Boxing

Dwight Gooden's got a real-deal boxing match coming up, and he clearly ain't taking his opponent lightly ... 'cause the MLB legend hit up the UFC Performance Institute in Vegas for a hardcore training sesh.

The 55-year-old NY Mets legend is facing 29-year-old "Nitro Comedy Tour" star Catfish Cooley -- who's gone viral on YouTube for his redneck comedy -- on March 7 at the Showboat Casino in Atlantic City.

Gooden -- a 4x All-Star and 3x World Series Champ -- recently hit up the PI ... and worked on his striking with his coaches.

This will be Doc's first fight ... but not the first time he's been inside the squared circle.

Back in 2019, Doc reffed a celeb fight that featured Dustin Diamond ... aka Screech from "Saved By The Bell."

As for the tale of the tape, Catfish squats over 600 pounds and is 36 years younger than Doc ... but he's also 10 inches shorter, and not an all-time legendary athlete.

These guys try to kill each other in just over 3 weeks.

Mary Carey is fighting Pippi Longstocking, sorta -- the famed porn star is stepping into the ring to box the former child actress who played Pippi on the big screen.

We broke the story, Mary signed a deal to fight in Damon Feldman's Celebrity Boxing promotion ... but the only question was who she'd fight?

Now we know Mary's opponent is Tami Erin, most famous for her starring role in the 1988 movie, "The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking."

We're told Tami agreed to a deal and signed a contract for the bout, which is going down April 18 at the Miami strip joint, the Booby Trap.

Anyways, it's the first time Tami is stepping into the ring as a competitor ... and we'll see if she possesses superhuman strength just like Pippi, who can lift a horse with one hand!!!

Celebrity Boxing has had some problems lately with stars like Farrah Abraham, Lenny Dykstra and Angry Bagel Guy dropping out last minute -- so hopefully Mary and Tami don't get cold feet.

BTW, the Booby Trap's all warmed up for a good fight.

'Memba that's where Offset threw a flying punch Super Bowl weekend because someone sprayed champagne on Cardi B.

Time for round 2: Porn Star vs. Pippi!!!

Gervonta Davis has been arrested for domestic violence for roughing up his ex-girlfriend at a celebrity basketball game in Florida, cops confirm.

The boxing superstar -- currently the WBA lightweight champion -- surrendered to the Coral Gables PD on Tuesday for the Feb. 1 incident.

Cops say the 25-year-old is facing one count of "simple battery domestic violence."

As we previously reported, Davis was seen grabbing and ripping his ex-girlfriend -- the mother of his child -- out of her seat during a heated altercation at the game.

The argument continued backstage.

Cops say, "As a result of an ongoing investigation after being notified through social media and the victim, on Feb. 1 2020, [Davis] was observed battering his former girlfriend whom [sic] have child together."

"[Davis] surrendered himself, to the Coral Gables Police detectives assigned to the case."

For his part, Davis put out a statement over the weekend denying striking the woman.

"I never once hit her ... yeah I was aggressive and told her come on," Davis said.

"That's the mother of my child. I would never hurt her."

Davis is a rising superstar in the boxing world -- he's Floyd Mayweather's protege and has racked up an impressive 23-0 record as a pro with victories over guys like Yuriorkis Gamboa and José Pedraza.

Davis has had a BUNCH of legal issues over the years -- he was arrested for assault back in 2017 after allegedly punching a friend. The charge was later dropped.

He was arrested again in 2018 for a street fight in Washington D.C.

Khabib Nurmagomedov says he has NO interest in fighting "idiot" Conor McGregor a second time -- even for $100 MILLION -- saying, "Why do I need that kind of money?!"

The UFC superstar was speaking with reporters in his native Dagestan Tuesday when he was asked about the comments his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, made to TMZ Sports about moguls in Saudi Arabia offering $100 mil to host the rematch.

That's when Khabib scoffed at the possibility -- saying he's only focused on fighting Tony Ferguson in April -- but says that kind of money could be better used by helping the needy.

