Boxing

Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul?! In a boxing ring?! Well, despite a report the men were deep in negotiations to fight, Iron Mike says it flat out ain't true.

The 55-year-old former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world took to his Twitter page to shoot down the news.

"This is new to me. I just saw Jake in St. Barths and he never mentioned it," Tyson wrote on the social media platform.

Mike was responding to a story published by The Sun on Monday ... where the outlet said Mike and Jake were in "advanced talks" for a $49 million boxing match.

Tyson and Paul do know each other. In fact, Jake became a boxing star on the undercard of an Iron Mike fight ... when the heavyweight stepped in and fought Roy Jones Jr. in November 2020.

That's the night the Problem Child flatlined former NBA star Nate Robinson.

Since, Paul's gone on to KO MMA champ Ben Askren in the first round of their fight ... before beating former UFC champ, Tyron Woodley twice (once by brutal knockout).

Not to mention, Jake just turned 25-years-old TODAY ... meaning Mike is more than 30 years his elder. Also, Paul fights professionally ... and any bout with Tyson would in all likelihood be an exhibition.

Jake Paul stripped all the way down to his birthday suit for his 25th cake day on Monday ... going buck naked for a sexy photo with his model girlfriend.

The Problem Child just posted the spicy pic to his social media page ... showcasin' his naked bod while a bikini-clad Julia Rose did just enough to cover up his junk.

Jake rocked a hat and some expensive jewelry -- and not a thing more -- while Rose had her hands draped all over him.

Jake captioned the photo with some of his goals for his next calendar year -- one of which included "go to outer space with Jeff, Richard, or Elon."

The b-day love for the YouTuber-turned-boxing superstar, meanwhile, has poured in all day ... with Rose writing on her social media page, "happy birthday dubba dubba…I can’t wait to feed you popcorn and kiss your nose until you turn 80."

Jake's older bro, Logan Paul, added, "happy bday @jakepaul love you bro."

By the looks of his social media activity, seems Jake is spending the special occasion in Utah -- and riding around in helicopters while there.

Of course, dude has every reason to celebrate this past trip around the sun ... he became a huge fight star -- and also reportedly made $45 million.

The robe worn by Muhammad Ali in the leadup to his famous 1965 fight with Sonny Liston is up for auction ... and TMZ Sports has learned it's such a rare piece of boxing history, it could sell for over $500,000.

Ali donned the garment on his way to the ring in his rematch with Liston -- which many consider one of the most memorable fights ever.

Ali not only knocked out Liston in iconic fashion in the ring (you've no doubt seen the picture of the KO at this point) ... but the fight also marked the first time he had boxed under the name Muhammad Ali.

You'll recall, following his first match with Liston in 1964, Ali changed his name from Cassius Clay, calling it "a slave name." He never fought using the moniker again.

For the rematch with Liston a year later, just before he won in convincing fashion, Ali donned a white piece with "Muhammad Ali" emblazoned on the back in red letters.

Ciryl Gane says despite what you might've heard, he has absolutely zero beef with Francis Ngannou ... and fully intends on showing respect to "The Predator" when they fight for the UFC title next weekend.

31-year-old Gane, the undefeated (10-0) UFC Interim champ is headlining UFC 270 against 35-year-old Ngannou, the UFC heavyweight champ next Saturday in Anaheim.

The alleged bad blood? Gane and Ngannou briefly trained together at the MMA Factory in France several years back (Francis recently told us it was less than 10 times), and things haven't exactly always seemed copacetic since.

In fact, a video recently made its way around social media showing Francis walking by Ciryl ... like he didn't exist.

But, Gane says everything's cool between the men ... there's zero ill will.

"I have no feelings for him. He's just like another opponent and that's it."

It's an intriguing matchup. Ngannou throws bombs ... and arguably has more power than any other fighter on the UFC roster. Meanwhile, Gane is 6'5", 250 lbs., but moves like a guy who weighs 75 lbs. less.

Francis recently told us he believes he'll knockout Ciryl within 10 minutes (2 rounds).

