Boxing

Jake Paul doesn't step in the boxing ring for another three months, but he's already got his sights set on his next opponent after Nate Diaz ... and it's none other than Conor McGregor!!

The Problem Child -- who's fighting Diaz on Aug. 5 in Dallas -- laid out his plans to Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show on FS1 ... saying he fully intends to knock Diaz out (something Conor never did), and then lock in a fight with Notorious.

Of course, Nate and Conor have one of the greatest rivalries in UFC history ... and with their series tied up at one win a piece, Diaz wants to take care of business against Jake and then revisit his old nemesis one last time.

But, Jake says he's going to spoil Nate's plans of a trilogy fight by jumping him in line for a shot at Conor ... and he thinks McGregor will have "no choice but to make the biggest fight in combat sports."

Paul -- 6-1 as a pro boxer -- understands Conor would need permission from UFC honcho Dana White to make the fight happen ... but he seems optimistic that the money would do enough talking to get him to agree.

Remember, Jake has gone after a fight with McGregor a few times in the past ... trolling the UFC superstar nearly every chance he's gotten over the years. McGregor has fired back from time to time too -- but they haven't been able to mix it up in a ring.

If a fight does eventually go down, Jake says he's hopeful it'd be a boxing match ... but he told us he ain't opposed to MMA either.

"We can do a two-part series," the 24-year-old said. "One boxing, one MMA in PFL. Make it happen, no problem."

What do you say, Conor???

Nate Diaz clearly ain't sweatin' his criminal case down in Louisiana ... the former UFC star actually had a laugh about it all with Jake Paul on Tuesday.

Paul was the one who brought up the choke-out incident to Diaz during a news conference to hype up their August boxing match ... wondering if the MMA fighter thought he was scrapping with his brother, Logan Paul, when he choked out a guy on Bourbon St. during an April 22 melee.

Diaz smiled and then pretended to truly believe it was Logan who he put to sleep on the popular New Orleans roadway.

"You're going to act like that wasn't Logan?" Nate said with a grin. "Come on, man!"

"You thought it was Logan?" Jake asked again ... before Diaz responded with a giggle, "It is Logan, what are you talking about?"

Of course, the case shouldn't be much of a laughing matter for Diaz ... officials have charged him with second-degree battery after they allege he caused the man to suffer a head wound during the incident. Diaz is now facing time behind bars if ultimately convicted.

Diaz, though, did get serious about it all for at least a few seconds during the presser ... appearing to say he took it easy on the guy by choking him instead of throwing hands.

"You don't want to just hit people out there," Nate said. "That's f****** dangerous. You know what I'm saying? Give him a little nap."

Diaz didn't elaborate on it all further ... but he's been adamant since the incident went down that he did nothing wrong -- and was simply acting in self-defense.

"Unfinished business."

That's what boxing star Rolly Romero says he has with Gervonta "Tank" Davis ... after losing to the undefeated superstar in May 2022 by 6th round knockout.

TMZ Sports talked to 28-year-old Romero, 14-1 (the only loss being Tank), ahead of his mandatory fight with Ismael Barroso (24-3-2, 22 KOs) on May 13 on Showtime ... a fight Rolly knows he needs to win in order to earn the chance to run things back with Davis.

Of course, Davis is coming off an impressive win over Ryan Garcia ... and many fans, fellow fighters, and experts believe Gervonta is now the face of the sport.

Rolly believes the fight would be very different in a rematch.

"Oh, of course [it'd be a different outcome]. I get to be in my actual weight class this time," Romero told us.

The 2022 scrap was fought at 135 lbs. ... but Romero's weight class is 140 lbs. A big difference, especially for smaller fighters like Tank and Rolly.

"If you're a casual, you wouldn't understand. But, 5 pounds make a world... 1 pound makes a world of difference."

Romero hasn't fought since Davis ... and was originally supposed to fight WBA champ Alberto Puello -- before he was popped for performance-enhancing drugs (Rolly calls him a "piece of s**t" for the PEDs) in the lead-up to the fight. Barroso stepped up on short notice.

We also talked to Rolly about preparing for a new opponent with limited time.

Gervonta Davis just scored a big win in court -- he avoided a jail sentence in his hit-and-run case ... getting hit with three months of house arrest instead.

