Boxing

Crushing news for X-Pac ... the former WWE superstar says he tore his bicep last month in his highly anticipated return to the ring, and will require surgery to fix the injury before getting back in the squared circle.

49-year-old Pac, government name, Sean Michael Waltman, posted the gruesome pic of his injury on Twitter and an update on his health status, and it was pretty tough to digest.

"I tried to keep this on the down-low," X-Pac wrote, "but I tore my bicep in the tag match a month ago."

"I'm going to have surgery soon & then have a few more matches."

Pac joined the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weeknights on FS1) last month ... and told Mike & Mojo he was returning to the ring after a 3-year layoff to resume his wrestling career.

Sean announced that he would be fighting under the independent wrestling promotion Game Changer Wrestling, and his first match would be a tag team match.

The 2x WWE Hall of Famer joined forces with "The Bad Boy" Joey Janela to fight Brian Myers and Mojo's old WWE tag team partner, Matt Cardona in his first match back.

Aside from announcing his return to in-ring competition, Pac also revealed that he'd been wrestling with a torn ACL for about 14 years, but said he felt better thanks to surgery.

Now, the former D-Generation X member will again need to go under the knife.

The only fighting star boxer Vasyl Lomachenko will do now for the foreseeable future is for his home country against Russia ... so says his manager, who tells TMZ Sports Loma will remain in Ukraine until the war ends.

Lomachenko has been in the war-torn country since February -- shortly after Russia's initial invasion -- choosing to forego a championship fight with George Kambosos Jr. to stick around and help his fellow countrymen in the war.

And, Egis Klimas, who manages Lomachenko's boxing career, told us out in L.A. on Wednesday the plan is for that to continue until all of the fighting in Ukraine stops.

Klimas, though, did ensure Lomachenko is staying safe while the war rages on.

"He's doing good," Klimas said. "He's in the safe place in Ukraine. He's in the corner. The place where he's at, it's not a war zone. He's not in a war zone."

Lomachenko last fought in the ring in December, beating Richard Commey via a unanimous decision. He was expected to fight Kambosos Jr. in June ... before the war caused Loma to pull out of the bout.

Kamboso Jr. has said he will remake the fight with Lomachenko after he leaves Ukraine -- and wished him the best while he fights for his home country.

Klimas, meanwhile, says Oleksandr Usyk, one of the other star boxers he manages who joined the forces in Ukraine back in February, has left the country and is in the process of preparing for his rematch against Anthony Joshua.

It pays to be a fan of Floyd Mayweather -- literally -- 'cause the 50-0 boxing legend is hooking up a verrry lucky fan with $100,000!!

TMZ Sports has learned Mayweather hosted a giveaway for fans ... and randomly picked a fan to hook up with the money.

James McNair, President of The Money Team, tells us ... "When you are associated with Floyd and his businesses anything can happen on any given day that will change your life."

And, changing his life is exactly what the fan says Floyd did for him.

In fact, Mayweather reached out to the fan -- who had to like, RT, and join Mayweverse Discord (JM says they picked up over 75K members in a week), among other rules -- directly through Instagram direct message ... and broke him with the incredible news.

As for the actual NFTs, Floyd is dropping 5,000 through the Mayweverse (his non-fungible token company) that he designed with McNair ... and we're told it's a space TBE intends to stay in for the foreseeable future.

Jake Paul wants in on the Will Smith vs. Chris Rock feud -- the YouTuber-turned-fighter is offering both actors $15 MILLION to take their beef to the boxing ring!!

Shortly after the slap heard around the world went down at the Oscars, "Impractical Jokers" star Sal Vulcano joked about how much the Most Valuable Promotions founder would cough up to get both legends in the ring for an epic event for the ages.

The 25-year-old fighter -- who previously offered Pete Davidson and Kanye West $30 milli each to face off in the ring -- delivered on his new proposition late Sunday night ... claiming he already has $30 million set aside for a Smith vs. Rock bout.

"I got $15m for Will Smith and $15m for Chris Rock ready to go," Paul tweeted ... adding he already has a date in mind.

"Let’s do it in August on my undercard."

FYI -- The biggest Pay-per-view ever is 4.6 million buys for Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao in 2015.

