Boxing

You barely EVER see a Mayweather get knocked down in a boxing ring -- but that's what happened when Floyd's 66-year-old dad strapped on the gloves this week ... and it was all caught on video.

Floyd Mayweather Sr. -- a former pro boxer who became one of the top trainers in the world -- was at his son's TMT boxing gym in Vegas this week, where he decided to spar with one of the younger guys.

It started off great ... with Floyd Sr. stickin' and movin' and throwing some pretty quick shots -- but, when the other guy started to fight back, it didn't go well for the old man.

Floyd took a few clean shots to the head -- sending him flying backward ... and ended with the elder Mayweather lying flat on his back with his feet up in the air.

Don't worry ... he's tough -- he'll be fine.

Great news for people who wanna see Jake Paul and Soulja Boy beat the snot outta each other ... Big Drako says their boxing match is 100% going down!!!

TMZ Sports spoke with Soulja about his back-and-forth with the YouTube megastar ... and he says he's dead serious about setting up the celeb fight.

"Jake Paul can't beat me in no fight, you know that," Soulja says. "It's really gonna happen though. It's for real."

Of course, both dudes have offered to put $20 MILLION on the fight ... and, although Jake told us he has serious doubts about Soulja being able to cough up all that dough ... the rapper doubles down.

We also asked Drako what he thinks of Jake's skills ... and he's got one message for him.

Floyd Mayweather says he could get a 10-FIGURE CHECK from the UFC ... if he told Dana White he wanted a deal to fight in the Octagon right now.

Yeah ... that's $1 BILLION.

The legendary boxer made the revelation to Kevin Hart on the latest episode of "Cold As Balls" -- saying if he agreed to a contract with the fight company ... he'd get PAID.

"I can go get a deal right now from the UFC. Probably 3-fight, 4-fight, billion-dollar deal if that's what I wanted."

Of course, Floyd's flirted heavily with the idea in the past ... remember, he teased a possible MMA fight with Conor McGregor just last year -- even stepping into an actual cage!!!

For his part ... Dana admitted he did have LEGIT interest in inking the boxer to a fight deal -- and said they were actually in talks in December 2017.

So ... will it ever go down????

Doesn't seem like it ... Floyd says there's just no need for the cash right now, "I'mma be honest. My life is great. Smart investments. I can buy whatever I want to buy, every month."

Rocky fought Drago in the Soviet Union ... and Kelvin Gastelum's fighting Robert Whittaker in Australia -- and just like "Rocky IV," Gastelum says he's gonna beat the hell outta the home-country hero.

TMZ Sports talked to Gastelum -- whose favorite boxer is Rocky Balboa (yes, we all know he's a fictional character) -- days before fighting Whittaker, the UFC middleweight champ ... in his home country.

Gastelum lives in California ... and traveled 8,000 miles for this fight. So, he's expecting everyone on the continent to be rooting against him.

Sounds a lot like "Rocky IV" ... but Kelvin says he ain't worried.

"It's all good. Look what happens at the end. Rocky turns everybody over on his side, and he wins the fight."

Gastelum says that's precisely what he's gonna do ... but instead of a crushing knockout blow, he's gonna "rip his head off" and take his belt.

"I plan on taking that 12 pounds of gold. It's a long flight home. I don't plan on going empty-handed."

Former boxing champ Rocky Lockridge -- who later had the most famous appearance on the show "Intervention" -- has passed away at age 60, his family confirms.

Family members tell us Rocky died Thursday morning from complications from a stroke he suffered a while back.

Lockridge was a stud fighter back in the '80s -- racking up multiple titles with victories over guys like Roger Mayweather.

But, he later became addicted to crack cocaine ... and his family brought him on the A&E show, "Intervention," in an effort to get him cleaned up.

During one famous scene, family members were pouring out their hearts to Rocky and he belted out a cry that went viral. It later became an Internet meme known as "best cry ever."

Rocky's son Ricky Lockridge confirmed his father's passing and said, "It is with great pain but a whole heart that I tell you family and friends that my father Ricky Lockridge aka Rocky Lockridge has passed away."

"All he wanted was to be in the comfort of his home with friends/ family. God has called him to walk through the gates of heaven."

Lockridge had reportedly been in hospital care for the past few weeks.

Jake Paul wants to fight Soulja Boy for $20 MILLION ... and he's telling TMZ Sports that he'll cough up his own 20 milli to make it happen!!!

ICYMI -- the social media superstar and rapper traded jabs in an Instagram Live session last week ... with Soulja offering Paul a HUGE chunk of cash to get him to square up in the ring.

Paul tells us this was no publicity stunt -- he really wants a piece of Pretty Boy Swag ... and as for the money, he'll have no problem putting up the $20 milli if Soulja can't swing it.

FYI -- you're sitting down, right? -- Paul can put his money where his mouth is. The dude reportedly made $21.5 million in 2018 alone, according to Forbes.

