Boxing

Logan Paul's asking nicely -- please don't show up to his house unannounced ... UNLESS you're there to get the hell beat out of you, because that's great for YouTube views.

We got LP outside Beauty & Essex restaurant in Hollywood Tuesday night, shortly after we broke the story ... a man showed up at his Encino home uninvited 2 days in a row, forcing Logan to call the cops and file a trespassing report.

Logan tells us it's not an unusual occurrence, but he'd like it to stop ... because, believe it or not, he actually values his privacy.

HOWEVER, Logan concedes that sometimes dudes showing up at his pad is totally cool ... if they have a gimmick and are down to get in the ring with him and get knocked out.

Case in point -- last week when fellow YouTuber ViktorCrazy camped out outside his gate dressed as Ivan Drago and demanded a boxing bout ... he got promptly whooped. Logan says that video was the best vlog he's had in a while.

So, there ya go clout chasers ... if you really want to walk the line of trespassing to take a chance at meeting Logan at his home, just have a game plan and be ready to get your ass kicked.

The reason Khabib Nurmagomedov agreed to fight Dustin Poirier in Sept. instead of a rematch with Conor McGregor is simple ... "McGregor didn't beg enough."

... this according to Khabib's manager, Ali Abdelaziz.

Of course, the REAL reason is that Khabib vs. Dustin is for the unified UFC lightweight title -- which was a huge priority to Dana White -- but hey, who doesn't love a little smack talk?!

So, when will the Khabib vs. Conor fight actually happen? Maybe never.

Ali says he doesn't believe McGregor ever wants to fight again -- saying Conor's more concerned with being an "Instagram model" these days than fighting for a UFC title.

Ali also says the UFC is stacked with talent -- from Khabib to Tony Ferguson to Poirier -- and they don't need Conor anymore.

So, if Conor really does want a second crack at Khabib, what needs to happen?

"Get maybe 2 or 3 wins," Ali says ... "Then get on his knees and beg!"

Andy Ruiz says he's ready to do something Anthony Joshua wouldn't do -- actually make a fight with Deontay Wilder ... telling TMZ Sports, "That's what we're aiming for!"

Oh, and Ruiz also says THE DRAKE CURSE IS REAL!!!!

The heavyweight boxing champ was leaving "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Tuesday when we asked about a potential fight with The Bronze Bomber ... and Ruiz told us he's all the way down!!

"But, first things first," Ruiz said ... "I gotta get Joshua."

Ruiz is referring to the rematch clause which was included in his original fight contract with Anthony Joshua. AJ has already triggered the clause and the rematch is expected to go down later this year.

But, after that, Ruiz says he's all about Deontay -- the reigning WBC heavyweight champ.

FYI, Wilder praised Ruiz after upsetting Joshua over the weekend -- saying, "You’ve been blessed to come out of the struggle and to become the 1st Mexican Heavyweight Champion Ever!"

"P.S It’s all up to you in what you do with this huge opportunity."

As for Drake, Joshua famously posed with the rapper before the Ruiz fight -- and then lost -- reinforcing the belief that Drake curses athletes!

So, when we asked Ruiz about it, he told us bluntly, "Don't even bring Drake around me!"

HA!

There's more ... Ruiz also talked about his diet, workout routine and that epic post-victory meal after the Joshua fight -- which sounds AWESOME!!

Congrats to the champ!!!

Errol Spence Jr. is arguably the lb.-for-lb. BADDEST dude in boxing ... but Shawn Porter ain't scared, telling TMZ Sports he's gonna beat Errol up and take his belt!!!

Porter -- the WBC welterweight champion -- joined the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (weeknights on FS1) ... and called out Spence -- the undefeated IBF welterweight champ.

"We can talk about Errol Spence being the boogeyman. I don't mind. We can talk about Errol Spence being the most dangerous man in the division. I don't mind."

"He can have all those titles. He can have the IBF title. I'm the WBC champion. And, all it is is a matter of time before I take that title from him."

The 2 champs have been going at it for months ... after Porter beat Danny Garcia in September 2018, Spence confronted SP and declared himself the best 147-pounder in the world.

Fast-forward to March ... Shawn and Errol got into it live on television.

Bottom line, these guys have been teasin' this fight forever ... and Shawn says he's done with the talking.

"Everything is lined up. Everything is ready. We've been presented some contracts. We put our signatures on those contracts, and now we're waiting to hear from his side."

"Jon Jones who? Cormier who? Conor McGregor who?" ... Henry Cejudo tells TMZ Sports he's the "greatest combat athlete of all-time."

