Boxing

There are two ways to read this quick video response from Michael B. Jordan that TMZ Sports shot outside Craig's in L.A. when we asked him about rumors UFC's Sage Northcutt is up for the role of Ivan Drago's son in "Creed 2."

"I don't even know who that is," Michael said.

Maybe he doesn't. Sage isn't a household name (yet). Maybe MBJ was just trying to drive his ridiculously nice car into the L.A. night, probably to visit some beautiful actress and eat fresh grapes.

Or maybe he knows exactly who Sage is and that he's up for the role -- and played the age-old "I don't who that is" game because he wants to give no props to the man whose fictional dad killed his fictional dad.

Maybe MBJ wants the revenge America deserves on Drago's unholy spawn so badly that he can't even begin to come to terms with the all-encompassing rage he feels when the name "Drago" is uttered.

It's probably the first one, honestly, but dear God we wish it was the second.

To hell with you, Drago. #RIPApolloCreed.

Deontay Wilder says he's literally gonna KILL HIS OPPONENT in the ring this weekend ... guaranteeing victory by death when he rematches Bermane Stiverne at the Barclays Center.

"Somebody will die in that ring come November 4, I promise," Deontay said in an interview.

"I beat him to an inch of his life the first time. This time, I'ma END his life."

FYI, Stiverne's the only guy Wilder couldn't knock out in his career ... so this time, Deontay wants to make sure he leaves the arena in a body bag.

"I want a body on my record anyway. I wanna put a body there."

The backup Rocky Balboa statue for "Rocky III" might just end up in the hands of Sly Stallone himself ... 'cause his wife, Jennifer Flavin, says she wants to buy it!!

That was until we told her how much it'd cost her -- up to $1 MIL -- at which point she seemed to lose hope (sorry, Jenn).

TMZ Sports broke the story ... SCP Auctions is taking bids on the only replica of the iconic Rocky statue -- made just in case anything happened to the original.

Flavin was pumped about bringing the piece home to Stallone ... but after finding out the price tag, told us another place she'd be OK with the bronzen Balboa ending up.

Never say never, though ... you really think Sly wouldn't pony up?

Floyd Mayweather "obviously" threw several rounds during the Conor McGregor fight in a "marvelous scam" to set up a rematch ... so says Hall of Fame boxing commentator Jim Lampley.

Lampley -- who's been covering the sport for 3 decades -- UNLEASHES on Mayweather as a scam artist whose essentially praying on "suckers."

But the biggest allegation ... Lampley tells TMZ Sports he's CONVINCED Mayweather intentionally tanked at least 3 rounds in the Conor fight and then carried McGregor to the 10th for show.

And anyone who thinks Mayweather is REALLY going to retire after pulling off that stunt is dead wrong.

"Why should he retire? He created a marvelous scam with this whole thing," Lampley said.

"He allowed Conor to quote 'win' 3 rounds so that the whole global MMA wish community could have something to latch on to. I think there's a decent chance there's enough suckers out there Floyd could maybe make another $150 million, why not?"

"It's all a set up."

Wanna buy the ORIGINAL Rocky Balboa sculpture from "Rocky III?"

Too bad, it's not for sale. But the BACKUP statue is on the auction block.

The artist behind the piece, A. Thomas Schomberg, made two versions of the iconic sculpture back in the 80's for the 1982 flick ... #1 was used in the movie and #2 was a backup in case anything bad happened.

The original sculpture from the movie is still in Philly. The backup had been on display for years in the San Diego Hall of Champions, but that place closed down and now Rocky #2 is for sale.

We spoke with a rep for SCP Auctions -- which has auctioned everything from game-worn Babe Ruth uniforms to Michael Jordan game-used shoes -- and they're expecting the Rocky statue to fetch somewhere between $500k and $1 mil.

Still interested? Hope you've got a freight truck -- 'cause the bronze Balboa stands at nearly 9-feet tall and weighs 1,800 pounds.

Bidding ends November 4 ... good luck!!

Conor McGregor might have to wait ... another huge fighter says he's gonna take a chunk out of Floyd Mayweather's ass if he returns, and this guy is a boxing superstar.

The guy is WBC super welterweight champ Jermell Charlo, who's fresh off a devastating first round knockout of Erickson Lubin a couple of weeks ago.

Charlo hit the Lakers game Thursday night with Brandon Watson -- co-owner of the Team Watson Boxing Gym in L.A. -- and told us if Floyd (who's been working out) is serious about a comeback, he's down.

For the record, Floyd and Charlo are pretty good buddies -- and Charlo respects Floyd immensely -- but wouldn't you fight your pal for a $100 million payday???

Us too.

Jon Jones is the biggest wasted talent in sports history -- so says Andre Berto, who agreed with Dana White's bold statement from earlier this week.

Don't get it twisted -- Andre is a HUGE Jones fan, and told TMZ Sports he "wouldn't say it as harsh" as the UFC honcho ... but the boxing star thinks Jones fits the bill based on all his physical gifts.

"Jon Jones is ridiculously talented, man. Tall, long, rangy, skills."

FYI, Jon is currently facing a suspension for up to 4 years after getting popped for steroids ... but swears on God and his kids that he didn't use.

As for A.B. -- he says he's serious about joining the UFC!

Floyd Mayweather is telling his TMT bodyguards he's 100% retired -- and will NOT set up a rematch with Conor McGregor ... so says Floyd's hired muscle.

Of course, Floyd JUST posted footage from his boxing gym hitting the heavy bag -- and he looks pretty good. Plus, with all the money he made from the last fight, ya gotta wonder if he's thinking about a 51st fight.

