Boxing

Mike Tyson isn't scared of dying -- not even a little bit -- explaining, "living might be more complicated than dying to me."

Yeah ... Mike opened up about life and death during a very candid interview with "The Sportsman" -- where the boxing legend was asked if he was afraid of dying in the ring.

"I knew there was a possibility that I could die during training, during a fight. I knew that. But I wasn’t scared, because I thought if anybody was going to die, I would do the killing."

TERRIFIED YET!?

There's more ... 53-year-old Tyson got super deep about the concept of life and death -- and explained why he's not worried about what happens after his time on Earth runs out.

"Life is pretty interesting. We’re born not knowing, we die not knowing where we came from. But our life prepares us for our death. We still don’t know sh*t about it, but when we get to a certain age, we’re not scared of dying no more, like it was when we were young."

In fact, when Tyson was asked if he looks forward to death -- here's what he said.

"Yeah. I don’t fear it. Living might be more complicated than dying to me. The belief of it. I don’t know if it’s true. Because living takes a lot of courage. Without the courage, you can’t handle living."

Floyd Mayweather's uncle, Roger Mayweather -- one of the most famous boxing trainers ever -- has died, Floyd's camp confirms with TMZ Sports. He was 58.

Roger was a KEY member of Floyd's training team -- and sculpted him into becoming the global phenom he is today. Many considered Roger the best trainer in the world.

He was also a pretty good boxer and battled with some pretty big stars, including Julio César Chávez and Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini.

He was also a 2-weight world champion -- holding the WBA and lineal super featherweight titles back in the day, along with the WBC light welterweight title (from '87 to '89).

Roger had been in declining health for years. In fact, Floyd opened up about Roger's health back in 2015 and blamed boxing for damaging his brain.

"My uncle Roger Mayweather has lost a lot of memory from the sport of boxing," Floyd said ... "He's only in his 50s, but it seems like he's an old man in his 80s."

A few years ago, Roger went missing -- and fortunately, he was located by law enforcement officials.

We're told Floyd was close with Roger and is deeply emotional about his passing.

Story developing ...

TMZ Sports has obtained new footage of Gervonta Davis' attack on his ex-girlfriend ... and it appears to show the boxing superstar taking a swing at the woman.

As we previously reported, Davis was arrested last month ... after a woman told cops she was roughed up by the 25-year-old at a celeb basketball event on Feb. 1 in Coral Gables, FL.

Now, we've obtained new footage from the altercation ... and you can see, Davis CLEARLY gets violent with the woman.

Davis walks the baseline at the Watsco Center, immediately puts his hands on the woman's shoulder and neck area ... and pulls and pushes her into the arena's locker room area.

While in there, new footage shows Davis cocking back his left hand and appearing to fire it at the woman. You can see moments later, the woman charges right back at the boxer.

Eventually, the two are separated ... but the drama doesn't end there -- because Davis appears to get in ANOTHER altercation with another man.

The footage shows Davis confronting a man who appeared to be filming the incident ... and at one point, it looked like they were going to square off for a fight.

Ultimately, everyone was separated ... and Davis was locked up 3 days later on a charge of simple battery/domestic violence.

Davis has denied ever hitting the woman, saying in a statement, "I never once hit her ... yeah I was aggressive and told her come on. That's the mother of my child. I would never hurt her."

Cops say the woman suffered injuries to her lip and left jaw in the altercation.

The mystery surrounding the death of Floyd Mayweather's ex, Josie Harris, continues -- with no evidence of drugs or suicide at the scene, law enforcement sources tell us.

We broke the story ... Harris -- who has 3 kids with Floyd -- was found in her car in front of her family home Tuesday evening in Valencia, CA.

We're told one of her kids noticed Josie was unresponsive in the vehicle and made the call to 911. Lifesaving measures were taken -- including an attempt at CPR -- but it was too late.

Mayweather had publicly accused Harris of having a drug problem in the past -- but we're told officials did NOT find any drugs or evidence of drug use when they looked through Josie's car.

We're also told there was no suicide note. It does not appear she intentionally took her own life.

