Boxing

Even when Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather were trying to keep things business-like days before the fight, there were still insults flying at their final news conference.

Conor dropped the B word -- again -- vowing to "f**k this boy up" come Saturday night. He said it way more calmly this time around, but still didn't back off using the racially charged term.

For his part, Floyd complimented Conor -- calling him a tremendous fighter -- but reminded him of the the long list of boxing greats he'd defeated on the path to 49-0. As Floyd put it ... Pacquiao, Canelo and Mosley all had "had bombs" too.

Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor's fight was already gonna be a who's who of Hollywood -- the question now ... who's in good enough with a top agent to go for free?

Sources close to the boxing match this Saturday tell TMZ Sports ... talent agency WME's head, Ari Emanuel, as well as one of his company's core financiers, Silver Lake, has snatched up 250 tickets to the Vegas event ... and he's doling 'em out to Tinseltown's finest.

We're told most tickets cost $10k -- for a price tag of around $2 MILLION, and most are going to WME clients.

Here's the thing ... Ari's got a helluva lot of famous clients -- everyone from Charlize Theron to Oprah to Steven Spielberg and almost every big name in between. We don't know which clients got the tix, but there are a lot of happy ones.

Remember, WME bought UFC last year, and Silver Lake helped back the $4 billion deal. Guess it helps to have friends in high places when worlds collide.

Things got real heated between Conor McGregor and Paulie Malignaggi at a fight media event in Vegas moments ago -- with Paulie getting right in Conor's face, teasing him about his balls.

Paulie kept repeating to Conor, "Did you bring your balls?"

Conor reached out and put his hand on Paulie's shoulder and said, "You got your ass whooped. Get over it."

Paulie is furious with Conor for releasing a sparring video from his training camp which showed him knocking Paulie down in the ring.

Paulie claims the video was edited to make him look bad. Conor's camp says that's BS.

Paulie will be part of the Showtime announcing team working the Mayweather fight -- but Showtime says it's not worried about slanted coverage.

So much for an impartial announcer ...

One of the guys commentating on the Mayweather vs. McGregor fight hates Conor McGregor's guts with a passion ... which begs the question, why is Showtime allowing Paulie Malignaggi to call it?!

Paulie was Conor's training camp sparring partner until a nasty breakup last month. Since then, Paulie's been on a media blitz, blasting Conor to every media outlet that will have him on.

He's called McGregor everything from a dirtbag to a bum fighter -- and insinuated that he was set up by McGregor's people to be a fall guy in order to make Conor look like a legit boxer.

Despite the declaration of war, Showtime says Paulie will remain on the broadcast team -- they see the situation as a "non-story."

But it's a big story ... commentators have a BIG influence on how the public sees the fight and a constant, slanted trashing of McGregor could unfairly hurt his image.

In most cases, announcers tasked with working major sporting events like NFL or MLB games are mandated by networks to keep their opinions to themselves until the game.

Demi Lovato has signed on to sing the national anthem at the Mayweather vs. McGregor fight on August 26 ... Showtime has confirmed.

Lovato is a HUUUUGE fight fan. She's not only a regular at UFC fights, but also trains MMA at Jay Glazer's gym in Los Angeles.

She also just released her new single, "Sorry Not Sorry," last month -- so the timing is great for her.

Also, Diddy and Mark Wahlberg are making a $200k bet on the fight (doubling down on their Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight bet).

Diddy has Floyd. Mark has Conor. Mark lost the first bet and paid the money to charity. Guessing it's the same plan for this fight.

Conor McGregor is literally puffing his chest at Floyd Mayweather -- showing off the crazy physique he's been training for ... with just days left until the biggest fight of his life.

The Irish superstar posed down at the UFC Performance Institute in Vegas -- saying, "The final rev of the engine on the Conor McGregor Fast conditioning program tonight! What a camp it has been!"

He then got into his green Lamborghini to cool off.

Justin Bieber is not only off Floyd Mayweather's Money Team, he's now one of Floyd's mortal enemies ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to both Justin and Floyd tell us, the folks at the Hillsong Church have been counseling Justin for months on taking a hard look at his friends and pulling back from those who are bad influences.

We're told church pastors did not single out Floyd as a bad influence, but Justin decided on his own he needed some distance. Our sources say Justin didn't want a clean break from Floyd, he just wanted to "reset boundaries" ... walling himself off from things like Floyd's obsession with strip clubs.

Justin unfollowed Floyd on Instagram as part of the resetting of boundaries, and our sources say Floyd went "insane, nuclear." He lashed out at Justin, called him a "traitor" because Floyd had stuck with Justin during his meltdown when everyone was attacking Bieber.

Sources connected with Floyd say the boxer continues to be incensed at Justin ... screaming incensed.

