people when he gets more than 24 hours to prepare -- and would LOVE to prove it in a fight with Conor.

And, if you think it's all about the money, Al says that's BS -- he'd gladly step into an alley for a chance to beat down McGregor for free.

Jermell Charlo says he's down to fight Conor McGregor for his next big scrap ... and tells TMZ Sports it can be boxing OR MMA!!!

"We always on standby," Charlo says ... "Especially for an MMA fight. Why not?!"

Of course ... Conor's next opponent IS up in the air after he got mauled by Khabib in October -- and Charlo's also lookin' for a fight after he takes on Tony Harrison Saturday night.

So, could it happen? Maybe ... especially 'cause Charlo seems down to sweeten the pot by steppin' out of the ring and into the Octagon.

"It's wherever he want to fight. Conor's a grown man. He knows what to do. And, he knows who to call!"

Middleweight mauler Jermall Charlo says the big fight he wants next is Canelo Alvarez ... because when it comes down to it Canelo is bigger and better than Gennady Golovkin.

Most agree that Jermall is on the cusp of superstardom ... but he needs one huge fight to catapult him from a boxing star to a household name.

A win over GGG or Canelo would probably do the trick ... but when we talked to JC in NYC, he said he wants one guy -- the better guy -- much more than the other.

"Canelo seems to be the better fighter right? He won the fight right? He beat him right? So I wanna fight the 28-year-old so-called stud."

Not everyone agrees with Charlo BTW ... there are many people who think GGG won BOTH fights, and was robbed each time by judges who favored the younger, more popular fighter.

In any case, Charlo has some work to do before he gets his shot at Canelo, squaring off against Matt Korobov in Brooklyn this Saturday, but is DESPERATE for a bigger fight.