Now, the case is in the hands of the medical examiner who will evaluate the results from the autopsy -- along with toxicology -- to determine the cause of death.

Harris dated Mayweather from 1995 until 2010, when Floyd attacked Harris in front of their children at her Las Vegas home.

Floyd Mayweather is breaking his silence on his late ex-girlfriend Josie Harris ... remembering her as his rock, his angel, his love, his sweetheart, his friend and his heart.

The undefeated boxer just posted a series of super-sweet photos of Josie, him and two of their three children ... the first time Floyd's publicly acknowledged her loss after this week's shocking death.

Floyd is sharing photos of him with Josie and two of their boys, Koraun and Zion ... and the captions are pretty telling -- angel, heart, love, rock, sweetheart, friend and family.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Josie was found dead at her home in Valencia, CA Tuesday night and cops say she was unresponsive in her car. She was 40.

UFC superstar Joanna Jedrzejczyk says she's feeling "good" and recovering well after that 5-round WAR with Weili Zhang -- and tells TMZ Sports she's down for the rematch!

"I feel good, calm, quiet [and] surrounded by good people," Joanna says ... "People who love me so much, my family."

Of course, Joanna was hospitalized after her March 7th fight with Weili -- and even though she lost in a controversial split decision, JJ is in great spirits about her health and fighting future.

Joanna says that massive hematoma on her forehead is gone down in size -- and is also gravitating down her face.

Her face is still bruised, but Joanna says her team of top-flight doctors say she has no serious long-term injuries.

Joanna says she has surgery scheduled for next week to take care of some minor problems -- but nothing substantial.

"I had an ultrasound on my organs, X-ray. Everything is fine. I'm healthy."

Joanna also credits Dana White and the UFC for getting her set up with the best doctors available.

Josie Harris -- who has 3 children with Floyd Mayweather -- was found dead at her home in Valencia, CA on Tuesday night ... TMZ Sports has confirmed.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... officials were called to the home around 9:30 PM and when they arrived, they found 40-year-old Harris unresponsive in her car.

She was pronounced dead at the scene. We're told there does not appear to be any foul play and the case is being treated as a death investigation as opposed to a homicide probe.

Josie had a tumultuous relationship with Mayweather. He was convicted of attacking her back in a 2010 domestic violence incident and later served 2 months behind bars.

Harris claims she was abused on 6 different occasions. But, the criminal case was centered around a Sept. 2010 incident when Harris claimed Floyd entered her Vegas home while she slept, pulled her hair and then attacked her in front of their children.

Harris claimed their oldest son, Koraun, snuck out of the home and alerted a security guard to call police.

Years later, Mayweather denied the violent allegations during an interview with Katie Couric ... saying, "Did I restrain a woman that was on drugs? Yes, I did. So if they say that’s domestic violence, then, you know what? I’m guilty. I’m guilty of restraining someone."

Harris was outraged by the interview and later sued Mayweather for more than $20 MILLION for defamation. The case is still ongoing.

Claressa Shields' brother has just been sentenced to 1 year behind bars for attacking a man at the boxing superstar's weigh-in event back in October.

As you'll recall ... the scene was wild at the Shields-Ivana Habazin pre-fight ceremony in Flint, Mi. -- with Habazin's trainer needing to be rushed to the hospital after witnesses say he was sucker-punched.

The guy -- 68-year-old James Ali Bashir -- was seriously hurt in the attack ... with his face and mouth both swollen and bloodied.

Authorities eventually said the attacker was Artis Mack -- Shields' 28-year-old brother -- and charged him with felony assault with intent to do great bodily harm.

The charge, if convicted, carried a maximum of 10 YEARS in prison.

But, Mack cut a deal with prosecutors last month to avoid that fate ... agreeing to plea to a lesser charge of misdemeanor aggravated assault in the case.

And, according to court docs obtained by TMZ Sports, a judge ordered Mack on Tuesday to serve 365 days behind bars ... but gave him 158 days credit for time served.

We reached out to Mack's attorney for comment ... but so far, no word back yet.