So, when we saw Floyd's famous private security team, The Brixx Brothers -- Big G and Jizzy Mack -- we asked for the inside stuff with Mayweather's fight plan. They didn't exactly rule out a comeback.

BONUS -- With O.J. Simpson living just miles from Floyd's home in Vegas, we asked if Juice should look into private security too.

Mike Tyson says he was definitely NOT a fan of "Mike Tyson's Punch-Out" when it was first released for Nintendo ... 30 YEARS AGO!

Yep, it was Oct. 18, 1987 when Little Mac began his 8-bit quest for boxing supremacy ... taking on guys like Bald Bull, King Hippo, Don Flamingo, and of course, Iron Mike Tyson.

We spoke with Mike about how the game has become a cultural phenomenon -- and he dropped this bombshell on us ... he hated it when it first came out!!

Tyson was super candid with Harvey Levin during a taping of an upcoming episode of "OBJECTified" (airs Sunday nights at 8 PM EST/5 PM PST on FOX News Channel) ... revealing how he came to love the NES game over time.

Salute to MTPO.

Yeah -- that's a pretty effective way of promoting a fight.

Earlier today in Norway, undefeated boxing star Cecilia Braekhus was facing off with Sweden's Mikaela Lauren for their upcoming fight ... when Mikaela decided to show Cecilia some love (literally).

Hard to say if it was mind games or if Mikaela just thinks Cecilia's hot ... either way, that was a serious lip-lock.

Cecilia shoved her face in shock, but took the kiss like a champ -- laughing off the gesture and even thanking her future opponent for giving her some sugar.

Sergey Kovalev just lost his 3rd straight fight, but it wasn't Andre Ward this time, it was his cute little toddler son, who totally laid the smack down on dear old dad with a vicious right hand.

Sergey is in Oxnard right now training for a big comeback fight with Vyacheslav Shabranskyy (we copy pasted that name) and got some work in with a new sparring partner, his son Aleksandr.

Watch the fight, the nearly 2-year-old "Little Krusher" clearly controls the action, then lands the defining blow to his pop's face, which is enough to get a decision from us.

Get the kid signed up, he's a natural.

Floyd Mayweather got into a shouting match with a heckler on the streets of NYC on Monday night -- after the fan accused Floyd of running from Gennady Golovkin.

Oh, and the video ends with Floyd's bodyguard threatening to choke a dude out.

Good stuff!!!

It all started after Floyd and his TMT squad left the Knicks game at MSG -- when a very loud fan started screaming at Floyd that he's scared of GGG.

Floyd yelled back to explain why he's not scared ... more yelling ensued. Floyd tried to jewelry shame the heckler -- asking how many diamonds he has on his watch.

As for GGG, he previously told us he wants to fight Floyd BAD -- and guaranteed he would knock Mayweather out cold.

Where should boxers go to find groupies?

Any old McDonald's will do, boxing star Danny Garcia tells TMZ Sports -- 'cause ladies tryna quench their thirst ain't only at the club.

"You just walk down the street -- McDonald's ... buyin' a McGriddle! You can find 'em anywhere!!"

Danny's a 1-woman man ... but we're pretty sure not all his bros have coitus on deck after every fight. Garcia says NFL and NBA guys get waaay more groupie love.

So ... we got D.G. to drop some knowledge on where to look.

Dude's GF is smokin' hot -- so maybe he's right. Maybe.

If Conor McGregor really wants to continue his boxing career he might've found his huckleberry ... former welterweight champ Danny Garcia, who says he'd beat Conor's ass ... worse than Floyd did.

McGregor has publicly stated he thinks he'd win a rematch with Floyd, and hasn't ruled out a return to the boxing ring in the future (why not? He reportedly made more than $100 million last time).

We got Danny at Team Watson Boxing in L.A. (where huge fighters train), and he said he's more than willing to kick the damn hell out of Conor, and thinks he'd finish him way faster than Floyd did.

"He ain't going 10 rounds with me, I'm a seek and destroy type fighter, I'm one of the type of fighters you want to run from when you fight, it ain't going past 4."

Legendary boxing trainer Freddie Roach is currently working with Georges St-Pierre -- and he may have just dropped a huge bombshell about GSP's future fighting plans.

Maybe.

Roach was leaving Craig's in L.A. when we asked what he thought of Conor McGregor's boxing skills. Spoiler -- he thinks Conor sucks.

But that's when he dropped this gem -- "GSP's gonna kick his ass anyway."

Here's the thing ... GSP is currently training for his UFC 217 fight against Michael Bisping. If he wins, could a Conor fight be next? That's what Freddy seems to be getting at.

FYI, GSP is fighting Bisping at 185 pounds -- but he's previously said he can cut to 155.

Conor is the champ at 155 -- but he fought (and beat) Nate Diaz at 170.

Let's face it -- this would be a HUGE fight for Conor and the UFC. Maybe even bigger than Conor vs. Nate III.

So, does Roach know something we don't? Or is it just wishful thinking?

Time for Mike Tyson to listen up ... because if he wants some of the personal (and bizarre) items he USED to own back, TMZ Sports has a way for Iron Mike to recover his crap.

What kinda stuff are we talking about here?

Autographed porn covers (S/O to Heather Hunter, a legend), personal photos with huge stars like Eddie Murphy and Johnny Gill, and even legal documents from Mike's time as a not-so-great citizen.

This haul of goodies ended up in the hands of a guy named Richus Allen, who tells us he bought the stuff from a thrift shop in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

So how'd he get it?

Allen says Mike's personal barber put the stuff in a storage unit, then defaulted on the payments. The thrift store bought the unit, then Allen bought the stuff.

Richus tells us he wants Mike to know he has his old crap, just in case MT wants some of his memories -- including pics of his now deceased mother figure Camille Ewald -- back.