"Why do I need that kind of money?" Khabib said ... "There are so many organizations. For example, there’s not only [soccer] for the blind, there’s sambo and other sports."

"Let [the UFC] give it to them if they don’t know what to do with the money. But giving me $100 million for me to beat up that idiot again? I don’t think that’s rational."

When asked if there was interest in a rematch with Conor -- as McGregor has called for numerous times -- Khabib replied, "Not at all."

The comment was met with cheers from the Dagestani crowd.

As for his April 18 fight with Ferguson, Khabib called it a "very serious fight" ... and he's been training like a maniac.

"For the past month and a half, I’ve been consistently training day and night. I’ve gotten myself in good shape to where I’m supposed to be 70 days before a fight. I feel great."

Guessing McGregor will respond.

Stay tuned ...

A police report was filed against Floyd Mayweather accusing the boxer of assault stemming from an altercation at a Miami hotel ... but all parties agree Floyd never put his hands on anyone.

Here's the deal ...  32-year-old Ricco Kimborough claims he recognized Floyd standing with his security team at the valet stand at the Fontainebleau Hilton around 8:30 AM on Feb. 1, the day before the Super Bowl.

Ricco claims he asked Floyd for a picture but Mayweather turned him down saying, "I can't even get a good morning first?"

In the police report, obtained by TMZ Sports, Ricco claims Floyd's security team "pushed him away from Mayweather" while Floyd yelled at him, "I'll beat your ass."

We obtained footage from the incident -- in which you can see Ricco and Floyd shouting at each other as Floyd's security team tries to diffuse the situation.

At one point, Ricco says if he gets his ass kicked by Floyd, "I'll get all your money too!"

Floyd says, "You can get this ass-whooping for free."

At no point in the video, does Floyd ever get physical. It's just trash talk as he gets in his waiting SUV.

Now, the case is in the hands of the Miami Beach PD which is investigating the allegations as a possible simple assault.

Gervonta Davis got into a physical altercation with a woman at a charity basketball game in Miami ... and it's all on video.

Davis -- one of the hottest rising stars in boxing -- was at a charity basketball game in Miami with a female companion when things started to go awry.

Witnesses tell us the two began yelling at each other and things turned physical -- although it's unclear who put hands on who first. But you can see in the video it's a heated situation -- and the two were both escorted out.

We're told no one has been arrested

But we're told the people behind the event are extremely upset at Davis. We're reaching out to Gervonta's camp for comment ... so far, no word back.

Jake Paul was VIOLENT on Thursday -- mauling AnEsonGib in their big boxing match in Miami ... followed by an intense face-off with KSI.

23-year-old Jake only needed 2 minutes and 18 seconds to destroy his 23-year-old opponent at Island Gardens in Miami, in a fight that was streamed on DAZN.

After the fight, KSI -- who recently defeated Jake's older bro, Logan Paul -- entered the ring and the two men got right in each other's faces.

The two cussed each other out and talked a LOT of trash -- with Jake telling KSI, "You had to beat my bro by a bad call."

Remember, when Logan and KSI fought back in November, KSI won by decision after the judges took two points away from Logan for a controversial punch while KSI was down.

"Let's make it happen," Jake told KSI ... and KSI seemed to be pretty receptive!

Jake has fighting experience -- he beat up KSI's younger bro, Deji, back in 2018 in an amateur bout in England.

KSI and Logan Paul had fought on the same card -- but later agreed to a sanctioned rematch in the United States that counted as a pro fight ... making KSI 1-0 as a pro.

Thursday night's fight was also sanctioned as a pro bout and promoted by boxing honcho Eddie Hearn.

Floyd Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez's billion-dollar rematch ain't happening -- not now, not ever -- so says the Mexican superstars' promoter, Oscar De La Hoya.

Remember, the boxing legends fought back in 2013 ... and Canelo -- who was only 22 years old at the time -- was easily handled by Floyd, losing by majority decision.

The two have been talking trash to each other publicly ever since -- Canelo's mocked Floyd for fighting Conor McGregor. Floyd went after Canelo for his positive PED test in 2018. For a second, it started to feel like they were seriously building toward a rematch.