Evander Holyfield's son is proving he's also "The Real Deal" -- scoring another decisive victory in the boxing ring ... while his dad watched from the stands.

22-year-old Evan Holyfield -- aka "Young Holy" -- took on Dylan Carlson at the Ring of Hope fundraiser at the Toyota Music Factory in Irving, Texas over the weekend ... and he looks good!

Holyfield opened up the fight by throwing some effective combos -- and essentially landed at will for the rest of the fight.

Ultimately, Evan won by unanimous decision ... and his Hall Of Fame dad was super-proud.

Evan is now 4-0 as a pro, with 3 KOs on his record. When we spoke with him recently, Young Holy told us the goal was to become a better fighter than his father.

Of course, Evander is one of the all-time greats ... he's the only boxer in history to be the undisputed champion in TWO weight classes.

He also famously beat legends like Mike Tyson, George Foreman, Michael Moorer, Buster Douglas, Riddick Bowe, Ray Mercer and more.

Floyd Mayweather is interested in buying a major share of a Premier League soccer team -- and just discussed it publicly at a media event in the UK.

For years, the boxing star has flirted with the idea of purchasing an ownership stake in Newcastle United F.C. -- currently owned by British billionaire Mike Ashley.

But, when Floyd sat down for a fan Q&A in Newcastle on Sunday, the moderator asked Floyd straight-up about a possible deal.

"You're very, very interested in buying Newcastle United," the moderator asked Floyd.

"In the U.S. we call it soccer, but the Newcastle football team is an unbelievable team," Floyd said ... "a hell of a team."

He then smiled and told the crowd, "If the people want me to buy the Newcastle team, let me know!"

Cheers erupted. Floyd smiled.

We called up Floyd's people after the event to find out if he's being serious. We were told  Floyd IS, in fact, interested in buying a stake in the team ... but so far, no official negotiations have taken place.

Newcastle United is currently in 13th place in the Premier League -- they've only won 1 out of their last 5 games. Maybe Floyd can help turn 'em around?

Floyd has reportedly made around $1 BILLION in his boxing career -- and apparently, he's already bought more cars, jets and jewelry than you could imagine.

So, ownership next?

Boxing legend Evander Holyfield wants everyone to PUMP THE BRAKES on calling Tyson Fury the G.O.A.T. ... telling TMZ Sports the dude has a lot more to prove before getting that title.

The Gypsy King has entered the debate after dominating Deontay Wilder last month ... with some folks saying it's time to consider Fury as one of the best heavyweights of all time.

We spoke with The Real Deal -- who's on everyone's list of best heavyweights ever -- about Fury getting consideration for the G.O.A.T. ... and he's not with it.

"That's an opinion," Holyfield tells us at the World Values Network's Champion of Jewish Values Gala.

"The thing is, you gotta beat more than one guy. He did beat Klitschko and fell off ... He beat him, but he gotta do a bit more than that, though."

Holyfield ain't saying Fury will NEVER be the G.O.A.T. ... he's just saying the discussion is simply way too premature.

"He definitely got the potential ... He made mistakes just like people do. All people make mistakes. (He) overcame it and when he fought Wilder, he said he was gonna take it to him and he took it to him and he won the fight."

THE DISRESPECT IS REAL!!!!

Khabib Nurmagomedov straight up KICKED Tony Ferguson's interim UFC lightweight championship belt during an intense face-off Friday ... and it got VERY close to getting violent.

Khabib and Tony were doing a media event to promote their upcoming brawl at UFC 249 in April ... and the trash talk got VERY personal.

Tony trashed Khabib as a weak-minded, scared, fake brawler ... and Khabib fired back by calling Tony a "fake Mexican," since Tony was born and raised in California.

Tony was offended by the comments -- claiming he's a proud American AND a proud Mexican.

But, when it came time to square off for their face-to-face photo op, Tony laid his belt on the ground, seemingly challenging Khabib to do something ... and Khabib reacted by kicking the belt.

Tony eventually picked up the belt and accused Khabib of disrespecting the UFC -- claiming Khabib doesn't really care about the company.