The star boxer learned his fate inside of a Baltimore courtroom minutes ago ... less than three months after he cut a plea deal with prosecutors in the case.

As part of the agreement he made with officials back on Feb. 16, Davis pleaded guilty to four lesser offenses ... and at his sentencing hearing on Friday, a judge did not throw him behind bars, instead ordering him to serve 90 days of home detention. The 28-year-old fighter was also ordered to complete 200 hours of community service.

Davis was initially hit with 14 charges in the case back in March 2021 ... after authorities alleged he ran a red light in his 2020 Lamborghini Urus and slammed it into a Toyota on Nov. 5, 2020 -- just days after his big win over Leo Santa Cruz.

Prosecutors claimed a woman in the car that Davis hit was pregnant at the time of the wreck. They accused Davis of never offering her assistance before fleeing the scene.

If convicted on all of the charges, Davis had faced a potential maximum of 7 YEARS and 55 days in prison.

Davis, who just scored the biggest win of his boxing career in a fight with Ryan Garcia last month, ain't out of the woods criminally just yet ... even though he closed out the case in Baltimore on Friday -- he still has a case lingering over his head in Broward County, Fla.

Deontay Wilder spent part of his Tuesday morning locked behind bars ... TMZ Sports has learned the star boxer was arrested in Los Angeles following a routine traffic stop.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... Wilder was pulled over in Hollywood at around 1:15 AM after LAPD officers claimed his Rolls-Royce's windows were illegally tinted and his license plate was obstructed.

During the stop, cops say they smelled an odor of burnt marijuana coming from his ride -- so they searched the car. Our sources say they then found weed and a 9mm in the vehicle, and put Wilder into custody. We're told the 6-foot-7 fighter was cooperative and nice throughout the whole ordeal.

Our sources say the 37-year-old was booked on a charge of possession of a concealed weapon. Jail records show he bonded out at 6:34 AM.

Wilder -- a 43-2-1 fighter with 42 knockouts on his resume -- has been rumored to be the next opponent for Anthony Joshua ... with the heavyweight superfight expected to go down at some point in 2023.

It's unclear if Tuesday's arrest will have any impact on the fight's negotiations.

Jorge Masvidal, from one bad motherf***** to the next, is coming to the defense of one-time opponent Nate Diaz, telling TMZ Sports the charges against the UFC legend are crap ... 'cause fighters need to be able to defend themselves too!

Gamebred recently joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1) ... where they chopped it up about everything from his friendship with Donald Trump, whether he'd ever run for political office, his very own fight promotion, Gamebred Promotions, and the Diaz incident in New Orleans.

"There's nothing wrong [with defending yourself]," Masvidal said.

Of course, defending himself is exactly what Diaz says he was doing. Still, authorities opted to charge him with second-degree assault. Nate flew to NOLA on Thursday, where he turned himself in, before bonding out and taking a PJ back to Stockton. Diaz is adamant he was not the aggressor and simply was acting in self-defense.

"When it's you against somebody you have no idea if he's got a knife in his pocket, if he's gonna f******* pepper spray you then kick you in the nuts," Jorge explained, adding ... "Obviously this guy's not in the right mind if he's attacking a pro fighter. I just don't like it that people think because we're pro fighters that we're not able to defend ourselves."

"No, we have to defend ourselves. It's a cold world out there."

FYI, Jorge beat Nate for the BMF belt at UFC 244 in November 2019.

We also talked to Gamebred about politics ... with 80-year-old President Joe Biden recently announcing he'll run for reelection in 2024. Jorge has a relationship with Trump and believes the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction under the current POTUS.

"We the people say that please, you're not doing a service for us, you're doing a disservice. You're destroying this country. I don't care about your skin color, your ethnicity, your freakin' religious views. Where we were out 2 to 3 years ago was better for everybody."

Masvidal has gotten more involved in politics, and while he may not be a traditional candidate (stiff, phony, etc.), we asked Gamebred if he had any interest in running for office in the future.

"If you don't like the constitution and you're coming with all this crazy s*** now to try and destroy this country, I can't f*** you, man. But me running personally? No. But I'll def endorse those who I think are actually coming to get it and being a patriot."