In fact, just last year De La Hoya told us the rematch would be the biggest event in boxing history -- easily a $1.5 BILLION event.

But, things have changed and now, Oscar seems to be slamming the door on getting the superstars back in the same ring.

Jake Paul's pulling out all the stops for his big return to the ring ... and the footage from his training sesh with boxing legend "Sugar" Shane Mosley is INTENSE.

Of course, Paul's fighting fellow YouTube superstar AnEsonGib during a Super Bowl week extravaganza ... and JP's been training like an animal at Mosley's gym in Big Bear.

The footage -- part of DAZN's 40 Days doc -- is pretty impressive ... and despite Paul wanting to avenge his brother's loss and take on KSI, it's clear he's laser-focused for the January 30 fight.

KSI's played a huge role in making this fight happen ... continuously bating Jake until he accepted the match.

“I don’t like Jake and I think the whole world doesn’t like Jake,” KSI says.

“If he does manage to get past the Big Gibber then yes, I will fight Jake. 100%. But, that’s not going to happen, I don’t think he’s ready for Gib at all and that’s going to show on Jan. 30. I think Gib wins this hands down and that will be the end of the Paul brothers.”

Gervonta Davis has nearly $250,000 worth of bling in his closet that he never properly paid for because he wrote a bogus check -- this according to a new lawsuit obtained by TMZ Sports.

Shyne Jewelers in Philadelphia, Penn. claims they reached a deal with Davis last year to make him some sick ice ... but they say the boxing star ultimately ended up stiffing them.

According to court docs, the jewelers say Davis ordered a $130,000 green Richard Millie watch, a $60,000 custom pendant, a $30,000 Rolex and four $12,000 "GTD" pendants.

They also say Davis had another blue Richard Millie watch -- which he had previously bought from them -- repaired for $19,000.

But, they claim when it came time to pay up for the $250K bill ... Davis and his team paid with a counterfeit check.

The jewelers say this was no accident either ... saying, "Davis knew that the cashier's check was counterfeit and he acted intentionally and with malicious intent."

Now, the jewelers are asking for the jewelry to be returned or the $250,000 with interest ... plus damages.

We've reached out to Davis' camp for comment, but so far, no word back yet.

Gervonta Davis has threatened to "kill" Ryan Garcia if they actually sign a contract to fight.

Now, Ryan Garcia has a message for Tank ... LET'S DANCE IN DECEMBER!

The 21-year-old rising boxing star made it clear to TMZ Sports he ain't afraid of Floyd Mayweather's prodigy ... even after the way Tank violently dismantled Yuriorkis Gamboa last month.

"I'm already the bigger star," Garcia (19-0) told us outside of Westside Boxing Club ... "Now, I'm about to prove who's the better boxer, and that's me."

Both guys clearly want the smoke -- Davis (23-0) made that abundantly clear on Tuesday saying straight-up, "I will kill him."

"I’m being quiet and wait till that contract signed and then you will see the bad guy vs the good guy and I’m taking that role proudly."

These guys have been on a collision course for years ... back in early 2019, Floyd even offered to promote the fight if Garcia could get through some top-flight competition.

For his part, Garcia told us back in August a brawl with Davis "would be the biggest fight in boxing history."

Mary Carey's still getting physical in her life after porn ... by getting in the ring and beating the pulp outta other celebs.

The famed porn star officially signed a contract with Celebrity Boxing promoter Damon Feldman -- who's arranged for Mary to slip on some gloves and go toe-to-toe with another chick on April 18 in Miami. Catfight!!!

Naturally ... the bout's going down at a strip club called the Booby Trap. We're guessing there will be no shortage of ring girls.

It's the first time Mary's stepping into the ring as a competitor, and CB's still working on finding an opponent for the retired XXX star.

Celebrity Boxing has had some issues lately with stars like Angry Bagel Guy and Lenny Dykstra dropping out at the 11th hour -- so hopefully, Mary follows through.

Mary could be in line for a nice payday ... depending on her opponent and internet pay-per-view streams, CB expects her to pull in around five figures.

