Boxing

Sorry, Oscar De La Hoya ... you will NOT be making money off Kevin Hart's boxing career -- 'cause the actor says there's no way in HELL he's stepping in the ring for real!!!

If ya missed it ... Hart took on poker star Antonio Esfandiari in a fun exhibition match a few weeks ago, and De La Hoya told us he was fired up about the chance to be Hart's boxing promoter.

At the time, Oscar said, "If he wants a promoter, Kevin, give me a call. I can put you on the big stage here in Vegas live on DAZN."

When we got Hart out in NYC this week ... we had to ask about Oscar's offer -- and Hart couldn't shut down The Golden Boy faster!!!

"Boxing? I'm 40 years old!" Hart said .. "I can't box at this age."

It's a big bummer ... considering there was already HUGE interest in Hart's sparring sesh with Esfandiari -- big stars like Jonah Hill and Don Cheadle had ringside seats.

If Conor McGregor is serious about a rematch with Floyd Mayweather, all he needs to do is call ... this according to Mayweather Promotions CEO, Leonard Ellerbe.

Ellerbe runs Floyd's boxing business and has had his hands in some of the biggest events in the company's history ... including the McGregor and Pacquiao fights.

So, now that Conor has publicly stated he wants a second crack at Floyd, we asked Leonard if Mayweather would be down.

"Conor McGregor knows he's always welcome to that ass whooping," Ellerbe tells TMZ Sports.

"If Conor wants some of that smoke again, he knows what he's gotta do."

Long story short ... Ellerbe says Conor just needs to pick up the phone and call and they can get the ball rolling.

Even though Ellerbe says he hasn't spoken to Floyd about the fight, he's CERTAIN the 50-0 legend would dust off the gloves for another 9-figure payday.

But, Ellerbe says Floyd doesn't NEED the money ... noting he's heavily invested in real estate -- he owns several buildings in Times Square -- and he's set for life.

If Conor McGregor wants another crack at a top flight boxer, Keith Thurman says he's ALL THE WAY DOWN -- telling the Irishman straight up, "Box me, baby!!"

Of course, Thurman -- the WBA super welterweight champ -- is gearing up to face Manny Pacquaio on July 20 ... but says he's heard about Conor's desire to get back in the ring and wants that fight!

"You know you make more money in the boxing ring anyway. Box me, Conor!"

Thurman's not kidding ... he watched the McGregor vs. Mayweather fight back in 2017 and sees major holes in Conor's fight game.

"[In boxing], the advantage is do you have skills with the left? Do you have skills with the right? Do you have footwork? And, one thing [Conor] doesn't have is conditioning! He does not have conditioning. He is not ready for these championship fights."

"Floyd walked him down and beat him like he was playing 'Fight Night!'"

Thurman continued ... "He wanna talk that trash?! He wants to think actually got hands? Come on, man."

McGregor recently told Tony Robbins he wants a rematch with Floyd Mayweather because he's learned so much from the first fight and KNOWS he could get a win.

Bet you wish you were Danny Garcia right now.

The superstar boxer and his smokin' hot baby mama, Erica Mendez, are having the time of their lives out on vacation in Puerto Rico ... dancin' it up and putting it on display for all to enjoy.

And, yeah ... we're enjoying it, alright.

FYI -- Swift and the singer/model have been dating for years and have one child together.

But, it was Mom and Dad having all the fun on Wednesday ... showing off some serious moves to "Ella Quiere Beber" by Anuel AA and sippin' on some drinks.

Garcia (35-2) served up a knockout win in his last fight against Adrian Granados, but it's Mendez servin' up the KO looks this time around.

So, sit back and enjoy, wherever you are, and live vicariously through these guys. They're doing it right.

There will be no Tyson Fury nut sucking from Deontay Wilder ...

Just hours after the Gypsy King said Wilder can "suck my nuts" ... the Bronze Bomber responded to TMZ Sports -- saying Fury's trash talk is weak, considering Wilder KO'd him in their last fight!!!

"I gave him a memory loss to the point where he don't know how he got on the ground, nor do he know how he got up!"

The two are back trading barbs once again now that Wilder is looking for another opponent after beating Dominic Breazeale's face in over the weekend.

Fury told us Monday he's ready for a rematch, saying he'll take on Wilder anytime, anywhere.

But, when we got Deontay out in NYC ... he didn't seem so sure he wants that to be his next fight ... telling us his no. 1 goal is to be the UNDISPUTED heavyweight champ of the world.

