Boxing

Mike Tyson isn't 100 percent done with boxing ... the former heavyweight champ -- who last fought Roy Jones Jr. in 2020 -- tells TMZ Sports he's still open to fighting again if the price is right.

We spoke with the boxing legend this month about a potential rematch with Jones Jr. -- who just lost to former UFC star Anthony Pettis on April 1 -- and he didn't close the door on a return to the ring against the Hall of Famer at all.

In fact, the 56-year-old told us, "I could be persuaded."

Then, when we asked about another possible rematch, one that would pit him against his former rival, Evander Holyfield -- Tyson said the same thing.

Iron Mike wouldn't reveal the dollar figure that it would take to persuade him to agree to future bouts with the boxing legends ... though he did say he has been recently approached by people in Saudi Arabia who want "me to do this stuff too."

"I don't know," he said ... before adding, "When I see the money people for the end of the product, my mind works clearer. I can't express myself right now financially."

Tyson fought Jones Jr. in a wildly successful exhibition match back in 2020. He also fought Holyfield twice in two memorable tilts in 1996 and 1997, but lost both bouts.

Tyson had previously agreed to an exhibition match with Holyfield in 2021, but negotiations fell through.

Blueface and UK bad boy TikToker Ed Matthews are fighting in a week ... and the social media star from across the pond isn't looking to put in a full night's work -- he says he'll starch the American rapper in the first round!

TMZ Sports talked to 19-year-old Matthews earlier in the week ... just days after the bout was added to the Kingpyn Boxing card, going down April 22 at OVO Arena Wembley in London, Ed's home turf.

"It's a big fight, obviously a lot's on the line. Last minute, as well. Usually I'd be in a 6-week camp, but it's been a 2-week camp. Not that that's gonna change anything. I'll still have the same gameplan," Matthews told us.

But, that doesn't mean he isn't ready to go ... Ed, who's 1-0 in the boxing ring, says he's not only in the "best shape" of his life but, "I'm definitely the best I've ever been."

26-year-old, 6'3" tall Blueface has experience in the ring, too, but Ed says it won't matter.

"It's a first-round knockout, I've already seen it, trust me."

Matthews says he's actually a fan of Blueface, and admitted while it's likely the rapper doesn't know who he is, he will soon enough.

"It's weird actually because I used to listen to his tunes, but I feel like he fell off from the music scene a bit. I ain't heard any of his tunes in a sec, but they used to bang. it's weird, it's a bit nostalgic fighting him," Ed said.

"He definitely don't have a f****** clue who I am, but he's gonna!"

WrestleMania 39 is over ... but Dolph Ziggler is already eyeing a spot on next year's card, telling TMZ Sports he's down to fight UFC star Conor McGregor on "The Grandest Stage of Them All" at WrestleMania.

We spoke to Dolph -- whose last WrestleMania match was in 2020 against Otis -- out in Beverly Hills recently ... and the former WWE Intercontinental Champion is already imagining what a feud with McGregor looks like on the heels of the WWE and UFC merger.

"Why not make it a best of 3?" Ziggler asked. "Octagon. Boxing match. Wrestling. Fighting. WWE. And then set it all up for the best out of seven at WrestleMania."

"That's just where the money is, but not everybody can go and back it up. But some of us can," said Ziggler, the 2012 men's Money in the Bank ladder match winner.

ICYMI -- McGregor posted a pic of him holding a WWE and UFC championship belt with the hashtag, "It's inevitable," one day before WWE sold to UFC's parent company, Endeavor.

After Vince McMahon announced he sold WWE and joined forces with UFC to create a new $21 billion sports company ... Ziggler wasted no time going after The Notorious.

"ABSOLUTELY AMAZING #WrestleMania PS: If I can drop 45 more pounds, I can drop anyone talking trash! seems even easier to get the deal done now, right @TheNotoriousMMA," Ziggler tweeted.

So, will we see Ziggler vs. McGregor at WrestleMania 40 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia next April?!?

Biaggio Ali Walsh just picked up his third straight 1st-round knockout win, but despite his recent dominating performances, Muhammad Ali's grandson says he isn't ready to turn professional.

"Honestly, I don't think I'm that close. I think I need at least two or three more good wins under my belt and then I think I'll be ready to go pro," Biaggo told Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays FS1).

24-year-old Ali Walsh fought last Friday at PFL 2 (Professional Fighters League) ... where he dispatched Isaiah Figueroa in only 1 minute and 42 seconds, winning by TKO.