Yes, you heard right ... Henry says he's the best ever.

The UFC's Flyweight champ (125 lbs.) came through the TMZ office days before his UFC 238 fight against Marlon Moraes -- where Cejudo's fighting for the Bantamweight title (135 lbs.) -- and entry into the exclusive champ-champ club.

For Cejudo ... it comes down to personal accomplishments -- and he believes there ain't a man or woman on Earth with a better resume.

"I feel like I'm the greatest combat athlete of all-time, and the credentials speak for itself," Henry tells us.

"Who's won Olympic gold medal? Who's won a flyweight title? Who's gonna fight for a second belt? Nobody. It's me."

FYI -- HC won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

It's not just a second belt he's after ... Henry also wants to be #1 on the UFC top pound-for-pound list -- where he's currently ranked 4th.

George Foreman says Anthony Joshua can be champion again ... and he's offering to help the former undefeated fighter, telling TMZ Sports, "He needs someone like me."

Joshua lost via TKO at the hands of Andy Ruiz Jr. at MSG Saturday night ... in one of the most shocking boxing upsets of all-time.

The loss made a lot of people question Joshua's greatness ... and whether he's truly elite.

Not former 2x heavyweight champ George Foreman ... who actually believes the loss could HELP the UK superstar become an even better fighter.

"They're gonna have to go back to the gym. I think he'll be a greater fighter, Joshua now. If he goes back and gets his mind together. He's gonna even be better, but right now he better learn to box and he better get a good manager. I'll do it."

We asked Foreman if he was serious about the offer ... and his response?

"That's certain. He needs someone like me."

If Foreman was steering AJ's career, there's 1 bigtime move he'd make straight away -- NO REMATCH.

"If I'm Anthony Joshua's manager, I say, 'let sleeping dogs lie.' I don't want to fight that guy anymore, because you don't know what you did wrong. You go back and you're gonna do the same thing. Let it slide" ... Foreman tells us.

"Leave Ruiz alone. Let him alone."

So, does the loss take Joshua out of the conversation with Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury for best heavyweight in the world? Foreman's answer ... 6 emphatic "no's".

"No. No, no, no, no, no."

"One punch, uh huh. One punch is not gonna change that, or one knockdown is not gonna change that. He'll be back. He's in the mix. And, probably he'll be better."

Andy Ruiz will be known for WAY MORE than just beating Anthony Joshua ... so says Oscar De La Hoya, who tells TMZ Sports AR is going to have a long run as champ!!!

"Imagine all the confidence he has now," De La Hoya says.

Ruiz shocked the world on Saturday night when he knocked down Joshua FOUR times and made the heavyweight champ quit in the 7th-round.

But, some have already pegged Ruiz as the next Buster Douglas -- as in a 1-fight wonder ... and not the next big thing in boxing.

Enter De La Hoya ... who told us out at his foundation's 19th annual Golf Classic on Monday that he sees things way differently, saying Ruiz will put together a nice run as the new champ from here.

"Ruiz is the man, now, man," De La Hoya says ... "He's the man."

Of course, the Golden Boy is biased -- he has Mexican bloodlines and tells us he was rooting like hell for Ruiz in the fight!!!

Buster Douglas -- the man who SHOCKED the world and beat Mike Tyson -- tells TMZ Sports ... Andy Ruiz's TKO of Anthony Joshua is one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.

Bigger than his 1990 upset of undefeated heavyweight champ "Iron" Mike?? Buster -- a 42-1 underdog when he KO'd Tyson in the 10th round -- wouldn't pick which was bigger ... but was clear, this fight was historic.

"I think it was a great fight, man. It was a big upset. An upset is an upset. Ruiz came to fight, Andy came to get it and he got it."

"Despite all the obstacles that were laying there in front of him that were against him, that he had no chance of winning, and he went out there and did the impossible."

Let that sink in ... Buster Douglas -- the guy responsible for arguably the most shocking upset in sports history -- says Ruiz did the impossible when he stopped Joshua in the 7th round.

Douglas says he actually sees a lot of similarities between him and Ruiz.

"The man believed in what he was doing. He believed in himself despite all the naysayers," Douglas tells us ... "It's a lot of similarities there. I'm just happy for him, and wish him all the best."

Leading up to the fight, Ruiz was a heavy underdog against the unbeaten Joshua ... and seemingly nobody believed he had a chance in hell to win the fight -- a feeling Douglas vividly remembers.