Of course, that would require Wilder to fight Anthony Joshua next -- something both sides clearly want, but have failed to properly negotiate.

Jay-Z is being sued by a former Roc Nation Sports boxer -- who blames Hova and the company for the severe brain injuries he suffered after taking 3 fights in 79 days.

The boxer behind the lawsuit is Daniel Franco -- who claims he signed a deal with Roc Nation Sports back in 2015 ... and won his first 5 fights with Jay-Z's company.

But, the problems started in March 2017 ... Franco claims he came down with a bad flu before a big fight which sidelined him from training for 3 weeks.

Franco claims he told Roc Nation he needed to postpone or cancel the March 23 fight -- but Roc Nation pressured him into fighting anyway.

Franco says he lost badly in the 3rd round and should have taken time off to recover ... but instead, Roc Nation booked him to fight again 50 days later on May 12.

Then, Franco claims Roc Nation booked him for a third fight just a month later on June 10 ... his third fight in 79 days.

But, Franco claims Roc Nation never took the steps to make sure he was medically fit to take that third fight ... and it could have cost him his life.

In the court documents, Franco claims he believes he suffered 2 skull fractures and a brain bleed before the June 10 fight that could have been detected.

Instead, Franco says he fought on June 10 -- and lost again -- suffering major damage in the process.

Franco claims he was diagnosed with a brain hemorrhage and went into a coma. Doctors needed to remove a piece of his skull to relieve pressure from the bleed.

After 2 weeks, Franco awoke from his coma but claims he still has severe neurological and cognitive issues ... and is required to wear a helmet at all times to protect his brain.

In his suit, Franco says Roc Nation and Jay-Z had a duty to protect him -- but instead acted recklessly by scheduling him to fight 3 times in 79 days without "necessary medical testing."

He's asking for unspecified damages.

Conor McGregor says he wants another crack at Floyd Mayweather -- and with all that he's learned from their first fight, McGregor says he's 100% confident he would get that WIN!

"I would like to rematch him under boxing rules, again," McGregor said to Tony Robbins during a recent interview ... "and I believe I would win."

"Actually, there I go again with that fake humbleness ... I KNOW I WOULD WIN!"

Yeah, you can hear it in his voice ... McGregor really wants this.

Of course, Conor first fought Floyd back in August 2017 -- with Floyd beating on Conor so badly in the 10th round, the referee stopped the fight.

But, Conor didn't see the bout as a one-sided massacre ... he thinks he was WINNING early on.

"When I went into the fight in the early rounds I was WHOOPING him in the early rounds," Conor said ... "I went back to my corner after the 1st round and I said, 'This is easy!'"

But, Conor says Floyd switched up his style -- going from a "back-footed," defensive approach to a more aggressive "Mexican style."

Conor says the switch shows how talented Floyd is ... but now Conor says he can prepare better for that alternative style and crush Floyd in a rematch.

"He never fought like that in his entire career, but he was forced to fight that way because he was getting beaten," Conor said.

"The approach caught me off guard. I was not prepared for it, I was not used to it ... and he walked me down and end up getting the stoppage."

Conor says Floyd originally agreed to fight McGregor in an MMA match after the boxing event -- but Conor says, "I haven't heard from him since!"

Floyd has been taking exhibition fights ever since racking up his 50th pro victory ... but will a rematch with Conor pique his interest in a comeback?

MMA fighter Josh Copeland pled guilty to felony 2nd-degree assault in his domestic violence case -- stemming from allegations he punched his wife in the face during a heated altercation.

As we previously reported, Copeland -- 6'1", 265 lbs -- was arrested in Colorado on Feb. 2 after his wife told police he hit her so hard, her face was bloodied and bruised when cops arrived.

The woman had admitted she slapped Copeland in the face multiple times during the altercation -- but said he took things to another level of violence ... and then stole her phone so she couldn't call for help.

Copeland was originally hit with 4 criminal charges including felony assault, domestic violence, obstruction of telephone and child abuse (because the altercation allegedly took place in front of their son).

But now, a court official tells TMZ Sports ... Copeland appeared in court on Tuesday and cut a plea deal with prosecutors.

Long story short ... Copeland pled guilty to 2nd and 3rd-degree assault and in exchange, the other charges were dropped.

As for the sentence, Copeland was given 2 years probation -- and the judge noted he could be locked up if he doesn't stay out of trouble for the next 24 months.

Copeland is allowed to travel for work (he's a pro-MMA fighter) -- but he'll have to check in with the court in 2021 to make sure he's kept his nose clean.