Considering how long his fight before went, Biaggio took forever ... in November, he knocked out Tom Graesser in 45 seconds.

Many fans assumed BAW would go pro after his latest contest, but that's clearly not going to be the case.

"I do know that, before I do turn pro, my last two fights I would like to have a very good challenge, you know, maybe go to war where both of us are just bleeding to the pulp and black eyes, and cuts and bruises, whatever."

"I wanna go through at least one or two wars before I'm ready to go pro."

Biaggio is new to the sport. He's only trained for a couple of years ... and has a 3-1 record. Ali Walsh lost his first fight by submission but hasn't looked back since.

"I haven't been through like a bloody back-and-forth war yet and that's what fighting is about. I have a theory where some of the best fighters can also take the most damage. You watch guys like Max Holloway, these are guys that can just eat shots and keep coming forward."

The daughter of late soap star Kristoff St. John and professional boxer Mia St. John got arrested in Idaho after allegedly stripping down in a supermarket ... and cops say she later tried to escape from jail.

According to the arrest affidavit, obtained by TMZ, cops in Boise were called to a WinCo around 8 PM Monday night for a report of indecent exposure, with a store employee telling police Paris St. John was naked in the store, praying and meditating.

When cops arrived, they say Kristoff's daughter was naked in the store's front office. The woman who called police ultimately convinced Paris to put her clothes back on.

Police say Paris was arrested for indecent exposure and transported to Ada County Jail ... where cops claim she stood up and ran out of the jail's sally port when the door opened for an entering officer.

Cops say they told Paris to stop, but she ignored them and continued fleeing ... with police running after her, grabbing her and bringing her to the ground.

Paris was booked on three misdemeanor charges ... indecent exposure, escape, and resisting or obstructing officers. We're told Paris is currently getting mental health treatment.

The St. John family has been through a ton of trauma ... Paris' dad died 3 years ago from heart disease triggered by alcohol abuse ... and in November 2014, her brother Julian died by suicide.

Jake Paul is getting his wish -- the Problem Child will enter the boxing ring with ex-UFC superstar Nate Diaz later this year ... TMZ Sports has learned.

We're told the massive event is slated to go down on Aug. 5 in Dallas, TX ... and will be put on by Jake's Most Valuable Promotions and Nate's Real Fight Inc. The bout will be a DAZN Pay-Per-View.

Jake just posted about the fight ... saying, "August 5th we commemorate the funeral for Nathaniel Diaz as we send him in casket back to Dana [White]."

"Refreshments will be provided at the service. Black Tie Attire."

As we previously reported, Jake has wanted to fight Nate for some time now ... even challenging him to a boxing match AND an MMA fight after announcing his partnership with the Professional Fighters League.

He even told us on two separate occasions in 2022 he wanted Diaz ... even calling him out after beating Anderson Silva in October.

This will be Jake's first fight since losing to Tommy Fury via split decision in February ... and Nate's pro boxing debut.

Nate -- who recently became a combat free agent after his UFC contract expired -- has a long list of impressive wins over the course of his MMA career ... including victories over Conor McGregor, Tony Ferguson, Cowboy Cerrone and Anthony Pettis.

As for Jake, he's beaten former UFC stars Ben Askren, Silva and Tyron Woodley, as well as Nate Robinson and AnEsonGib.

The March altercation between Jake Paul and Floyd Mayweather might have been a little more stressful than it initially appeared ... because new police video, obtained by TMZ Sports, shows a cop actually had to rush Paul to safety amid the chaotic confrontation.

The dustup went down outside of the Kaseya Center in Miami following the Heat vs. Cavaliers game on March 8 ... and in the new footage, you can see police seemed to be very concerned a real fight could break out between Paul, Mayweather and their entourages.

The video shows Floyd approached Paul first in the street near the arena ... before getting into a verbal spat with the social media star and his friends.

As the guys were arguing, an officer on the scene called for backup -- saying there could be "a fight" with "a couple celebrities." Seconds later, Jake can be seen in the footage taking off.

That's when the video shows a Miami Police Dept. officer racing toward Paul to make sure he was safe.

The cop can be seen in the footage ushering the 26-year-old back inside the NBA arena -- making sure no one followed. As he was taking Paul for cover, the YouTuber-turned-boxer told the cop, "They're trying to jump me."

For several minutes, the cop guarded the door as Paul and his team waited inside the building for a car to take them away from the area.

You can hear in the footage they believed Floyd had around 50 people with him.

Eventually, Paul made it out of the area without further issue.