"It definitely takes me back. It's like I kinda relate to what they're going through, the emotion that they're feeling going into the fight. 'I'mma show them tonight!'"

Buster says he was so PUMPED when Ruiz won ... "I felt like running!"

"That's awesome, man. It was great to see that. Takes you right back to that moment that you had yourself."

Anthony Joshua's gotta be kicking himself Sunday morning after losing in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history -- and he's got no one to blame but himself ... and possibly Drake.

AJ lost his 3 heavyweight titles in Madison Square Garden Saturday night to Andy Ruiz Jr. -- who was an 11-1 underdog -- by TKO in the 7th round. It's being called the biggest upset since Mike Tyson lost to Buster Douglas in 1990 ... but we all should've seen it coming when Joshua cozied up to Drake.

Back in March, the then WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight champ posted a pic with Drizzy, and even went so far as to say he was going to “break the curse” on June 1. Oops.

Drake's got a pretty extensive track record of jinxing teams -- just ask Alabama football, Italy's Roma soccer team, Conor McGregor and Serena Williams.

He's even mocked the curse lately -- wearing Philadelphia 76ers shorts to jinx that team last month when they were playing his beloved Toronto Raptors ... and it worked.

Unlike Jussie Smollett, at least one of his alleged "attackers" is seeing his career on the upswing ... Abel Osundairo is now training with one of Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s trainers.

We're told Abel met Nate "The Snake" Jones through a well-connected boxing family in Chicago and they recently met up at Taylor Park Gym in Chi-Town to get in the ring and train. Nate's name carries weight in the boxing world ... the former pro heavyweight joined Mayweather Promotions as a trainer a little over a year after retiring and has trained Floyd in about a dozen fights ... including vs. Manny Pacquiao.

As we've reported ... Abel showed promise after mowing down opponents at the Golden Gloves tournament ... scoring first-round TKOs, unanimous decisions and, most recently, a first-round TKO in the senior novice 178-pound division to win the prestigious tourney.

Abel's still a raw talent -- he competed in a division for less experienced boxers between 21 and 35 who weigh 178 pounds or less -- but there's potential ... and further proof that if the Osundairo brothers really wanted to hurt Jussie in the "attack" ... it would've been vicious.

As you know ... Abel's lawyer says Jussie told them he wanted Abel to "attack" him, but not rough him up too badly. Since the "attack" ... Abel and his bro have struggled to land acting gigs but Abel's fortunes might have turned with Nate -- a former U.S. Olympic Boxing medalist -- now in his corner.

We're told Abel's training sesh wasn't a one-off, 'cause they plan to continue training. It's unclear if Nate thinks Abel's got what it takes to turn pro ... but training with a decorated trainer like Nate is a strong sign Abel's serious about boxing.

Gennady Golovkin wants a 3rd crack at Canelo Alvarez -- telling TMZ Sports the plan is to start negotiating the trilogy fight right after he beats up Steve Rolls next weekend.

GGG and Canelo fought to a draw when they first battled back in 2017 -- and when they ran it back in Sept. 2018, Canelo got the victory in a controversial decision.

Those fights were clearly the BIGGEST of Gennady's career in terms of exposure and paychecks -- so, it's no shock Gennady is ready for Part 3.

Of course, GGG has to get through Rolls first ... which shouldn't be a problem. In fact, GGG is such a huge gambling favorite, you gotta lay down $10,000 just to win $100.

37-year-old Golovkin says he expects a tough fight the 3rd time around ... but insists he'll finally get that "W."

There's more ... our camera asked GGG -- who grew up Kazakhstan -- how old he was when in he got in his first-ever scrap -- and Golovkin says he remembers throwing hands at age 7!!!

The story is pretty incredible ... Gennady tells us it was his first day of school when he started getting in fights.

Deontay Wilder believes he beat Tyson Fury in their '18 megafight ... but he's rematching the British star to erase all doubt -- telling TMZ Sports he's gonna knock TF the hell out.

The American heavyweight champ just announced he's rematching Fury early next year ... after fighting another scary man, Luis "King Kong" Ortiz in September.

"I wanna give great shows. I wanna put on great events because the heavyweight division was so dead for so long, man. Like over 10 years nobody knew who the heavyweight champions of the world were."

"Now they got a badass in Deontay Wilder. I already vowed and promised to put on great shows."

Wilder and Fury fought to a draw in December 2018. The fight was awesome ... and was arguably the biggest heavyweight fight in a decade -- but both guys had beef with the result.

Deontay believed Fury got an extra long 10 count in the 12th round after he landed a ferocious left ... sending TF crumbling to the canvas ... and Fury, he thought he won the fight on points.