Copeland is 18 and 6 as a pro-MMA fighter -- and even had a stint in the UFC in 2014 and 2015.

Watch out Ali vs. Frazier ... your status as the biggest heavyweight fight of all time is in jeopardy ... that's according to George Foreman, who says there's one fight that could be bigger.

Deontay Wilder vs. Anthony Joshua.

Wilder nuked Dominic Breazeale's face via 1st-round knockout this weekend -- and immediately, ring reporter Jim Gray began pressuring Deontay about when he'll fight Joshua, the most decorated active heavyweight.

We talked to Foreman, who says he doesn't know when the fight will happen, but he DOES know it'll be HUGE when it does.

"If Joshua and Wilder fight, it would be the biggest heavyweight fight of all time!"

Just so you guys know, historically all the biggest fights have been between heavyweights ... until Floyd Mayweather came along and changed the landscape.

We asked George again, and he doubled down saying the fight would be "bigger than anything."

Question is ... will it ever happen? Wilder didn't seem convinced after destroying Breazeale and Joshua is busy preparing to fight another dude no one's really ever heard of.

But, if George is right, we're talking about maybe a $300 million dollar event ... SO GET TO IT GUYS.

Here's video of one of the stars of HBO's "Ballers" being fed to the wolves by Jay Glazer ... and in this case the wolf is one of the best boxers in the world Ava Knight, who pounded the poor guy silly.

The poor guy is Carl McDowell, he plays TTD on "Ballers," and from everything we've heard (and of course, we hear a lot) he's a pretty solid dude that everybody likes.

So why Glazer decided to unleash Knight on him at his Unbreakable Gym is beyond us, but Jay did, and we're now doing the same thing you are, watching the video, and being happy it's not us.

In case you were wondering, Ava is a WBC World female Flyweight champ who just joined Floyd Mayweather's Money Team, so basically, she's a killer.

We gotta say, Carl took the shots pretty well -- at first -- then Jay had to intervene and do what Duke should've done in "Rocky IV" ... THROW THE DAMN TOWEL.

Hope you're okay Carl ... shame on you Jay (not really, it was hilarious).

UFC rising star "Platinum" Mike Perry is making a HARD push to step in and fight Robbie Lawler next month ... telling Dana White, "It's my time, bro!"

Perry is coming off a VERY impressive victory over "Cowboy" Alex Oliveira on April 27 -- and says he's already looking for another high-profile fight!!!

And, now with Tyron Woodley pulling out of his June 29 scrap with Lawler -- Perry says he's ready, willing and able to replace T-Wood at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

"Yo Dana, everybody wants to see me beat up Robbie Lawler," Perry tells TMZ Sports ... "Let's go, man!"

Perry knows Lawler will get to sign off on his opponent -- and says, "I wouldn't blame him for not accepting because I'm gonna whoop everybody's ass! It's my f*cking time!"

Perry says he respects Lawler -- but vows to put a serious hurtin' on the guy ... saying, "It will hurt my hands if he takes it. He'll be having headaches for weeks after the fight!"

He's even got a message for Robbie -- "If you wanna give the fans something fun to watch, that's you and me bro!"

Deontay Wilder says Anthony Joshua is straight-up DELUSIONAL if he thinks he holds the cards when it comes to negotiating their long-awaited super fight ... saying AJ is now a "desperate" man.

Wilder couldn't wait to fire back at Joshua after the British heavyweight told TMZ Sports that Wilder should "come see me" about putting a fight contract together.

"WE DID THAT 5 TIMES," Wilder told us ... "And, they denied me! So, I don't want to hear him talking about 'coming to see me' because we came and saw you, ya'll still ran!!!"

In other words, Wilder says he went to Joshua multiple times with various fight offers -- including a $50 MILLION upfront check if AJ would agree to throw down. But, Wilder says his offers were rejected every time.

Now, Wilder says Joshua is desperately seeking a high-profile opponent -- and has "nowhere to go" -- essentially claiming Joshua has lost all negotiating power.

"Now you want me to come and see you? Nah. Now it's on our terms. We'll come and see you when we WANT to come and see you," Wilder says.

Wilder says he's sick of being the one who always has to make concessions -- and says it's Joshua who should be BEGGING him for the privilege of fighting him.

Meanwhile, Wilder says he's got his sights set on Dominic Breazeale -- they're fighting on Saturday, May 18 at the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn ... and Deontay says it's personal.

Back in Feb. 2017 -- the two got into a major brawl at an Alabama hotel after fighting on the same card earlier that night.