There's much more ... while Masvidal says he still feels very comfortable with his decision to lay down his gloves after UFC 287, he's in no way leaving the fight game.

In fact, Jorge has big plans for Gamebred Promotions ... coming off an awesome Gamebred Boxing card that featured the legendary Roy Jones Jr. vs. Anthony Pettis. Jose Aldo and Jeremy Stephens also boxed ... along with Vitor Belfort defeating "Jacare" Souza.

Stacked.

And, Street Jesus says he's in the process of making even bigger moves, putting together massive events.

As for whether he'd fight under his own banner, the answer is ... maybe.

"I would definitely like to get a boxing match in there, I'm not ruling that out, but as of right now I'm just focusing on promoting."

Mike Tyson was a BEAST in his day, but he would've been an even bigger problem in the ring if he'd used psychedelics in his prime, so says the legend himself!

The 56-year-old recently joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1) and spoke all about his experience with the drugs ... and he made it clear he wishes he would've done hallucinogens when he was competing for titles back in the day.

Tyson said they help alter his mind and perception and affect cognitive processes in a way that has really changed him for the better ... all things he could've used in his 20s.

"Psychedelics is an enhancement more than a de-enhancement," he told us. "It allows you to go in that realm of just comfortability, relaxness, and prepare to reach your highest level. It's just an amazing feeling."

Tyson loves psychedelics so much that he used them during a recent training session and told us that if he had used them in the 1980s and '90s, he would've been a far superior pugilist (amazing when you consider Mike's one of the most dominant fighters of all-time).

In fact, Tyson recommends all athletes should try mushrooms or weed, saying he's living proof that they work.

"I'm capable of talking to everybody in the sporting world because that's basically where it's needed," Tyson said.

Mike Perry and Luke Rockhold are taking off the gloves ... the MMA stars are fighting bare-knuckled, and Platinum believes the former UFC champion is underestimating him in a big way!

"I do think he is in for a rude awakening because I don't think he thinks I have what it takes [to beat him]. I think he thinks so highly of himself that he's just too big for me," 31-year-old Perry told TMZ Sports this week.

FYI, Luke has a few-inch height advantage, and likely a few pounds on Mike, too.

Perry continued ... "I'm looking to be ferocious and jump all over him quickly. Bareknuckle is not like normal boxing where the fight really starts around the 6th round. These are 5 to 6, 2-minute rounds."

In other words ... except violence as soon as the bell sounds.

"I'm gonna try to cut him up a lot and make him quit," adding ... "I'm gonna try to hurt him badly, quickly."

Platinum, 2-0 in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (one of those wins came against Michael "Venom" Page), also plans to give Luke a new nickname.

"Luke Out-Cold."

And, Perry and Rockhold aren't the only big names on the BKFC 41 card ... 'cause former UFC champions Eddie Alvarez and Chad Mendes are also fighting.

We also talked to Mendes ahead of what is his second bare-knuckle scrap (Chad won a fight last February), but Alvarez is certainly a step up in competition.

This time around, Chad tells us he has a secret weapon to reduce cuts ... a side effect when bare-knuckle boxing.

His secret ... pickle juice! 🥒

A pair of boxing gloves worn by Michael B. Jordan in his latest blockbuster, "Creed III," is up for auction ... and can be yours for the right price!!

SCP Auctions is offering a pair of cream-colored Grant boxing gloves worn by MBJ, who stars in the film as Adonis "Donnie" Creed, son of Apollo Creed, to the highest bidder.

The gloves show visible signs Jordan wore them while filming the latest installment in the Rocky-adjacent series ... which had huge success across the world. In fact, the movie grossed almost $156 million domestically and $116 million internationally, for a total of $272.1 million worldwide, according to box office figures.

Creed III tells the story of Adonis' childhood friend and former boxing prodigy Damian "Diamond Dame" Anderson, played by Jonathan Majors, resurfacing to fight Creed, according to IMDB.com.

Speaking of the embattled Majors ... a pair of boxing gloves he wore while filming Creed III is also up for auction with SCP.

The 10 oz. XL Grant gloves are black with gold and bronze accents, and their condition indicates they were used by Majors, whose character was the main antagonist in the film.