"She's Muhammad Ali's daughter, she's not Muhammad Ali."

That's boxing superstar Claressa Shields essentially telling Laila Ali to put up or shut up ... after Ali trashed Shields this week as an inferior fighter.

Shields appeared on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weeknights on FS1) to respond to Ali's insults ... and yeah, Shields was FIRED UP!

"Let's just keep it honest. Don't say that I'm not talented because I'm the most talented female fighter there has been in the history of boxing."

Of course, 42-year-old Ali went on "Sway in the Morning" and said she would destroy Shields if they ever fought because Claressa isn't talented enough to hang with her.

FYI, Ali was 24-0 as a pro. She last fought in 2007. 24-year-old Shields is currently 10-0 and looks unstoppable.

"Laila Ali is all bark, no bite," Shields said ... "If a girl call me out, I answer."

Shields says Ali ducked Ann Wolfe back in the day. Wolfe is widely considered one of the best female fighters of all time.

Instead, Shields says Ali's resume is packed with bums, not legit top flight opponents.

"She fought against soccer moms and probably strippers or something. I fight real fighters."

Now, Shields says she's down to settle this in the ring.

Claressa says she'll give Ali one year to train up -- and even has a pay structure in mind.

"The loser gets $5 million. The winner gets $10 million."

Kamaru Usman says he'll whoop Conor's ass worse than Khabib ... and the beating will be so bad, McGregor might never fight again.

The beef heated up earlier this week at UFC 246 media event when "The Notorious" took aim at the welterweight champ, saying a Masvidal fight would be more entertaining 'cause Usman "has the similar style of Khabib, the sniff the jockstrap style."

Kamaru heard Conor ... and now he's firing back.

"Humans love the path of least resistance," Usman tells TMZ Sports ... "Fair play to him, I'd say. Fair play to Conor. But, this jock sniffer will humble him even worse than Khabib has humbled him."

Of course, Nurmagomedov dominated Conor during their October 2018 bout ... ultimately forcing him to tap midway into the 4th round.

Laila Ali believes SHE'S the greatest ... NOT Claressa Shields ... claiming she would WRECK the reigning women's boxing champ because Shields lacks the talent.

Shocking comments from the daughter of Muhammad Ali, who had a GREAT boxing career herself back in the day -- finishing 24-0 and racking up every belt she could along the way.

Now, with 24-year-old Shields obliterating opponents left and right ... there have been some comparisons made between her and Laila -- and Laila AIN'T HAVIN' IT!!!

"First of all, she could never beat me. Let me get that really straight right now," 42-year-old Ali said on 'Sway in the Morning.'

"Not simply because she's not strong enough, because I would definitely knock her out, because she's not talented enough."

"You're talented. You can box. You can throw those hard punches. But there's a sweet science to boxing."

"The reason you have not been able to knock out the opponents that you have faced, I can totally see it."

As for Shields, she respectfully disagrees with Laila. A fan tried talking trash to Shields on Twitter ... saying, "42 yr old Laila Ali would destroy and humble you."

Claressa responded, "No she wouldn’t but thanks telling me your thoughts."

Manny Pacquiao is heartbroken over the devastation the Taal Volcano is causing in the Philippines ... and now he's begging for help, saying he'll double anyone's donations to relief efforts.

The small volcano -- located less than 100 miles south of Manila -- began erupting over the weekend ... and it's ravaged the region -- forcing tens of thousands out of their homes.

And, according to reports, there's still concern a massive, hazardous, explosive eruption could happen.

Pacquiao -- who was born in the Philippines and currently sits as the country's senator -- is trying his best to help in relief efforts ... donating food, items and money -- but he's asking for much more.

"Whatever we raise," Pacquiao said in a video message Thursday, "all the donations, whatever it costs, I will double that so we can help more people."

Pacquiao says the disaster hits very close to home for him ... not just because he grew up in the region -- but because he went through homelessness and poverty as a youngster as well.

"I've experienced not having anything to eat and not having a place to sleep," Pacquiao said. "These people need our help."