A Will vs. Chris fight would undoubtedly be successful, but don't hold your breath on it ever happening -- after all, both guys have all the money in the world and it would be quite the height/weight disadvantage for Rock ... but Jake's got the financial backing to make it happen.

If you thought Mike Tyson was a badass before, wait until you see how he handled himself when a guy pulled a gun within 15 feet of him -- let's just say you can call him Cool Hand Luke.

TMZ obtained this insane video of what we're told was a small comedy show Tuesday night on a rooftop bar in Hollywood, and MT was in attendance with a few friends.

At first you see Mike seated calmly at his front row table taking in the show -- but the whole thing was interrupted by a random guy who approached Mike and co. and attempted to chat him up, disrupting a comedian's set and everyone's good time.

While you can't hear exactly what was being said in the footage, eyewitnesses tell us the man was actually challenging Mike to a fight -- suggesting he wanted to elevate his "status."

Mike, of course, kept it chill and didn't engage with the man ... mostly just letting him talk. Eventually, though, another man intervenes and tells the dude to scram. We're told this was actually the host/MC of the night.

That pissed off the guy challenging Mike ... who threatened to shoot the host, and then pulled out a gun from his waistband and cocked it in front of everyone. Naturally, everyone gasped and started ducking under tables.

Luckily, he never fired, put the gun away and almost immediately regretted it. He once again approached Mike, and asked him not to call the cops. Once again, Mike just sat there in relative silence, heard the guy out and in the end, embraced him.

Mike actually hugged the man, at which point he finally left without further incident. We're told people started to trickle out after that with some trepidation -- not knowing if the dude was lurking somewhere down below in the streets. After a bit of time, Mike departed too.

Mike Tyson is down to fight Jake Paul ... in what'd be one of the most talked-about boxing matches of all time.

There's just one catch -- Iron Mike wants a BILLION dollars.

55-year-old Tyson made the comments on his "Hotboxin'" podcast this week ... when his convo with boxer Jermell Charlo and Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce turned to a rumored fight against Jake.

Pierce said he heard Mike was going to fight Jake, but Tyson seemed to be unaware of the rumor.

"Nobody told me that," Tyson said. "Hey, I ain't got no f***ing money. So, where's the f***ing contract?"

"I've never heard this from nobody, I've just heard this from you guys."

Now, Tyson and Paul are buddies.

In fact, you could argue Jake owes at least some of his boxing success to Mike. The Problem Child's career exploded after he flatlined Nate Robinson on the Tyson-Roy Jones Jr. undercard in November 2020.

The men have become good friends ... and Mike even said they were recently together in St. Barts, where they partied.

When Pierce asked Mike if he'd ever fight again, specifically against Jake, Tyson quickly said "a billion bucks" ... setting his price tag to fight Jake.

Tyson previously denied reports he was in "advanced talks" to fight Jake in a $49 million boxing match ... though his latest comments seem to suggest the fight isn't totally off the table.

Star boxer Vasyl Lomachenko is turning down a title fight with George Kambosos Jr. ... all so he can stay in Ukraine and help his home country fend off a Russian invasion.

Promoter Lou DiBella announced the decision to ESPN's Mike Coppinger on Monday ... explaining the planned June 5 Lomachenko vs. Kambosos tilt is now off while Loma continues to take up arms in Ukraine.

Lomachenko, of course, has been front and center in the country since Vladimir Putin decided to invade the land back in February.

Just days after the war began, Lomachenko was seen holding a rifle and wearing army fatigues ... and he's been in the country fighting ever since.

Kambosos said Monday he respects Loma's decision to pull out of the planned boxing match -- saying in a tweet, "I totally understand and I pray for you and your country."

Kambosos added, "Please stay safe," and promised to remake the fight down the road.

Jake Paul says his $60 million offer to get Kanye West and Pete Davidson to take their beef to the boxing ring is NOT a publicity stunt ... telling TMZ Sports he wants the two to stop fighting for the sake of Ye and Kim's kids.

We spoke to the "Problem Child" about his decision to get in the middle of the biggest feud of the year ... and he says he's worried about how Ye and Kim's kids will handle watching the two grown men bicker online.