Wilder says he felt incredibly disrespected by Dominic -- and vows to make him pay for the incident when they step in the ring.

"When you make it personal for me, now I really want to hurt you," Wilder said.

NBA legend Paul Pierce is being sued over an altercation with a security guard in the stands at the Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov fight ... TMZ Sports has learned.

The man behind the suit is Christopher Mostello -- who was working security at the T-Mobile Arena on Oct. 6, 2018, for UFC 229 when he got called over by a supervisor to respond to an incident involving Pierce.

Mostello claims he rushed over and was told Pierce had gotten aggressive and physical with the security supervisor -- a woman -- because she had asked for his ticket before allowing him back to his seat.

Mostello claims he was told Pierce grabbed the woman by the arms and pushed her to the side -- so he stepped in front of Paul to try and stop him.

But, Mostello claims Paul didn't stop -- instead Paul screamed "F*ck you" and accused Mostello of being a racist.

Footage of the altercation was captured by other fans in the stands and posted on TMZ Sports -- where you can clearly hear Pierce call the man a racist.

Mostello claims he's NOT a racist -- and he only engaged Pierce in the capacity of doing his job.

Now, Mostello claims his reputation has taken a serious hit and he's been subjected to public embarrassment, harassment and ridicule.

In the suit, filed by attorney Jesse Sbaih, Mostello accuses Pierce of defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. He's demanding more than $15,000 in damages plus attorney's fees and other costs.

Heavyweight boxer Kubrat Pulev -- who kissed a female reporter without consent -- has been ordered to complete a sexual harassment course in order to be licensed to fight in California again.

Pulev appeared in front of the California State Athletic Commission on Tuesday to address the March 23 incident when he kissed reporter Jenny Sushe during a post-fight interview.

Sushe claimed she did NOT give permission for Pulev to kiss her -- and hired attorney Gloria Allred to go after the 38-year-old fighter.

CSAC had suspended Pulev indefinitely following the incident -- but when the boxer faced the Commission in person on Tuesday, they agreed to reinstate him on July 22 if he completes a sexual harassment training course.

Pulev must also pay a $2,500 fine within 6 months from the incident -- and if he commits any similar offenses in the future, he could face a lifetime ban in California.

During the hearing, the CSAC commissioner lectured Pulev about the incident -- telling him he needs to understand why his actions are unacceptable and dangerous.

Pulev said he understood and wants to get back to work fighting as soon as possible.

Pulev is 27-1 as a pro -- with his only loss coming at the hands of Wladimir Klitschko.

This is amazing!!

Deontay Wilder has a massive fight this weekend ... but that didn't stop the heavyweight champ from hittin' up an NYC elementary school and delivering a rousing pump-up speech to the kids.

It all went down Monday afternoon at P.S. 288 -- a school for Pre-K to 8th graders -- in Brooklyn ... and the message was inspirational and heartfelt.

"I'm here to say I was just like you young guys, just in a different state, in a different city, different environment. Every time I woke, there was negativity," Wilder told the kids at the event put on by the "Game of Life" program, which focuses on helping children stay out of trouble.

"But, with you guys, you guys are powerful. Your words are powerful. The things you speak, the things you think. Your surroundings that you surround yourself around every day is powerful. And, I want you guys to know that."

Deontay continued ... "It took me 11 years to get here. Many people died near me. Many people labeled me as statistics to society ... 'You ain't gonna do nothing, you're bad.'"

The message is clear ... believe in yourself, follow your dreams ... and don't stop until you get where you wanna go.

Wilder ended the epic speech with a chant -- "Believe it, speak it!"

Michael B. Jordan doesn't want Conor McGregor's people to call his people about a role in 'Creed 3' ... because it seems like MBJ ain't at all interested in sharing the screen with the Irish mega-star.

We got Mike out in NYC -- wearing a Game Of Thrones style shoulder sheath with an umbrella in it (pulled it off too) -- and asked him if he'd be into the idea of Conor popping up in the next flick.

"Eh, I don't know about that man."

Now we should say ... Adonis Creed (Michael's character) fights at heavyweight, and Conor is like 155 pounds, so without a hell of a weight cut, we're now sure how the two would fight.

Still though, interesting that MBJ didn't even sound excited at all to share the screen in any way with Conor ... is the shine coming off the Irishman's star?

BTW ... we also asked about Deontay Wilder's chances of popping up in the movie ... something that two other stars of the flick have already said they're down for ... and Michael seemed more receptive.