Boxing

Anthony Joshua says he's one step closer to finalizing a contract to fight Deontay Wilder -- and predicts, "I'm gonna f*ck him up bad."

"I'm gonna rain down hell on him," Joshua said during a Q&A with radio host Polly James in Cardiff, Wales.

The 28-year-old boxing superstar said he's been locked in negotiations with Wilder's camp -- but there's one major sticking point before the deal gets done ... location, location, location.

Joshua wants the fight in the UK because he doesn't trust the way boxing events go down in America, Wilder's home turf.

In fact, Joshua said he's concerned about "tricky" judges and refs who will tip the fight in Wilder's favor.

The Golden Boy ain't gonna like this ...

Shaq says he gave Oscar De La Hoya a pass when the two men fought back in 2009 ... telling TMZ Sports he "held back" on ODLH because he didn't REALLY want to beat up his friend.

Oscar & Diesel squared off for his old TV show, "Shaq Vs." where the big fella would go up against other pro athletes in their different sports ... with awesome results.

De La Hoya won via decision ... but when we got O'Neal out in NYC he told our guy he basically took a dive.

"I held back 'cause he was my friend."

Not everybody got the homie treatment though ... Shaq told us he had another fight, this time with boxing great Sugar Shane Mosley where he "turned it up a little."

We found the video -- and yeah, Shaq hit Mosley with some REAL power shots and bullied him around the ring like a rag doll.

Mosley ended up winning that fight in a 5-round decision (and hit Shaq with some power shots of his own) ... but it's clear Shaq was trying to send a message that he's no joke when it comes to fighting.

KSI has a REAL shot to beat Logan Paul's ass in the boxing match everyone's talking about ... because he's black ... so says YouTube megastar Vitaly Zdorovetskiy.

Yeah, he really said that.

Was he joking? Maybe ... Vitaly's "thing" is edgy jokes and pranks ... and his humor has helped build 10 MILLION subscribers on YouTube.

So, when we saw him at Hyde in L.A., we had to ask about the KSI vs. Logan Paul showdown ... which is going down for real in Manchester, England on August 25.

Vitaly says he's putting his money on Logan ... but added, "KSI's black so he has a chance."

Sidenote ... Vitaly TRIED to book a fight with KSI before Logan did ... and even called him out back in February. KSI decided to ultimately sign a deal with Logan.

But keep an eye on this guy ... it's possible he could fight KSI (or another social media star) sometime in the future.

File under: "When the rich get richer ..."

Floyd Mayweather decided to try his luck at a high stakes video poker machine Sunday night ... and hit a $100,000 jackpot.

For real.

Floyd started off with $20,000 in a "Ten Play Draw Poker" machine -- playing $25 per hand.

Then, as fate would have it ... he hit a Royal Flush on one of his 10 hands ... which paid off a cool $100,000.

He also hit some winners on the other hands he was playing at the time, which paid out an additional $1,250 ... for a grand total of $101,250.

Oscar De La Hoya is issuing an ultimatum to Gennady Golovkin -- sign the deal to fight Canelo Alvarez in September ... or he'll find someone else who will!

Of course, Canelo and GGG were locked in for the rematch on May 5 -- until Canelo tested positive for PEDs and pulled out. Golovkin fought Vanes Martirosyan instead and destroyed him.

Now, the two sides are trying to hammer out another deal to get the rematch going ... but GGG hasn't signed on yet. Oscar says his priority is to make the fight, but he isn't gonna sit around and wait.

"He doesn't want to fight," De La Hoya told TMZ Sports ... "Regardless, Canelo's fighting in September so it's all gravy."

Oscar didn't name specific replacement fighters, but noted he'll search for the toughest guy out there -- which could be anyone from Jermall Charlo to Billy Joe Saunders to Daniel Jacobs.

One of the biggest fights of the year is only months away ... Logan Paul vs. KSI -- and Amanda Cerny and her boyfriend can't wait!

Paul and KSI -- both huge YouTube stars -- are on a collision course for August, when they will both step into the ring and fight.

Yes, it's real -- and the hype behind the fight is massive already.

For the record, KSI -- one of the biggest gamers in the world -- already fought YouTube star Joe Weller back in February and dominated. He called out Logan Paul in a post-fight victory speech.

Paul accepted and they signed a 2-fight deal. The first match will go down on August 25 in Manchester, England.

Enter Amanda Cerny ... who has 20 MILLION followers on IG and more than 120 MILLION views on YouTube. She's a social media force and she knows the KSI vs. Paul fight is a big deal.

"I think it'll show how powerful social media is," Cerny says with her BF, Johannes Bartl.

By the way, KSI is training with Floyd Mayweather's family at his TMT gym in Vegas.

The betting odds are out and KSI is the slight favorite at -150. Who ya got?!

File Under: "You know you have wayyyyy too much money when ..."

Thursday's insane display of wealth comes courtesy of Floyd Mayweather -- who took some time on his ridiculously expensive annual vacation around the world to buy his dog some designer kicks.

Floyd claims the shoes are "red bottoms" -- though, we haven't been able to find actual Louboutin dog shoes yet.

Either way, who buys dog shoes?

Floyd's always been good to his pets -- flying them on private jets and making sure they only drink water out of crystal glasses.

If 50 Cent and Rampage Jackson actually throw down ... it's not gonna end well for the professional MMA fighter, so says "Power" star Joseph Sikora.

It's a beef that really came to a head this week when 50 posted a trash-talking post on Instagram essentially saying he'd wreck Rampage if they ever really fought.

Rampage responded with some trash talk of his own ... and now there are rumblings the two could actually be setting up a real bout.

Enter Sikora ... who's been working with 50 Cent on "Power" for years -- so, we had to ask if he REALLY thinks his boss can do what Chuck Liddell couldn't get done ... knocking out Rampage.