Now it makes sense why Justin curiously told a photog last week he didn't think Floyd would knock Conor McGregor out at next Saturday's fight.

TMZ Sports has put our investigative resources to good use ... and found out the identities of the Corona Girls who've been tapped to work the Mayweather vs. McGregor fight.

You're welcome.

Meet Kyra Keli, Tawny Jordan, Jessica Harbour, and Samantha Kumiko ... 4 of the women who will be working the ring during the August 26 fight.

As we previously reported, Corona won the bid to become the official beer sponsor of the fight and will provide the ring girls.

We're told the women are STOKED -- not only because they're getting the best seats in the house for the fight, but they feel like they'll be showcased to a HUGE audience!

Huge sporting events mean huge money for sex workers ... but cops in Vegas have a message for tourists -- if you're gonna pay for it, KEEP IT LEGAL!

If you like smokin' hot women in bikinis, here's some good news, bad news about the Mayweather vs. McGregor fight ...

Bad news ... the UFC's legendary Octagon girls will NOT be working the event.

Good news ... we're told the Corona Girls will handle ring card duties instead -- and they ain't no slouches!

Here's the deal ... Corona won the bid to become the official beer of the fight -- which means they get prime in-ring promotion, which includes the beautiful women holding the ring cards.

So, what will the Octagon girls be doing on August 26? Hustlin' baby!

We spoke with Arianny Celeste, who says she'll be hosting a fight party in Miami ... and, shocker, she's rooting for Conor.

The Floyd Mayweather/Conor McGregor fight will be riddled with celebrities ... and TMZ Sports knows some who will be front and center.

Here's a partial list:

-- Angelina Jolie

-- Drake

-- Elon Musk

-- Diddy

-- Mark Wahlberg

-- Denzel Washington

-- Charlize Theron

-- LL Cool J

-- Jamie Foxx

-- LeBron James

-- Bob Kraft

-- Rick Ross

-- Adam Levine

-- Michael Bay

-- Avicii

-- Jeff Beacher

He's 64 years old ... but if a white supremacist steps to Floyd Mayweather Sr., the boxing veteran says he won't hesitate to beat that ass.

Floyd Sr. was flying back to Vegas after a whirlwind trip to L.A. when we asked if he was worried about his own safety with the rise of white supremacist rallies all over the country.

"I'm telling you right now ... if it comes to the point, where I gotta take care of my business, I'm gonna take care of my business," Floyd said.

"Believe me, I'm gonna clean it up good."

Floyd was 28-6-1 as a pro fighter back in the day -- and helps train his son on a daily basis out in Vegas.

Floyd Mayweather Sr. is coming out swingin' at Justin Bieber -- saying the pop star doesn't know a DAMN THING about boxing if he thinks Conor's gonna go the distance.

Remember, Bieber -- Floyd Jr.'s longtime friend -- recently shot down the idea that Mayweather would K.O. McGregor ... and that ain't sittin' too well with Floyd Sr.

"Justin Bieber ... he don't even know boxing," Floyd's dad told us at LAX ... "He knows Floyd. But he don't know Floyd like I know Floyd."

Floyd Sr. also went in on Vegas gamblers putting their money on Conor -- saying they're crazy ... and a bet on Floyd is like taking free money!

Floyd Mayweather says he's putting business before pleasure -- and won't have sex before he fights Conor McGregor.

It's an old superstition that's been around the boxing game for years. You remember Mick from the 'Rocky' movies famously said, "Women weaken legs."

Floyd seems to agree. Conor McGregor has a different strategy.

"That is most certainly a superstition that I do not abide by," Conor told Conan O'Brien back in 2015 ... "I definitely have as much sex as possible."

So, to bang or not to bang? That is the question ...

They thought they were slick ... dozens of websites aiming to livestream the Mayweather vs. McGregor fight for free.

But Showtime is preemptively striking the potential pirates with a big, fat lawsuit ... mateys.

The network is ripping a page from the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao playbook -- where they scouted out a bunch of potential illegal streaming sites and hit 'em with a legal blow before the fight.

There's obviously a TON of cash on the line -- some say the fight could bring in more than $500 MILLION ... so, they ain't lookin to let anyone skim from their pockets.

In the suit, filed in federal court, Showtime is asking a judge to issue an injunction to block the sites from streaming the August 26 fight -- and they'll probably get it.

Jon Jones says he's a fool for passing up a chance to hang with Muhammad Ali ... and tells TMZ Sports the regret's still eatin' him up.

In a few words -- "That really sucked."

Jones has met a who's who of legendary fighters in his life ... but told us he backed out of a dinner with The Greatest cause he was afraid to see one of his heroes in such a bad way.

Ali battled Parkinson's for years and one of his friends advised him not to meet with his hero because Ali was a shell of his former self and "it won't be everything that you thought it would."