MBJ directed, produced, and starred in "Creed III" -- and if you didn't know already judging by the success of the movie, Creed IV's on the way!

Nate Diaz is now in custody in New Orleans ... jail records, obtained by TMZ Sports, show the ex-UFC star turned himself in early Thursday morning after an arrest warrant was issued for him earlier this week.

According to the records, Diaz was booked at 7:40 AM on a charge of second-degree battery.

No further details surrounding the turn-in were made immediately available.

As we reported, the New Orleans Police Dept. initially issued the arrest warrant for the 38-year-old fighter on Monday ... two days after he was seen on video choking out a man during a large altercation on Bourbon Street.

In the footage, you can see Diaz -- who was in Louisiana to watch the Misfits Boxing 6 event  -- got a guy in a headlock ... and choked him unconscious before he laid the dude down in the street. Cops said the man suffered a head wound in the altercation.

After the arrest warrant was issued, Diaz's rep, Zach Rosenfield, said Diaz was innocent ... and "acted entirely in self-defense."

Diaz is slated to fight Jake Paul in a boxing match later this summer. It's unclear if Wednesday's arrest will alter any plans for the much-anticipated fight.

Floyd Mayweather's next fight isn't just going to be a boxing match, it's also going to be a big music event, too ... 'cause TBE will be squaring up against John Gotti's grandson, John Gotti III -- and music superstar Ozuna will be performing!!

TMZ Sports is told the bash will go down on June 11 in Sunrise, Florida ... and Floyd (50-0, 27 KOs) is expected to make the exhibition bout official at a press conference on Thursday.

We're told Ozuna -- whose songs have billions of views on the internet -- will be taking the stage for a special set during the extravaganza ... making it an entertaining night in both sports AND music.

Gotti III -- a mixed martial arts fighter (5-1-0) -- is 2-0 (1 KO) as a professional boxer ... and the fight is being promoted as a "Last Names Matter" spectacle ... which makes sense, considering his grandpa is one of the most infamous crime bosses ever.

"Floyd was the first to start the exhibition concept, and everyone followed. Now he is adding some spice to the mix," James McNair, Mayweather’s pal, and president of the Money Team, told TMZ Sports.

"A boxing exhibition and musical performances all under one roof."

Floyd Mayweather didn't just have diamonds all around his neck for the Gervonta Davis vs. Ryan Garcia fight over the weekend -- he apparently had 'em on his head too ... the boxing legend's jeweler tells TMZ Sports the lid Floyd rocked to the match was so encrusted in gems, it was worth over $1 MILLION, according to the jeweler!

Shuki Diamonds told us out in L.A. this week he spent over a month making the blinged-out cap for Mayweather ... and it took him even longer than that to find the perfect "invisible diamonds" for it.

Shuki says the process to get the jewels on the "The Money Team" hat was arduous ... explaining it took painstaking work to get the cap looking just right.

According to Shuki, he had to make a mold, sandblast it all, and then shine it so it'd be perfect for Floyd's head.

"It's a big process," Shuki said.

The celeb jeweler gave it to Mayweather a few weeks ago while the two were in Dubai ... and since the two are so tight, he let it go free of charge.

And, when Floyd finally broke it out in public for Tank's massive win over Garcia in the boxing match of the year -- Shuki said he appreciated it very much.

Now, Shuki estimates it could sell for over $5 million if it ever hit an auction block.

"There's only one in the world," the jeweler said. "It's become historical -- it's Floyd Mayweather."

Ryan Garcia is keeping his head held high despite suffering his first career loss on Saturday ... stopping by a celeb-favorite restaurant just days after getting stopped by Gervonta "Tank" Davis.

24-year-old "King" Ryan was friendly with the crowd of cameras outside Wally's in Beverly Hills on Tuesday ... answering questions as he made it to his G-Wagon.

You have to give the young star credit for remaining in good spirits following defeat ... as he gave our TMZ Sports camera a positive medical update.

"I'm good, yeah," Garcia said just minutes ago. "Life's good."

The restaurant is known as a celeb hot spot, complete with lots of paparazzi ... so it's clear Ryan had no issue with being seen.