Wilder's message to Fury???

"If you feel you got robbed in my country, in America we run it back."

"You run it back, and that's what I'm doing to prove that I knocked him out, but this time I'm gonna do it in even better fashion than I did the first time."

It's a lock to be one of the biggest events of the year ... but it ain't the only super fight Wilder has on his mind.

Anthony Joshua is in for a south of the border surprise come Saturday night ... because his opponent, Andy Ruiz, says he's gonna put DEM FREAKIN' HANDS ON AJ, all for the pride of Mexico.

Ruiz was a late add to the fight following Jarrell Miller's positive drug test, so most people aren't giving the new challenger too much of a shot against the undefeated heavyweight king Joshua.

We spoke to Ruiz and he told us he knows he's being taken lightly, and that's his biggest weapon.

"Anthony Joshua, I'm pretty sure he's underestimating me, man. I've been working really hard for this opportunity, now that I have it, I can't let it go."

There's another reason Andy says he won't and can't lose this fight ... because he's doing it for the people of Mexico!

"There's never been a Mexican heavyweight champion. That's what we're gonna accomplish. I wanna be a legend, I wanna be in the world books of records. That's what we're gonna do, baby, bring the titles back to Mexico."

Before you scoff too hard, Ruiz is 32-1 with his only defeat coming in a title shot against Joseph Parker back in 2016, so he's no slouch.

BEHOLD ... the great DAME JUDI DENCH ... talking boxing, baby!!!

The legend of stage and screen is also a huge fan of pugilism -- and now that her countryman, Anthony Joshua, is defending his belts this weekend against Andy Ruiz, Ms. Dench had a few words to prepare him for battle!

"To say that I shall be cheering, I'll be cheering anyway, but we'll keep everything crossed! And, my goodness me, we can't wait to see you!"

And, that's not all ... a bunch of other UK superstars came together to root on Joshua -- including Ed Sheeran, golfer Rory McIlroy, soccer stud Harry Kane, "Fleabag" star Olivia Colman and Oasis singer Liam Gallagher.

The fight's all going on DAZN on Saturday -- live from Madison Square Garden.

It's Joshua's first fight in the United States -- which is a big deal considering his ongoing negotiations with Deontay Wilder.

Word of advice for people who wanna show up at Logan Paul's house unannounced to try and pick a fight -- DON'T -- that is, unless you wanna get knocked the hell out.

Here's what went down-- Logan claims an Ivan Drago look-alike (YouTuber ViktorCrazy) posted up outside his L.A. mansion for HOURS on Sunday to get Paul to take an impromptu boxing match.

A hungover Paul -- who just so happens to have a full-sized boxing ring in his backyard -- took on the challenge ... only after each guy signed off on all the paperwork -- "if you die, you die" (get it?).

Both dudes touched mitts ... and shortly after, Paul sent him to the canvas with a couple vicious shots. Somehow, Fake Drago lasted through the 1st ... but LP knocked him out with a left hook in the 2nd round.

After the match, Paul -- who insists the whole thing was not fake -- put his sights on his original nemesis in his victory speech ... and then called out any other influencer who wants smoke.

"KSI, I'm coming for you, I'm coming for you, KSI!!" Paul says, "Any YouTuber who thinks they wanna step up after I beat KSI's ass, better start training now, son. It's going to be lethal. I'mma be ruthless!!"

Of course, the first Logan Paul vs. KSI superfight ended in a draw in Manchester last August ... and the 2nd fight was supposed to happen this month.

Logan's kept himself busy by getting in slapping matches with massive dudes ... but here's hoping we still get that rematch.

George Foreman says he loves, admires, respects and reveres Muhammad Ali ... but still wishes he'd have KICKED HIS ASS when they fought in the Rumble in the Jungle back in '74.

The whole world knows Ali knocked Foreman out in Zaire, one of the biggest, most improbable, and inspiring upsets in sports history.

It's easy to argue that victory was ESSENTIAL for Ali's legacy and that Foreman played a pivotal role in history by LOSING. Sooooo, is there even a little, tiny part of Foreman that's happy he lost? HELL NO.

"I'm so happy, especially about that right eye that was swollen for two weeks. Not to mention I hit my head on the canvas. Who could be happy about something like that?"

Foreman said all of that with his trademark smile, but you can clearly see he derives NO JOY in being the biggest victory in Ali's insanely remarkable career, but still gave props where props are due.

"Muhammad beat me ... he flat-out, outsmarted me and beat me."