Billy Joe Saunders has called his shot ... he wanted Canelo -- and now he's getting Canelo!

Sources tell TMZ Sports the undefeated 30-year-old British champion is all set to do battle with Canelo Alvarez on May 2nd at the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas (as first reported by ESPN's Salvador Rodriguez) ... and it's a fight Billy Joe has wanted for months!!

In fact, the reigning WBO super middleweight champion came into the TMZ office back in November to shoot an episode of "TMZ Sports: Roundtable" ... and told us why he's supremely confident he can beat the Mexican superstar.

"He's a real good fighter, he's done brilliant things for boxing," Saunders told us ... "I just think I've got the keys to his locker."

"If he beats me, I'll shake his hand and say you're the better man, but I know I'll beat him."

At the time, Saunders -- who was sitting with his promoter, Eddie Hearn -- said he doesn't care about the money, he's a competitor who wants to prove he's the best in the world.

"Let me win and keep the money," Saunders said ... "You let me win and keep the money. That's how much I want to beat him."

Canelo is one of the top fighters in all of combat sports and arguably the biggest draw -- coming off a spectacular violent KO of Russian stud Sergey Kovalev back in Nov.

Couples that train together ... kick ass together???

That's clearly the case for Russell Wilson and his wifey, Ciara ... 'cause the two lovebirds got after it in a boxing workout Wednesday!!!

"Training with my lady," Wilson said of the sparring highlights. "We will whoop dat..."

Ciara and the Seattle Seahawks QB have been awfully cozy this off-season ... ever since the "Level Up" singer announced she was pregnant with the couple's second child together.

Remember, we got them out in West Hollywood on a date night just last month ... with Russ sporting a sweet hairdo and Ciara looking smitten.

But, the NFL superstar ditched the long locks for some boxing gloves this week ... and we gotta say, dude looked pretty good on the bag!

As for Ciara ... she kicked ass too!!

By the way, Russ said it wasn't all intensity during their sweat sesh ... saying, "Also, I think I may have let one go while swinging #GasMask"

"Sometimes I feel like a bitch because I don't want that person to come out ... 'cause if he comes out hell is coming with him."

That's Mike Tyson getting extremely emotional talking about the monster he used to be -- and although Mike says he's a changed man, he's deathly afraid of relapsing.

The boxing legend opened up with Sugar Ray Leonard on the "Hotboxin' with Mike Tyson" podcast ... saying he felt "empty" after his boxing career wrapped up.

"I know the art of fighting, I know the art of war. That’s all I’ve ever studied. That’s why I’m so feared, that’s why they feared me when I was in the ring. I was an annihilator, that’s all I was born for," Mike said.

"Now those days are gone. It’s empty, I’m nothing."

"I’m working on being the art of humbleness. That’s the reason I’m crying, 'cause I’m not that person no more, and I miss him."

Tyson continued, "And, it’s not funny at all. It's not cool like I’m a tough guy. It’s just that I hate that guy, I’m scared of him."

53-year-old Tyson says Leonard knew him back in his heyday -- and knows that he's changed his life -- but it's been a challenging process to get to where he is now.

Great news from Leon Spinks' corner ... the Hall of Fame boxer is at home and recovering after a serious health scare in December.

As we previously reported ... 66-year-old Spinks -- who famously beat Muhammad Ali in '78 -- was fighting for his life after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, which spread to his bladder.

TMZ Sports has learned ... Spinks has made tremendous improvement and doctors recently cleared him to leave the hospital, which is a big deal considering how serious the situation was.

“Leon is home from the hospital and is slowly relearning his daily routine and getting physical therapy a few times a week," Spinks' rep tells us.

"He is in great spirits and has received an outpouring of love these past few months."

Matter of fact, Spinks tuned in to the Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury fight alongside family and friends at his home last weekend ... and loved what he saw!!

"Leon thinks the heavyweight division of boxing is in great hands in the future with these two stars as well as guys like Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz who continue to put on great performances.”

Spinks is even getting back to work by doing a private autograph session with Inscriptagraphs in April ... where fans can get him to sign a bunch of awesome memorabilia.