"I'm kinda sick of them going back and forth on social media and I think its affecting the kids' lives, like Kanye and Kim's kids," Jake tells us. "They're gonna be the ones that take the most trauma from this."

Of course, Kanye's antics recently got him temporarily banned from Instagram ... and he's openly argued with Kim, Pete, Trevor Noah and more over the past few weeks.

Paul -- who's been outspoken about the positive benefits of boxing -- isn't making light of the situation ... he seriously thinks this could help end the beef for good and both sides can move on.

Jake says his Most Valuable Promotions will handle everything -- as long as they show up and do their thing in the ring, they'll get their $30 mill AND some pay-per-view bucks, too.

As for the money ... Jake says that's no problem, and he's already got financial backers involved ... even though he didn't need them.

"Everyone knows I was the highest-paid boxer last year," Jake says. "I can guarantee the money myself, but we have partners and stuff. The money's good."

UFC rising star Paddy Pimblett is roasting Ilia Topuria -- AKA "Mr. Hand Sanitizer" -- after the rival fighters came to blows in a hotel ... after engaging in a social media tiff a few months back.

TMZ Sports talked to 27-year-old Paddy "The Baddy" one day after he got into it with 25-year-old Topuria ... and it's safe to say the scuffle didn't do anything to squash the beef.

Pimblett -- 17-3 as a pro -- says he was just minding his own business, "warming me eggs up" in the hotel kitchen when Ilia -- "that little bitch ass" as Paddy refers to him -- approached him in an aggressive manner.

Paddy says Topuria made the first move, "So, I bounced hand sanitizer off his head so from now he'll forever be known as Mr. Hand Sanitizer."

"He tried to throw a right hook at me which is about four years away from me because he's like 5'7". It's hard to make it look good on his part when he looks like an absolute idiot. I can't believe he posted that video. He's made himself look so stupid saying 'I warned you.'"

"Well you're the one with hand sanitizer bounced off your head lad. Nothing happened to me. You didn't land a single punch. There was six of you and ya done nothing," Paddy said.

The drama started last April when Paddy Tweeted ... "Lad how stupid are these Georgians man ... no wonder the Russians terrorize their lives." Pimblett erased the message and apologized, but it's clear Ilia didn't forget.

The guys clearly still have issues ... so we asked Paddy if he was interested in fighting Topuria in the future.

"He's beneath me. As I say it, I don't even know his name, lad. He's Mr. Sanitizer to me. That's all he is. I don't know his name, lad. He's gonna get knocked out Saturday by my man Jai [Herbert], and then he'll crawl back to the featherweight division."

FYI, both men are fighting this weekend at UFC Fight Night ... but they're not fighting each other. Pimblett's taking on Rodrigo Vargas (we also talked to PP about his fight).

Forget body slams and full nelsons -- WWE's Indi Hartwell and Dexter Lumis fought Persia Pirotta and Duke Hudson by trying to out-makeout each other ... and coincidentally, wrestling interest is through the roof.

The wild moment went down on WWE NXT on Tuesday ... as Indi and Persia were duking it out in a singles match, and Hudson showed up to cheer on his lady.

Of course, Dexter couldn't miss the big match either ... popping up to cheer on his lady.

Hartwell ended up winning the match over Pirotta ... but the real competition came when both couples decided to brawl each other in a wild bloodbath for the ages.

Just kidding -- the two couples decided to see who could suck face the best.

The scene is bonkers -- the couples try to one-up each other with the PDA ... and Indi even rips Dexter's shirt off to make it pretty PG-13.

Eventually, both couples are laying on the canvas and playing tonsil hockey ... with Dexter even giving a thumb's up to the crowd as it happens.

While the whole interaction was shocking, Indi teased going even further in the ring with Dexter on Twitter after the match ... hinting at wanting to recreate Edge's famous "Live Sex" celebration with Lita from Monday Night Raw in 2006.

Edgar Berlanga is back ... the first-round knockout king from Brooklyn is returning to the ring after tearing his bicep last year, and Fat Joe's walking him to the squared circle next Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

The 24-year-old power puncher told TMZ Sports headlining in his hometown of New York, after rehabbing to come back from a torn left biceps injury, feels surreal.