Jake and Logan Paul were money-making machines in 2021 ... with the YouTube superstars-turned-boxers reportedly raking in a combined $63 MILLION over the past year.

Forbes just released its list of highest-paid influencers on the social media platform on Friday ... with the Problem Child coming in at #2 with an astonishing $45 million estimated in earnings.

The outlet reports about $40 million of that moolah came via the boxing ring -- with Jake beating up on Ben Askren in April and Tyron Woodley in August and December.

Whether Jake is considered a "real" boxer or not, the serious money he's pocketing is not up for debate -- his income in 2021 would have put him among the top-earning athletes last year ... making more than Canelo Alvarez, who reportedly brought in $34 million.

As for Logan -- who came in at #8 on Forbes' YouTube list -- he reportedly made $18 million in 2021 ... large in part to his fight with Floyd Mayweather, his "Impaulsive" podcast, and other business opportunities.

Wowzers.

Logan Paul just found out that his unopened set of first edition Pokémon cards -- which he shelled out $3.5 MILLION to get -- is a big, fat phony ... revealing the box was full of useless G.I. Joe cards.

Rumors had been swirling about LP's purchase for weeks ... with experts skeptical about the authenticity of the cards inside the box.

26-year-old Paul and his friend/famous card collector Bolillo Lajan San met with the Baseball Card Exchange in Chicago in hopes of proving once and for all that his purchase was a good investment ... but instead, he got some REALLY bad news.

While the outside packaging appeared to be legit, it was once the box was opened that Paul and the gang realized that they'd been scammed.

"Oh my God, bro," Paul yelled as the first box was opened. "G.I. JOE?? G.I. JOE?!?! It could have been anything else."

One of the authenticators said it best ... adding, "This is the biggest fraud in the entire history of Pokémon."

It's a beyond heartbreaking loss for Paul -- had the cards been real, he could have made a fortune on what was inside the box.

"I'm a super positive person, bro," Logan said. "And, I'll always be the one to look at the bright side, and I am trying, but this is very hard."

On the bright side, Paul still has a first edition "Shadowless" Charizard card -- which he claims is now worth more than a million -- as well as 5 other packs of first edition Pokémon cards.

"It's sad for the Pokémon community, like, how many fraudulent things are out there?" he added. "I'm grateful for the things that I have that are real now. Like, I'm picturing my Charizard in my head like, "Oh my god, holy s***, something real, something worth a lot of money that is real!"

A world champion boxer is the latest fighter to call out Jake Paul ... and the dude's so serious about making it happen, he got the YouTuber's name tattooed on himself!!

The man calling out Jake is Mairis Briedis -- he's a 28-1 (20 KOs) Latvian pro who is a 3-time cruiserweight champ and the current #6 pound-for-pound boxer, according to BoxRec.

36-year-old Briedis showed how badly he wants the bout by revealing the ink job on his left thigh on Monday ... saying, "Hey Jake, I got something for you."

MB then showed off the big black and red tat of a bull's head featuring a message, "Jake's Bad Karma" ... a direct nod to Jake's "Karma" tattoo on his collarbone

"Now, it's your turn!" Briedis said.

This isn't the first time MB has challenged the 24-year-old boxer ... Briedis' promoter, Kalle Sauerland, made a fight offer last May with one condition -- Jake would have to retire from boxing if he lost.

Paul ignored the offer and went on to fight ex-UFC champ Tyron Woodley instead ... so, it seems MB felt the need to take it up a notch by getting the ink done.

"Time to collect your bad karma Jake Paul," Briedis said in the video, "Pick up the phone."

Paul has yet to respond -- he's been calling out more UFC fighters like Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz recently -- but the tat will certainly get his attention.

Bola Osundairo -- one of the brothers at the center of the Jussie Smollett scandal -- has a message for Jake Paul ... think you can fight?? Well, I'm coming for your ass!!

TMZ Sports talks to Abimbola -- aka Bola -- about his burgeoning boxing career ... when the conversation turned to The Problem Child.

"Kick rocks. More like the great white hype. And I want you Jake Paul, and I'm coming after you. And we're gonna wipe the hype."