Jake later took to social media to blast Floyd for running up on him with a bunch of his guards and his friends. Floyd's jeweler, meanwhile, told TMZ Sports later in March that Paul was "exaggerating" about the whole situation.

Blueface will be back in a boxing ring in less than two weeks ... the rapper just agreed to fight TikToker Ed Matthews, who called Blueface out in an antagonizing video last month.

The fight will go down on April 22 at OVO Arena in England ... and the trash talk between the guys has already begun.

Just two weeks ago, Matthews appeared to poke fun at Blueface for his up-and-down relationship with Chrisean Rock in a TikTok that garnered nearly two million views.

The "Thotiana" rapper, meanwhile, posted a video of his own jabbing at Matthews over the weekend ... claiming he has no idea who the British social media star is.

The fight -- which will be on the same Kingpyn card that features the highly anticipated rematch between Anesongib and Austin McBroom -- will be the first for Blueface since July 2021, when he dominated a TikToker and then beat up a fan afterward.

The 26-year-old had been slated to fight former L.A. Laker Nick Young last year, but the tilt was canceled jays days before it was set to go down after he failed to secure a boxing license in time.

As for Matthews, he's no stranger to celeb fights -- he made quick work of social media star Simple Simon in a boxing match last year.

If NBA players are tryna get their hands on some top-notch cannabis -- after the league announced they won't be penalized for marijuana use -- then they need to hit up Mike Tyson who tells TMZ Sports he's got the best product in the world!

The NBA announced this month that they're going to remove weed from their drug tests and allow players to use marijuana under a new labor agreement.

The boxing legend -- who also runs a cannabis business called Tyson 2.0 -- loves the idea and told us NBA players should hit him up and cop some of his product.

"I would prefer [NBA players] to use my product," the 56-year-old said on Wednesday. "My product is the best product in the world."

"I'm not tooting my own horn -- it just is. Look at the write-ups from people that have tried it."

Tyson even has a couple of recommendations, including his favorite weed that he smokes on his 'Hotboxin'' podcast regularly ... Sour Diesel!

"If you want to go down and do some indica, you do some OG Kush. If you wanna stay up and enjoy the world, you do the stuff I always smoke, Sour Diesel. It keeps me thinking."

Tyson knows his stuff when it comes to good cannabis ... his brand is in 12 countries, the Mike Bites ear-shaped cannabis-infused gummies are sellin' like crazy and he just opened up the first Coffeeshop TYSON 2.0 in Amsterdam with his friend and CEO Adam Wilks.

"It's a real full Tyson 2.0 experience," Wilks said about the new café.

"You can buy cannabis, baked goods, ear-shaped cookies, and brownies, you can buy pre-rolled joints ... all different Tyson 2.0 cannabis products that you can experience in-house at our café."

What about the NBA and Tyson 2.0 partnering up since the adjusted drug tests??? Well, Wilks tells us there are some "open discussions to be had."

Canelo Alvarez may have an upcoming fight with John Ryder, but the Mexican boxing legend has his eyes set on Dmitry Bivol, telling TMZ Sports he wants to avenge his 2022 loss to the undefeated fighter!

Remember, Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) handed Canelo the 2nd career loss of his future Hall of Fame career by unanimous decision last May ... the only boxer to beat Alvarez outside Floyd Mayweather, whom the Mexican superstar fought at only age 23.

Alvarez, who went up to 175 lbs. to fight the 6-foot-tall boxer, clearly hasn't forgotten about the L ... and recently told Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs on FS1) that he wants a rematch after his upcoming May 6 scrap with John Ryder.

"Everybody knows I want that rematch with Bivol," Alvarez said. "That's my goal this year."

"We'll see but that's my goal this year."

Now, just because Canelo's thinkin' ahead doesn't mean he's not taking Ryder (32-5, 18 KOs) seriously, nor is he considering it an "easy fight."

In fact, it's just the opposite ... Alvarez hears everyone saying he'll run through Ryder, but that's not how he's thinking.

"They said the same thing about Bivol -- it was an 'easy fight' and you saw what happened, right," Alvarez said. "Any fight is dangerous. You never know in boxing."

The Ryder fight is a special one for the sport's top pound-for-pound fighter 'cause it's happening in his backyard of Guadalajara ... and it's the first time he's boxed in Mexico in nearly 12 years.

"After all I've been doing in boxing, I think it's very special for me. This fight is very special for me to bring my people the same experience as me."

"I come to my hometown as the best fighter, not almost retired and everything. I'm coming from being the best and that's special for the people, too."