Of course, Jake knows his way around the ring ... he easily handled Deji in his first YouTube super fight and called out Chris Brown right after taking him down.

Clearly, Jake will happily settle for Soulja Boy.

Adrien Broner says he'd LOVE to fight Manny Pacquiao again ... but isn't sure it'll happen because after he thinks he may have injured Pac-Man so badly during their fight, Manny might be DONE FOREVER.

Also, Broner shows us stacks and stacks of money ... like a lot of money ... guy claims to be very, very, economically stable.

Our broke asses got Broner -- with his buddy "The Youngest Legend" -- at LAX on his way to Atlanta, where AB told our destitute camera guy he was headed to ATL for Super Bowl festivities ... then he flashed the cash.

When we asked what the money was for, Broner said at least part of the haul -- $100k -- was to bet on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, which seems like a pretty good idea.

But, when we asked him about a possible rematch with Pacquiao to attempt to avenge his loss from earlier this month -- AB suggested he might've finished Pac-Man off for good.

"Well, they say I detached his retina, so I don't know if he gonna box again. I hope so though."

There were early reports that Pacquiao did, in fact, suffer a detached retina during the bout -- but his camp has since refuted those claims ... saying the injury was nothing more than a scratched cornea.

If true, a detached retina is a possible career ender for a boxer. A scratched cornea, not so much.

7:28 AM PT -- The accuser's attorney tells us his client is suing for $8 million.

The woman who claims she was attacked by boxing superstar Sergey Kovalev has now filed a lawsuit against the Russian ... claiming the 35-year-old also brutalized her dog.

It's all in court docs obtained by TMZ Sports ... Jamie Frontz (who has identified herself publicly) claims she met Sergey at the grand opening of a boxing gym in Big Bear, CA back in June.

Frontz -- a model and actress -- claims Sergey and a friend followed her home from the party and Kovalev aggressively tried to have sex with her.

"At one point, Kovalev pinned Jamie to the couch, leaning over her with his hands on either side of her shoulders, such that she could not move away."

Jamie claims her dog sensed the danger and tried to intervene -- but Kovalev shoved the dog away and then kicked it in the chest.

While tending to her dog, Jamie claims, "Kovalev turned to [her] and punched her with full force directly in the face one time with a closed fist."

In her suit, Jamie claims Sergey fled the scene -- so, she called the cops.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... cops tracked down Kovalev and arrested him. He's been charged with felony assault and faces up to 4 years in prison. Kovalev has pleaded not guilty.

In her suit, Jamie claims she went to the emergency room where she was treated for a broken nose, head injuries and a concussion. She also suffered severe back and neck injuries.

The next morning, Jamie claims she saw Kovalev crawl out of the bushes near her cabin, and he yelled her name -- so, she called 911 and later got a restraining order against him.

Jamie is suing for more than $3 million in damages.

We reached out to Kovalev for comment -- so far, no word back.

Sergey is due back in court in March to face the criminal charge. He's also set to fight Eleider Alvarez this Saturday, in a rematch of an August bout that he shockingly lost.

Brian Ortega says he's ALMOST back to 100% after breaking his nose and thumb at UFC 231 ... which begs the question -- is a rematch with Max Holloway on the horizon?!

TMZ Sports spoke with T-City -- who just got back from some R&R in Mexico -- about his plans following his loss to Holloway last month ... and he says he'll be good to go in 2 months.

Ortega says he's got a number of options to pursue when he gets back into the Octagon ... and says he's even exploring moving up to lightweight.

Adrien Broner is a wanted man in Florida ... again.

The star boxer failed to show up in Broward County court once again Wednesday ... and the judge issued a warrant for his arrest immediately afterward.

Remember, this ain't the first time Broner's had this problem ... he's been arrested TWICE already for this same issue -- including just last month -- all stemming from a Dec. 2017 speeding incident.

So, where was Broner instead of court Wednesday? Dude has been in Los Angeles -- in fact, he went to the Lakers game on Thursday night. Hey, priorities right?

Cops arrested the 29-year-old for having no driver's license, speeding, no registration or proof of insurance on Dec. 7, 2017 ... but nobody's been able to get him to show in court since.

If/when he ever appears for the traffic offense ... don't be surprised if the judge throws the book at him for blowing off the case so many times in the past year.

Manny went for the handshake.

Floyd went for the dap.

The result was ... well, it was a mess.

Once again, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao came face-to-face at the Lakers game -- in what seems to be more shameless promotion for an upcoming rematch.

Floyd was sitting on the court at Staples Center in L.A. to watch the Lakers take on the Warriors (they lost) ... when Manny came up from behind to say "What's up."

The handshake greeting was a disaster -- but they got the point across.

The big problem ... Manny reportedly suffered an eye injury during his victory over Adrien Broner this past weekend -- which could throw a huge wrench in the rematch plans.