Garcia's undefeated streak ended when Davis planted a body shot that sent him to the canvas in the seventh round ... which had all of T-Moblie Arena freaking out.

The fight was a huge success ... and many believe it will go down as the biggest boxing event of the year.

As for his future plans, Garcia says he's planning to "come back stronger and make changes, come back stronger and rack up some wins ... and hopefully, down the line at the right time, get a rematch."

Oscar De La Hoya says he has a good explanation for not showing up to Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia's post-fight press conference on Saturday ... he received death threats, and was concerned for his safety!

The 50-year-old former boxer broke it down for fans on social media ... after people noticed ODLH was a no-show after Tank KO'd his Golden Boy Promotion boxer in the 7th round.

"My security team told me 'boss we gotta get the f*** out of here' because I received death threats," ODLH said in the video.

"You guys don't know this, I received death threats throughout the whole week and they just said it was simply too dangerous, so we got out of there."

Oscar also explained why his partner, Bernard Hopkins -- former champion boxer and current Golden Boy promoter -- was also MIA following the fight, saying he was accused of trying to touch Davis with a banned substance during weigh-ins the previous day.

"Bernard Hopkins was accused during the weigh-in of having testosterone cream on his hands and touching Gervonta Davis when he only wanted to help him because he was going to fall off the stage," ODLH said.

"So, PBC, Gervonta's promoter, banned him from everything. He couldn't get inside the ring. He couldn't do anything during the promotion."

You can actually see Tank on video yelling at Hopkins, demanding he not touch him during the pre-fight event.

Bottom line is Oscar is attempting to put all the speculation to rest, insisting he didn't go AWOL when Garcia needed him after his first-career loss. In fact, ODLH says he's proud of his boxer and Tank for putting on an exceptional event.

"The best man won," ODLH said. "Tank Davis you're a great fighter."

"Ryan Garcia, I have your back. Bernard has your back. We're with you 100% and you will be back stronger than ever, better than ever. Guaranteed."

After the fight, 23-1 Garcia made it clear he wants to rematch 29-0 Davis down the line ... and many King Ry supporters, including UFC superstar Conor McGregor, definitely want to see that happen.

Gervonta "Tank" Davis is winning in life ... the 29-0 fighter was gifted a $250K "Gumbo" chain minutes after knocking out Ryan Garcia, all to commemorate a new strain of weed named after the boxing superstar.

TMZ Sports has learned Davis recently signed a deal with cannabis company Gumbo Brands, who are releasing a strain called "Ape S***."

In the video, you see Tank smiling ear-to-ear as owners Alexis Majors and Karim "Luca" Butler put the expensive piece of bling -- a pendant and diamond tennis chain from Pristine Jewelers -- around his neck.

We're told former NBA star Stephen Jackson, who met with the champ in the locker room after the fight, helped facilitate the partnership between Davis and Gumbo.

Of course, Davis was already a hot commodity heading into the fight ... and even more so now that he's ended Garcia's undefeated streak, eliminating any doubt he's the king in their division.

As we reported ... Tank opted to keep things relatively low-key following arguably the biggest win of his career, celebrating the victory with some friends at Ghostbar in Vegas.

Nate Diaz is now a wanted man in Louisiana ... cops said Monday afternoon they've issued an arrest warrant for the former UFC star -- after he was seen on camera choking out a man on Bourbon Street.

The incident happened late Saturday night after Diaz had attended the Misfits Boxing 6 event in New Orleans.

In footage of the altercation, you can see Diaz got a man in a headlock during what appeared to be a large dispute -- and he didn't let the guy go until he was unconscious.

The man later took to social media to say he suffered a gnarly head wound during the incident.

According to MMA Fighting, authorities said they reviewed the footage, and an arrest warrant for Diaz for second-degree battery was ultimately issued.

Diaz is not currently in custody.

The 38-year-old fighter has yet to publicly comment on the situation ... but sources close to the fighter tell TMZ Sports he did not believe the man he choked out was acting as a peacemaker -- saying there was a larger fight happening in the area and the guy was part of that group. They're adamant Diaz was simply defending himself.

Diaz, who's slated to box Jake Paul later this summer, had been in a separate altercation earlier in the night -- when he threw a water bottle at reality star Chase DeMoor while ringside at the boxing event.