The two women accusing George Foreman of sexual abuse 45 years ago -- when they were minors -- want to hook him up to a polygraph ... challenging him to a lie detector test.

The boxer's alleged victims, Gwen Hunter and Denise Shipes, say George made them out to be liars and villains when he countersued them and accused them of extortion ... and they say they passed their own lie detector tests.

The accusers' attorney, Samuel Dordulian, tells TMZ ... Hunter and Shipes took their polygraph tests with one of the world's preeminent experts in the field, an examiner they believe George's legal team has routinely used for past cases, and they want Foreman to use the same person.

TMZ broke the story ... the women sued George back in August, claiming the pugilist was in his 20s when he groomed, and eventually sexually abused them when they were still underage. They say it all happened in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Hunter detailed her allegations in a news conference three months after filing suit, saying ... "He asked me to remove my clothes, and if I didn't then my father would be fired, so I complied."

As we first reported ... George then filed a countersuit against Hunter, claiming she was intentionally dragging his name through the mud and flat-out lying to score a payday.

The accusers say they wanted to clear their names after George's countersuit, and they claim their lie detector tests show they're telling the truth ... and now they want Foreman to take one.

What's more, their attorney tells us he's in the process of bringing a separate defamation countersuit against George in response to what they say are baseless and harmful claims of extortion.

The timing of this all is worth noting ... in a few weeks, the "Big George Foreman" biopic is set for release.

Bam Margera is sending a clear message to his former "Jackass" costar Johnny Knoxville ... vowing to knock him out in a boxing ring, and he says it's all for revenge.

Bam posted the disturbing invite late Monday night, calling out Johnny and the show's co-creator Jeff Tremaine for, in his words, hooking him on "18 different medications" that he claims messed him up permanently ... and now he wants to get back at him with a little bare-knuckle boxing match.

He goes on to taunt Johnny, double-dog daring him to agree to the fight without gloves. He also calls out Jeff for being "too much of a p**** to get in the ring with me."

FYI -- the "death waiver" Bam's referring to is the wellness agreement he claimed he was pressured into signing back in 2019 in order to participate in "Jackass Forever," which fans of the movie remember he didn't appear in.

He filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against Johnny, Jeff, and a slew of others -- claiming the agreement he was forced to sign was impossible to comply with ... but they reached a settlement last year.

TMZ broke the story, Bam was arrested in Burbank last week for public intoxication, and video obtained shows him screaming at his estranged wife, Nikki Margera -- upset about how much time he gets to spend with their son, Phoenix.

Despite losing to Alex Pereira last year, Israel Adesanya is a slight favorite against his bitter rival heading into their rematch at UFC 287 ... and Izzy admits it surprises him, and shows the oddsmakers in Las Vegas actually do know a little something about fighting.

"I am surprised [that I'm the favorite] to be honest, cause I thought these bookies were not as smart as they are," 33-year-old Adesanya told Mike Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs weekdays on FS1).

"I'm surprised they actually picked me as the favorite cause I am the more polished fighter, but he's the guy who got the tools, he's got that nuke. Only a few fighters in history have that," Izzy continued, explaining why he assumed oddsmakers would've given Pereira the advantage.

"[Coach] Eugene said in an interview, you're lucky to face a Mike Tyson, you're lucky to face a guy like David Tua, you're lucky to face a guy like Deontay Wilder even just once in your career. You're lucky to face a guy like Alex Pereira even once in your career. So, lucky me."

BetOnline.ag has Adesanya as a -137 favorite (risk $137 to win $100). Pereira, who won by 5th round TKO -- a fight he was losing on the scorecards -- is listed at +117 (bet $100 to win $117).

FYI, bookmakers aren't necessarily picking who they believe will win a fight when they set odds. It's about trying to get as close to even money wagered on both sides -- allowing the sportsbook to collect the vig (essentially a fee charged by the sportsbook). However, bettors generally pick the man or woman they believe will win a fight. So, Adesanya's the favorite.

Sticking with the first UFC fight, we talked to Izzy about the end of round 1, where he landed a 3-piece combo, buckling Alex's legs.

"One more shot, one more shot is all it took. I did the same thing when I fought my guy Rob [Whittaker] at UFC 243, the last second I dropped him. I'm dangerous every second of every fight."

There's much more ... we talked to Izzy about parallels he sees between him and Muhammad Ali and whether he's added size to combat Pereira, a huge middleweight. Also, with Endeavor buying WWE, to go along with UFC, which Ari Emmanuel's company already owns, we asked Adesanya if he'd consider wrestling.