"I think he's serious," Sikora says ... "I got my money on Fif."

So, why the confidence?

Sikora says 50's in incredible shape and has some real accomplishments as an amateur boxer.

She's beaten everyone from Gina Carano to Holly Holm ... and now Cris Cyborg just beat a parking ticket -- and it's all on video!!!

The UFC superstar was talking with TMZ Sports about her fighting future and how Conor McGregor inspired her to transition into boxing after her next 2 MMA fights ... when the law came knocking at her door!

Turns out, Cyborg was parked in a no-parking zone and was thiiis close to getting a ticket -- when all of the sudden Johnny Law recognized Cris ... and gave her a pass!!

You can even hear the guy fanboy out -- throwing some compliments Cyborg's way before letting her off the hook.

As for Cyborg's career -- she's dead serious about boxing ... telling TMZ Sports she's always dreamed about lacing up the gloves and watching Mayweather vs. McGregor gave her real hope!

FYI, Cyborg sparred with ex-boxing champ Mia St. John just last year and she looked pretty solid.

Stay tuned on this one ...

Travis Barker ain't buying Canelo Alvarez's tainted cow steroid excuse -- he thinks the guy's a cheater -- and tells TMZ Sports he's gonna get ROCKED by Triple G when they rematch in Sept.

The Blink-182 drummer is a huge fight fan and strongly believes Gennady Golovkin got screwed by the judges in his first fight with Canelo ... "I feel like he got robbed."

But after watching Gennady beat up on Vanes Martirosyan this weekend -- Barker's convinced GGG won't let it go to a decision the second time around.

Boxing champ Gervonta Davis (20-0) played peacemaker in a strip club fist fight ... diving in between punches to separate two guys -- and TMZ Sports has the footage.

It all went down outside V Live Dallas -- one of the top strip clubs in the country -- where stars like Davis and Adrien Broner were partying earlier that evening.

But,as Davis was leaving the club, two guys decided to throw down in the parking lot -- things got violent, quick.

That's when Davis -- the reigning WBA super featherweight champ -- RACED over to the melee and pushed his way in between the brawlers to try and end things asap.

One of the guys definitely got hit in the face hard -- but Davis essentially put a stop to the fight.

V Live's owner, Damon Cobbs, tells us no one was hurt, and he's happy his security prevented the incident from escalating.

Attention world class fighters who want to punish regular guys for disrespect -- but don't wanna go to jail ... former boxing champ Andre Berto has a work-around for your frustrations.

Berto was leaving Mastro's in Bev Hills when we told him about Marlon Wayans saying he witnessed UFC star Nate Diaz beat up a regular homeboy who had gotten a little out of control.

We then asked Berto how he deals with those types, being that he's a fighter and legally can't go crazy on an average Joe ... and it turns out Berto has a whole strategy.

"You can slap them. As long as it's not closed fist. I mean, I don't know about MMA but with boxing, as long as it's not closed fist, I'd smack the sh*t out of them."

Here's the thing ... we spoke with a prosecutor and asked if Berto's logic was legally sound. The answer -- "No."

Who needs friends on your private jet when you have stacks of cash?

Floyd Mayweather doesn't ... showing off his empty "Air Mayweather" jet as he leaves Singapore on another one of his insanely expensive globe-trotting vacations.

Just a few days ago, Floyd was in Dubai -- shopping his face off. Then he was off to Singapore and then Indonesia.

Why all the stops? Because he can afford it.

In fact, Floyd spent some time on his plane counting his money -- 11 stacks of backpack cash -- all $100 bills.

When you've just dropped hundreds of thousands of dollars at the Dubai Mall ... you don't have to WALK from store to store, you get DRIVEN -- just ask Floyd Mayweather.

The 41-year-old boxer and his massive entourage were spotted in a two-car caravan -- complete with chauffeurs -- being driven through the upscale mall with TMT bodyguards and a couple of bellhops in tow.

In fact, the bellhop carts were packed to the brim with shopping bags -- and knowing Floyd, the dude dropped a fortune.

Mayweather loves to vacation in Dubai and tends to spend a TON of money when he visits. Back in 2015, he dropped just over $1 MILLION on a diamond watch during a $1.5 million shopping spree.

So, yeah ... that's why he gets VIP treatment.

Ali, Marciano, Tyson ... when it comes to great runs in boxing, Floyd Mayweather beat 'em all -- so says Dave Chappelle.

FYI, Dave is a HUGE boxing fan -- and has attended a bunch of Floyd's fights in person.

So, when we saw the comedy legend out in L.A., we had to ask about Mayweather -- and if he supports Floyd possibly jumping into the Octagon.

"I think Floyd had a great record and the greatest run in the history of boxing," Chappelle said ... "I don't know, whatever makes him happy, but I think he did his thing."

Floyd's run was legendary ... he was a champ in 5 different weight classes and made more money than any other athlete on the face of the planet.

Also, his fights have generated more money in PPV sales than any other fighter in history.

Boxing star Tevin Farmer is getting into another business where people perform shirtless in front of mostly male fans ... by opening up a strip club in his native Philadelphia.

Farmer is one of the most exciting young stars in the sport ... and when he talked to TMZ Sports he said opening the club was just something that kinda fell in his lap (pun intended).

"It's an opportunity that presented itself and I took advantage of it" ... adding, "It's lot of money to be made and I got to go get it."

The club is called Teasers and Tevin says there's definitely a type of lady he wants twerking and working in his establishment -- and a type of woman he definitely DOESN'T want.

"We want classy women. We don't want no ratchets."

Auditions were held this past week and Tevin was so kind as to give us a peek at the festivities.

You're welcome.