Osundairo then had a message for Paul.

"Quit running. It's time for you to face a boxer. I'm not too advanced, you probably started before me. So we probably have the same amount of experience. What are you running from?"

He also took a shot at the opponents Jake's beaten.

"Stop going after old washed-up UFC fighters. They're not boxers. They don't want to box you. Leave them alone."

Of course, Bola and his brother became overnight celebs after admitting Smollett paid them to carry out the hoax attack in Chicago back in 2019.

That's about when Bola got into the sport of boxing ... and he's no joke in the ring.

Team USA Boxing ranks him the #1 86 kg (189 lbs.) fighter in their rankings. He also told us he recently fought 4 nights in a row, winning all the by unanimous decision.

But, the 24-year-old YouTuber turned undefeated boxer -- who just brutally KO'd Tyron Woodley -- isn't the only one on Bola's hit list. He's also got his eyes on a couple of other well-known fighters.

"We'll fight Tommy Fury. We'll fight Julio Cesar Chavez. Anderson Silva. See I'm naming real boxers, or people who actually do stuff in boxing. We'll fight any of them."

A mega-fight between the best heavyweight boxer alive, Tyson Fury, and the best heavyweight MMA fighter alive, Francis Ngannou, might actually go down ... 'cause both guys say they're all the way down to fight!

It all started last month when the UFC star told TMZ Sports he wants to step in the boxing ring with either Fury or Deontay Wilder.

"I would like to test myself to that level," Ngannou told us at the time, "It's not the same sport, although I'm the champion, I'm in the top in this division."

"At the end of the day, it's just about like trained hands, trained punches, having a good delivery system to produce bombs and I'm sure that if I deliver my own punch, it's pretty good, I can make some damage."

Well, Fury must've watched the interview ... 'cause he posted a fighting promo on his Twitter Thursday, featuring him and the 16-3 (12 KOs) MMA fighter.

"Who would like to see me fight this beast boxing rules UFC gloves?" Fury said.

Ngannou replied to the 31-0-1 heavyweight boxer ... saying the rules should be MMA style but would settle for boxing gloves as a favor to him -- but Fury wasn't having it.

"You want to come into my world calling me and Wilder out to a boxing match," Fury said.

"What I can guarantee you would be knocked out & also paid your highest purse to be so! So, have a think."

Ngannou didn't back down and vowed to go toe-to-toe anywhere and any style after his matchup with UFC interim HW champ Ciryl Gane at UFC 270.

"After I handle business on Jan. 22 I'll fight you," Ngannou said, "Under any special ruleset you want. In a ring, an Octagon or a phone booth."

AJ McKee has conquered the cage ... and now the Bellator champ tells TMZ Sports he wouldn't mind spending time in a ring boxing against arguably the 2 biggest combat sports athletes in the world.

Floyd Mayweather. Conor McGregor.

We talked to the 26-year-old undefeated MMA star at the Jake Paul-Tyron Woodley boxing match in Tampa ... and we asked AJ about all things his combat sports career.

First, on boxing.

"I wanna test my skills against some of the best and that's why I've always called out Floyd. It's not like, 'Oh, I wanna beat Floyd.' I wanna test my skills in hand-to-hand combat with one of the best athletes in hand-to-hand combat," McKee says.

We then asked about McGregor ... and AJ says he's down to box the Irish superstar -- or anyone else.

"I'm down for anybody. If it's 145, 155, 170. In boxing, I'll go up 3 weight classes."

Of course, Floyd and Conor boxed in 2017 ... a fight Mayweather won by TKO. It was one of the biggest sports events ever. Floyd then went on to box Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa and Logan Paul.

Now, about McKee's day job as Bellator champ. We asked him where he goes from here ... after beating fellow badass Patricio "Pitbull" Freire, winning the promotions 145 lb. million dollar tournament.

"I would like to be double champ," AJ says.

"Becoming double champ is definitely bucket list. Be a champ-champ and then see where the path lies after that."