"That's later on down the track. Later on down the track."

Francis Ngannou is still a free agent -- arguably the biggest in the combat sports world -- and although he has a ton of options on the table, MMA legend Randy Couture tells us the former UFC heavyweight champ should press pause on boxing, and sign with PFL.

TMZ Sports talked to Couture, UFC Hall of Famer and current Professional Fighters League commentator, ahead of Saturday's PFL 1 in Las Vegas (more on that in a minute), when the conversation turned to 36-year-old Ngannou's fighting future.

"Honestly, I'm hopeful that we do get him signed [to PFL]," Randy said.

Couture says PFL, which has traditionally aired for free on cable, will soon start putting on pay-per-view shows, and Randy believes that could draw big stars.

"I think that's where you're going to see stars like Kayla Harrison show up, and hopefully maybe Francis and some of these other big-named guys that we have. It's going to be interesting to see where he shows up. Obviously, there are other promotions with opportunities, I know Bellator is still on the playing field. He could end up going back [to the UFC]. Everybody wants to see him fight Jon Jones. I'm one of those guys, too."

Of course, Francis last fought at UFC 270 in January 2022 when he defeated Ciryl Gane by unanimous decision after a competitive 5-round fight. Unfortunately, Ngannou and Dana White couldn't agree on a new contract, so Francis and the UFC went their separate ways.

"I'm glad that Francis is stepping up, standing up for himself, demanding some advocacy that we as fighters deserve. It wasn't about the money, they're gonna make him out to be some greedy kid that wasn't just enough money, and I just don't think that's accurate, that's not what's really going on. So, good for Francis, I hope he ends up where he wants to be."

Where he wants to be could also be a boxing ring. Ngannou, the hardest puncher in all MMA, has flirted with the idea of switching sports ... with Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury being rumored opponents.

Randy, who once fought heavyweight champion James Toney in MMA in 2010 (Couture won via first-round submission), says that might not be the best idea.

"There's some chatter in the professional boxing world that he might show up there. Some people are talking about potentially fighting him. I honestly feel like he has some work to do there to be operating at that level."

Randy continued ... "Those guys have been entrenched in professional boxing as long as he's been doing MMA and stuff. He's always gonna have a puncher's chance, he's got that power. But those guys are as technical of boxers as I've seen in the sport in a long time."

There's a new lady in Jake Paul's life -- the Problem Child was packing on the PDA with beautiful Dutch speed skater Jutta Leerdam while on a dinner date on Tuesday ... TMZ Sports has learned.

A witness at the venue tells us the 6-1 boxer and 24-year-old world champion were spotted getting cozy at LPM Restaurant in Miami ... and apparently kissing was on the menu, 'cause the two couldn't keep their lips off each other.

Our sources say 26-year-old Jake and Jutta met through Instagram late last year and began talking over the past couple months ... which evolved to spending a good amount of time together in Florida recently.

In fact, Jutta is slated to appear on the internet superstar's "B.S. With Jake Paul" podcast ... which she teased on social media earlier this week.

If you're not familiar with Leerdam, she's a superstar sprinter on the ice -- she won an Olympic silver medal in the women's 1000m race in Beijing in 2022, and has numerous world championships under her belt as well.

Jutta previously dated fellow speed skater Koen Verweij before splitting in August 2022 ... and Jake was famously tied to model Julia Rose until late last year as well.

It's unclear the current "status" of Jake and Jutta's relationship ... but they're both single, wildly successful and good-looking, so whatever it is -- it seems to be a great match!!!

Maksym Galinichev -- a European boxing champ and Youth Olympic medalist -- was tragically killed while defending Ukraine against Russian troops. He was only 22.

Galinichev was with the 25th Separate Airborne Sicheslav Brigade (part of Ukraine's Air Assault Force) when he was killed on March 10 ... Anton Gerashchenko, advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, announced on Twitter, saying Galinichev was defending Ukraine in Luhansk region.

"Maksym enlisted as a volunteer and came back to the frontlines twice after being wounded and recovering," Geraschenko said.

"Eternal memory to Hero."

The Ukrainian boxer started his career when he was just 10 -- winning two gold medals at the European Youth Championship and the silver medal at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Argentina.

He could've participated in the European Boxing Championships in Armenia last year but refused so he could join Ukrainian forces.

Tributes from fans and athletes have been flooding social media since his death, including from Vladyslav Heraskevych, the first-ever skeleton racer from Ukraine, who praised Galinichev for defending his country.

"Glory to Hero 😢"