"It still feels fake," Edgar told us. "I still feel like I'm the undercard of another fighter, but I'm a happy man."

And, he won't just have Joe -- a NYC legend -- by his side as he makes his way to the ring ... 'cause Edgar says a bunch of celebs, from musicians to hoopers, have hit him up for the ticket hookup.

"All the celebs is coming out," Edgar said. "They hit me up like 'yo, we tryna be there, I wanna support.'" "Knicks players [Obi Toppin] is hittin' me, so I'm like 'aight.'"

"Sup with the tickets?" Toppin asked Edgar.

"I said 'like bro, that's your home,' and he's like 'nah bro I need to be there.'" "I'm like 'say no more, I gotchu.'"

The New York native tells us rappers Fabolous, Jim Jones, Maino and Dave East are pulling up to MSG to watch him fight, too.

We last saw Edgar -- aka "The Chosen One" -- in a ring back in October 2021 ... when he defeated Marcelo Esteban Coceres in 10-rounds via unanimous decision, after surviving a knockdown earlier in the fight.

Edgar -- who started his pro career with 16 consecutive first-round knockouts (unreal) -- says he knew the day would come when the streak would end, but he's not sweating it because he wants the ring time.

Berlanga will put his undefeated 18-0 (16 KO's) record on the line when he steps inside the ring against his opponent veteran boxer Steve Rolls.

"March 19 I'm looking to explode, bro! Getcha popcorn ready like I always say, 'cause it's fire coming, for real."

Gilbert Burns vs. Khamzat Chimaev isn't the main event at UFC 273, but it's the fight everyone's dying to see ... and Durinho says he'd love to flatline the undefeated fighter, he believes the highly anticipated fight will be a slugfest.

"The perfect scenario, I'll go there and take the guy out with a punch. Boom, knockout! That was the perfect scenario but I think it's gonna be a war. I don't think it's gonna be that easy. I think that guy's a dog, he's gonna come hungry, excited trying to put on a show," Gilbert told TMZ Sports.

27-year-old Chimaev burst onto the UFC scene in 2020 ... amassing a 4-0 record (10-0 overall) in Dana White's promotion, all while becoming a huge star.

All but one of Khamzat's fights have ended in the first round (the other ended just a minute into the 2nd round) ... and the man has literally been hit just two times.

But, #11 ranked Chimaev hasn't faced a top 10 opponent ... and certainly no one like Burns, Gilbert says.

"I think [Khamzat's] very tough, I think he's very good, but let's be honest, he's never seen on one on my caliber, grappling wise, jiu-jitsu, striking, speed, in a lot of actual experience. I've been there many times in the UFC title fights, many events. I think I have a lot of experience but I see that guy very, very tough -- very, very dangerous. I'll take him very seriously."

FYI, the 35-year-old fighter is the #2 ranked UFC welterweight ... and has beat the likes of Tyron Woodley, Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson and Demian Maia.

Jake Paul is reigniting his beef with Conor McGregor ... going after the UFC superstar over a boxing workout vid the Irish fighter shared on his social media page this week.

"This is embarrassing," Paul said of The Notorious' footage. "Your chin is wide open with no head movement for the PROBLM CHILD right hand of God."

No response yet from Conor ... but the 33-year-old sure seemed pleased with what he put on tape at the time of the workout.

McGregor posted the vid to his Twitter, and captioned it, "Keepin it tasty."

The video has been viewed over 1 million times ... but Jake clearly ain't impressed.

The two have feuded in the past, with Jake calling out Conor repeatedly -- and even trolling the MMA star with a $100k chain after he was beaten by Dustin Poirier last year.

Even when McGregor broke his leg in his July 2021 fight with Poirier, JP called him a "piece of sh**."

Paige VanZant is a professional wrestler now -- the ex-UFC star just signed a contract with All Elite Wrestling ... and is set to begin her training ASAP!!

PVZ literally signed her contract in the ring during an appearance at "AEW Dynamite" on Wednesday ... after coming out of the crowd and attacking wrestler Tay Conti from behind.

The run-in caused Conti's boyfriend, "Spanish God" Sammy Guevara, to lose his TNT championship to The Men of the Year's Scorpio Sky.