But, promotions aside -- UFC, Bellator, ONE, PFL -- who's the best 145 pounder on the planet?

McKee says he's all about finding out ... if that means scrapping with guys like Brian Ortega, Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski.

"Send the contract, bro. I'm gonna sign it. Cross-promotion, any promotion, backyard bully stuff. I'm just about the fight. I love to fight, outside of the money, the fame, the clout, clearly that's not what I do it for."

Jake Paul says he's willing to get inside the Octagon against Jorge Masvidal for a UFC fight -- but first, he wants Dana White to do a few things.

The YouTuber just laid out his terms and conditions for a potential bout against Gamebred ... saying he wants UFC fighters to get what he feels they deserve.

In a public post to the UFC boss, Jake wrote ... "Happy new year @danawhite. Here is a real challenge for you… I will immediately retire from boxing and fight Jorge Masvidal in the UFC if you agree to (the following)."

You can read JP's letter for yourself, but to summarize -- he's asking fighters get a $50k minimum payout fight ... as well as more of the MMA giant's yearly earnings.

Jake claims UFC generated about a billion dollars in 2021 alone -- so essentially, he's saying $500 mil should be earmarked and divvied up among the talent themselves.

There's more ... Jake wants Dana to put a focus on healthcare for fighters.

If Dana implements these asks by March 31, JP says he'll retire from boxing and come on over for a 1-fight deal with JM.

As you may know, there's been a lot of talk about a would-be fight between these two -- with Masvidal himself stoking the flames and issuing a challenge, with certain caveats.

Ball's in Dana's court now!

Francis Ngannou is known for his striking and downright scary power ... and now the UFC champ tells TMZ Sports he'd like to box a top heavyweight like Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder.

We talked to the 35-year-old, 16-3 (12 KO's) UFC star ... and asked him if he still had designs on hopping to the boxing ring.

"It's always been down the line. This is something I'm not taking my eyes off of. It's gonna happen, either way. Even if, when the UFC and I finalize a deal, the boxing part has to be into it because I can't see myself retire without boxing," Francis says.

FYI, Francis has 1 fight left on his deal with Dana White's organization ... a title defense against interim champ, Ciryl Gane.

But, Ngannou isn't looking to box a tomato can ... he literally is going straight to the top for an opponent.

"Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder. I would like to test myself to that level," Francis told us.

"It's not the same sport, although I'm the champion, I'm in the top in this division. At the end of the day, it's just about like trained hands, trained punches, having a good delivery system to produce bombs and I'm sure that if I deliver my own punch, it's pretty good, I can make some damage."

Of course, Fury -- the top heavyweight boxer in the world -- recently beat fellow great Wilder in one of the best heavyweight fights of all time.

Fury is likely to fight Dillian Whyte early next year. Wilder's next move is currently unknown. But, a Ngannou fight vs. either man would obviously be a huge event.

Bad news for Tommy Fury -- the boxer might have missed his shot at fighting Jake Paul for good ... 'cause the YouTube superstar says he wants a bigger name to be his next opponent.

Fury -- who backed out of the Dec. 18 bout with a chest infection and broken rib -- said earlier this week he was gunning to reschedule their fight ASAP ... promising to make it happen as soon as he's healthy.

But, Jake seems to be over it, revealing in an interview with USA Today he's not interested in going down that road again after knocking Tyron Woodley out in dramatic fashion.

"Most likely not Tommy," Jake said. "I kind of want someone with a bigger name."

"We’ll see how all the stars align, but I’m tired of carrying all these Pay-per-view buys by myself."

It would be a huge bummer of an ending of the Paul/Fury feud if they don't fight -- after all, they LOVED trolling each other all 2021.

Now, the Fury name is huge in boxing -- Tommy's older bro, Tyson is the world heavyweight champ -- but Paul's called out UFC fighter Jorge Masvidal, who quickly shut down his $5 million offer.

In the meantime, Jake says he's gonna rest up and enjoy some downtime before entering the ring again.

Famous boxing announcer David Diamante was reportedly critically injured in a serious motorcycle accident this week ... but thankfully, he's alert and in good spirits.