According to reports, Manny feared he suffered a detached retina in his left eye. Later, his manager said the eye was "fine" and he'll be okay.

Manny was wearing shades at the game -- so you can't see if the eye looks damaged on the surface.

As we previously reported, Manny and Floyd have been teasing a rematch for months ... and with both fighters looking pretty solid in their last fights, it seems a deal could be close.

The two originally fought back in 2015 -- with Floyd winning a unanimous decision in a pretty boring fight.

We recently spoke with Manny who told us he had a bad shoulder at the time -- and now that he's fully healed, he's confident he would whoop that ass.

No deal has been made at this point -- but we're guessing it's just a matter of time ... considering the money these guys could rake in.

There were other big stars at the Lakers game too -- including Halsey, Alexis Ren, Mahershala Ali, Jack Nicholson and LeBron James ... who was a spectator Monday night due to injury.

Get well soon!

Tiffany Haddish gave Adrien Broner's swollen face something to grin about after loss to Manny Pacquaio ... bum-rushing his post-fight press conference and doing her best to lighten the mood.

Broner took to the podium to explain once again how he didn't lose the fight ... and after a couple of regular questions from media, a very familiar voice from "South Central News" started in.

Of course, that reporter was Haddish -- and rather than ask anything about the fight, Tiff wanted to know how and where she could get some Fashionova duds from Broner, who's been rocking the brand lately.

Broner shoulda been ready for questions from Haddish, because she'd turned up earlier in the presser, asking equally amusing questions to light heavyweight champ Marcus Browne.

Now we don't know how Tiffany made it into the event, or why she did it, but we do know this ... it was the most entertaining part of the night.

Detroit rapper Tee Grizzley is pissed at Adrien Broner ... saying Adrien cost him a grip of cash when he got punished by Manny Pacquiao ... a $20,000 grip to be exact.

Broner got his ass handed to him Saturday night, in a fight where he only landed 50 punches and spent most of the match on his bike, running from a 40-year-old.

After the fight, Broner told Jim Gray he believed he won the fight -- and noted his pals in the "hood" were behind him.

"I did this for the hood," Broner said during the post-fight interview ... "You know I beat that boy."

Most of Twitter was disgusted with AB's performance, but Tee was especially pissed -- taking to social media to throw major shade at Broner.

"AB, what hood was you doing that sh*t for bro? You shootin' dice and all in the airport playing and sh*t, you shoulda been training. I lost 20 racks f*cking with you."

Manny Pacquiao's Los Angeles home was burglarized less than 24 hours after the boxer defeated Adrien Broner.

Law enforcement sources tell us they got a call Sunday from someone on Pacquiao's team regarding the crime. We're told there were signs of forced entry and the home was ransacked.

Pacquiao was not home at the time ... he was still in Las Vegas. Pacquiao beat Broner by unanimous decision Saturday.

At this time, it is not known what all was taken from the boxer's home. Cops do not have any suspects.

Manny's victory over Broner improves his pro record an impressive 61-7-2. Pacquiao won the fight via unanimous decision and he looked pretty good.

Now, the question is ... will Manny and Floyd Mayweather work out a deal for a rematch? Remember, both fighters had been teasing a 2nd fight for months but so far, no deal has been made.

The last time Manny and Floyd fought, both guys made a TON of cash -- Floyd raked in around $300 MIL and Manny's haul was around $100 MIL.

Adrien Broner went off the rails Saturday night in a post-fight interview after pretty much getting destroyed by Manny Pacquiao for the WBA welterweight championship ... telling Showtime's Jim Gray he could beat the crap out of him if he wanted.

Pacquiao dominated the fight -- pretty much everyone but Adrien agrees -- and Broner went on a tirade with Gray, who warned him to keep it civil or else he'd pull the plug on the interview.

Broner suggested the fight at the MGM Grand in Vegas was rigged, but Gray stood his ground ... not only saying the outcome was the right one but questioning Broner's future.

Check out the vid ... Broner doesn't really have a comeback to Gray regarding his recent losses, but he does say he'd have an unblemished record if Gray would step in the ring with him.

Broner posted a photo to Instagram shortly after the fight to show off the absence of bruises.

Chris Weidman has his sights set on Jon Jones for his next fight ... telling TMZ Sports he's, "Always imagined going up and taking his belt."

Of course, Weidman's dealing with a neck injury ... and says surgery might be an option -- but once he's cleared -- he's gunnin' for Jones.

"He's been on my radar since I was a champion and he was champion at 205. I always imagined going up and taking his belt."

Weidman even threw some shade Jon's way ... saying the guy can't be considered the G.O.A.T. 'cause of his positive PED tests!!!

Jon's next fight is Anthony Smith at UFC 235 -- but he is lookin' for a 'bout after that ... and Chris says even if he needs surgery -- he'll DEFINITELY be ready to fight sometime in 2019.