"Wanted to give the world one more reason to hate on me 💋😉 PVZ TAKING OVER!!!!," VanZant wrote on Twitter after announcing the news.

Of course, Paige is no stranger to the AEW crowd -- she's made several appearances since debuting alongside Jorge Masvidal in September ... and got a huge pop from fans on Wednesday.

The terms of the deal have not been revealed, but AEW prez Tony Khan expressed his excitement over the new addition ... saying, "It’s official! @paigevanzant is ALL ELITE!"

You'll recall, Paige made a name for herself as a combat fighter ... going 5-4 in UFC before signing a massive deal with the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship in 2020, where she posted an 0-2 record.

The former "Dancing with the Stars" contestant's future with BKFC is unclear, but it seems Paige is now focused on wrestling ... and it's only a matter of time before we see her compete inside an AEW ring.

The move shouldn't come as a complete surprise -- Paige previously told TMZ Sports back in 2018 she was hoping to take her talents to the squared-circle.

Nine years after Hector "Macho" Camacho was brutally murdered outside a bar in Puerto Rico, five men have been arrested and charged in his slaying.

Camacho -- a former 3 weight class world champion -- was shot in the face while he sat with a friend in a Ford Mustang. The boxer didn't immediately die from his injuries, but was declared brain dead by doctors. After several days on life support, Hector passed away on November 24, 2012.

The murder shocked PR and the boxing world ... and the loss was compounded by the fact the murder went unsolved for so long.

But, on Wednesday, the first of five suspects appeared before a judge, accused of killing Camacho, according to the Associated Press.

Several of the suspects were already serving time behind bars ... including three people who were in a federal penitentiary in Florida. U.S. officials transported the inmates by plane to Puerto Rico so they could face the judge.

Two other men were arrested ... one from a Puerto Rican jail, and another from his home in the early morning hours, not far from where the shooting happened nearly a decade ago.

Authorities say there were more people involved ... but those men won't have their time in court 'cause they were themselves killed in unrelated incidents in 2013 and 2015.

Camacho -- who was 50 years old at the time of his death -- faced some of the greatest fighters during his great career ... including wins over "Sugar" Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran (twice).

The motive for the crime is still unknown.

Camacho's elderly mother was thrilled with the news of the arrests, getting a modicum of justice for her late son, per the AP.

More trouble for the Charlo twins ... TMZ Sports has learned officials are seeking an arrest warrant for Jermell Charlo after he was charged with making a terroristic threat in the fall.

According to court documents, the criminal charge stems from the same alleged Sept. 5, 2021 incident that Jermall Charlo, Jermell's twin brother, was arrested for last month.

Officials say in documents that a 21-year-old man claiming to be the boxing stars' cousin was roughed up by Jermall and threatened by Jermell during an incident at Jermall's Fort Bend County, Texas home.

In the docs, the alleged victim says Jermall punched him three times and grabbed his hair because he didn't get out of a utility task vehicle "quickly enough for [Jermall's] wife to go with her friends."

Officials say the alleged victim told them while the assault was taking place, Jermell threatened him by saying, "I will kill you with my bare hands."

In the docs, officials say the alleged victim complained of head pain and believed he suffered a concussion in the altercation.

Jermall was hit with a felony charge of assaulting a family/household member and he turned himself in to authorities in early February. He's due in court for a hearing on the matter later this month.

Jermell, meanwhile, has not yet been arrested over the misdemeanor terroristic threat charge, records show.

The twins' attorney, Kent Schaffer, previously told us the whole incident was "an attempt to shake Jermall down for money." When we reached out to him again for comment on the allegations against Jermell, he elaborated further.

Schaffer tells us Jermall was having a big party at his house ... when he says the alleged victim was "recklessly" riding around on a four-wheeler.

Schaffer says Jermall's wife tried to get the man to stop, and reached into the UTV to take the keys. But, Schaffer says the man took off, causing her to fall to the ground.

Schaffer says Jermall came out to defend his wife, and eventually pulled the man out of the vehicle, causing him to fall. Schaffer says Jermell them came out and told them to stop it all, but never made a threat.

"It's total garbage, 100 percent," Schaffer said of the claims against the twins. "We will win this fight in the first round."