Diamante -- who's worked for ESPN, DAZN, Showtime, HBO, the Brooklyn Nets and more -- was riding on a street beneath the Brooklyn Queens Expressway when the accident took place, according to Boxing Scene.

The 50-year-old was rushed to a local hospital, where he was treated for multiple broken ribs and fractures to his spine, as well as "serious" damage to his knee, the outlet reports.

Diamante underwent a 5-hour procedure on Tuesday ... where screws, rods, and cadaver parts were placed in his spine.

But, the good news?? Diamante is already talking about kickstarting his recovery and getting back on his feet.

"It's going to be a tough road," he told the outlet. "It's a bad injury and getting better will take some time. This will be a struggle. I'll have to learn to walk again, and right now there's a risk of complications."

"But, I have a positive attitude and will be back as soon as possible."

Michael Buffer also says he spoke with Diamante ... saying his fellow announcer is "very optimistic."

"David’s a fighter and has met big challenges in his life-this will be another one!"

Diamante is a legend in combat sports ... and is known for his trademark phrase, "The fight is on." He most recently worked the Joseph Parker vs. Derek Chisora fight on Dec. 18.

Tommy Fury is breaking his silence on Jake Paul's wild knockout win over Tyron Woodley ... saying it killed him to sit at home and watch, but he still 100% wants their fight to happen.

TNT -- who backed out of his bout with Paul with a chest infection and broken rib -- joined "The Unibet Lowdown" on Wednesday to give his take on Jake's performance ... and he says it would've been a different result if he had been in the ring instead of Tyron.

"It was very upsetting for me to sit there and watch it," Tommy said. "I know if I'd been in there, he wouldn't have been going six, seven rounds or whatever it was."

Tommy -- who is coughing throughout the interview -- claims Jake is "lucky" he had to pull out ... 'cause if he were in the ring, it would've been a bad night for Paul.

"I would have been smashing the jabs out there and fold up with the right -- he just wouldn't have been there because it was that bad. It was a bad, terrible fight."

Of course, Jake claimed Tuesday that Tommy's camp has gone radio silent since the Woodley K.O. ... but he makes it clear he's expecting their fight to get rescheduled.

"That should have been and it will be me," Fury added. "I do believe my time will come. Me, Frank (Warren), we're trying to figure out the next date. We're trying to get that fight rescheduled because that's the fight I want next."

Tommy has a message for his 5-0 rival ... saying 2022 will be the year they finally make the event happen.

"I'll do anything possible to speed up this recovery process because the quicker speed to get better, the quicker I get into the ring and get this fight done," Fury said.

As for Jake, he's moved on to offering Jorge Masvidal $5 million to fight ... but it's clear Tommy wants next.

"I was impressed by Jake Paul. I didn't see that coming. I was sure that Tyron Woodley was gonna win this fight, you know? But you gotta give it to Jake Paul. He made a statement -- a huge statement and he proved that he puts his money where his mouth is."

That's arguably the baddest man on the planet, UFC heavyweight champion and knockout machine, Francis Ngannou saying that even he was very impressed with the Problem Child.

Like many people, Ngannou expected 39-year-old Woodley -- with the experience of their summer fight under his belt -- to handle 24-year-old Paul with relative ease.

However, that didn't happen ... 'cause Paul knocked T-Wood -- the former dominant UFC welterweight champ -- out cold in the 6th round of their highly anticipated rematch Saturday night in Tampa, landing a huge power punch that flatlined the future UFC Hall of Famer.

Francis -- who's won 12 of his 16 pro MMA fights by KO -- says this should be a lesson to anyone who doesn't take 6-0 Jake Paul seriously ... you really should, or wind up fast asleep on the canvas.

"[Jake's] taking himself very seriously. You better take him seriously because he proved it."

We also talked to the HW champ about his upcoming UFC 270 fight with interim champ, Ciryl Gane ... a fight in which Ngannou is actually the underdog.

But, Francis flat out says he doesn't care what Vegas thinks ... and when January 22 rolls around, he plans on extending his win streak to 6!