Boxing

Rick Ross wants to brush up his fighting skills -- so, he strapped on the gloves and hit the boxing gym with Adrien Broner ... and he looks pretty good!

Tha Boss was throwing some decent jabs, some combos and a hard right hand ... even knocked Broner's mitt right off!

Not saying Ross is ready to take a pro fight or anything ... but he's moving pretty well -- especially after recovering from a medical scare back in March.

Broner's last fight was back in April -- when he fought to a draw against Jessie Vargas. There are reports the two are closing in on a deal for a rematch.

UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber says Conor McGregor is his "boy" -- but even he wants to know ... WHEN ARE YOU COMING BACK?!

McGregor hasn't fought in the Octagon since Nov. 2016 when he defeated Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205. Of course, he boxed Floyd Mayweather in August 2017 ... and reportedly made around $100 mil.

Floyd had said he wants his next fight to be in the Octagon -- but he hasn't signed a contract and even Dana White has said he has no idea when the Irishman will fight again ... if ever.

So, when we saw Faber out in Hollywood with Patrick Schwarzenegger ... we asked if he knows anything!

"I don't know what the f*ck's up with Conor ... that's my boy," Faber told TMZ Sports.

Boxing champ Vasyl Lomachenko tells TMZ Sports ... he's 100% down to fight Gervonta Davis in December when he recovers from shoulder surgery -- but ONLY if Davis comes up to his weight class.

The Ukrainian superstar was out shopping in Beverly Hills -- just one month after winning the WBA lightweight title over Jorge Linares ... and told us he's already thinking about his next fight!

Lomachenko says he knows he'll probably fight Mikey Garcia down the line ... but Davis is a realistic opponent for December.

Davis is the IBF and WBA super featherweight champ ... but Lomachenko says he won't go down to Gervonta's class to fight him there -- Tank needs to come up to 135.

Well, now we know why Floyd Mayweather took his private jet to Mexico ... his sister got married this weekend in Cabo!

Floyd -- along with several TMT staffers and bodyguards -- hit up the Paradisus Los Cabos resort to watch his sister, Deltricia Tawanna Howard, trade "I Dos" with her boyfriend George Forte III.

The ceremony was super romantic -- it all went down on the beach in front of the crashing waves. Floyd rocked a pretty slick white suit.

The rest of the weekend was lit, too ... parties, dancing, ATV excursions and a fireworks celebration when the bride and groom tied the knot!

They love Floyd Mayweather in Mexico!!

Check out the welcome banner Floyd got at Los Cabos Mexico International Airport on Thursday ... when his private jet touched down for a little getaway south of the border.

We spoke with a rep at the airport who told us it was just a "friendly" little gesture to welcome Mayweather and his crew.

Floyd got the VIP treatment once his PJ landed -- a pimped-out sprinter van took Floyd and the rest of his Money Team to their fancy resort.

Floyd has REALLY racked up the miles this year -- vacationing everywhere from Dubai to Singapore and Monaco, Thailand, Bali, Turks and Caicos and L.A.

Donald Trump announced he was posthumously pardoning the first black heavyweight champion Jack Johnson on Thursday ... and it seems a lot of credit goes to Sylvester Stallone!!

Johnson was convicted more than 100 years ago of violating the Mann Act by transporting a white woman across state lines.

The conviction, largely seen as racist and an abuse of the legal system, has been urged by many in the boxing community to be pardoned for years.

But, per POTUS, it was Rocky himself who swayed him to make the full pardon, tweeting back in April:

"Sylvester Stallone called me with the story of heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson. His trials and tribulations were great, his life complex and controversial. Others have looked at this over the years, most thought it would be done, but yes, I am considering a Full Pardon!"

On Thursday, Trump made that happen.

And just a few minutes ago, Sly and boxing studs Lennox Lewis and Deontay Wilder celebrated the move with a punchy photo op in Washington D.C.

Canelo Alvarez is playing with fire ... vacationing in Mexico, despite blaming his positive PED test on tainted meat.

Remember, Canelo is adamant he didn't intentionally take clenbuterol before his scheduled fight with Gennady Golovkin, saying he unintentionally consumed tainted Mexican beef

Alvarez says he moved his training camp from Mexico to the United States to avoid these problems, but now he's back in his home country, and boxing fans have gotta be hoping he's going meat free.

Oscar De La Hoya -- Canelo's promoter -- says he will fight in September ... whether or not it's GGG.

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 ...