Boxing

Jake Paul's fight against Nate Diaz was on the same level as one of the most popular fights in combat sports history -- so says former boxing champ Shawn Porter, who tells TMZ Sports Saturday's event felt "just as big as" Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor!

Porter -- who was on the mic in Dallas for the big matchup -- said the vibes were off the charts throughout the Jake vs. Nate fight ... calling the experience Super Bowl-esque.

"This was just as big as Mayweather and McGregor," Porter emphatically told us on Monday.

FYI -- Floyd vs. Conor is widely reported as the second-highest-selling fight in Pay-Per-View history (behind Floyd vs. Manny Pacquiao) ... so to compare the energy at Jake vs. Nate to that is quite a compliment.

Of course, "Showtime" is no stranger to the biggest events in the sport -- whether he competed in or attended them, he's witnessed some electric crowds over the years.

But Porter said the spectator support of Diaz was second to none ... adding, "I've never heard anything like that before."

"MMA fans, man. They show up, they show out, they have a lot of fun and they are extremely loud. I was loving it."

As for the fight, Shawn gave Jake a C grade on the night, despite getting the victory ... explaining the Problem Child still has to work on finishing off his opponents after landing big punches.

You may know him as Ashtray from "Euphoria," but Javon "Wanna" Walton is out to make a name for himself in a completely different industry ... telling TMZ Sports his goal is to be a boxing champion!!

The 17-year-old actor recently signed with Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions ... and he told us he's shifting his focus from entertainment to fighting.

"This is something I want to do for the rest of my life," Wanna said. "It's something I've been very passionate for a very long time, and it's something that I care about a lot."

"Boxing to me, is just a release," Wanna added. "I love every minute of it and, I mean, the ultimate goal is world champion and defending my titles for a very long time and becoming a Hall of Famer. That's the real goal for me."

But this isn't something that just came up out of the blue -- Wanna explained his parents would watch boxing all the time when he was a kid ... and naturally, he fell in love with the sport.

In fact, Wanna -- who started training when he was four years old -- now has 80 amateur bouts under his belt, including multiple tournament wins and Georgia state titles ... and went into detail on why he decided to team up with Jake's promotion.

"I wanted to go somewhere where I knew that I was gonna be valued, and a place that I knew that they were going to care about me a lot, and a place with a lot of talent," Wanna added. "Everyone over at MVP is very talented and they've all done such amazing things in their career."

Wanna praised Jake for being a "very sharp" and "super laid back" guy ... and told us he hopes to learn from the YouTuber-turned-boxing star.

We asked Wanna straight-up where he saw himself in 10 years ... and he's confident in his future.

Jermell Charlo says it doesn't bother him that Mike Tyson picked Canelo Alvarez to beat him in their upcoming fight ... telling TMZ Sports he's going to do his own thing in the ring regardless.

Charlo and Canelo are slated to square off on Sept. 30 in a superfight in Las Vegas ... and when Iron Mike was asked to give his prediction on the tilt recently, he said he was taking Canelo.

"I think Canelo should beat him," Tyson said to ES News, "overpower him."

When we asked Charlo about it in the leadup to the Terence Crawford vs. Errol Spence fight last week ... he made it clear, the opinion from the boxing GOAT doesn't faze him.

Instead, he said he wants his physique -- and his fists -- to do all the talking for him.

"He can say what he want to say," Charlo said of Tyson. "But I gotta get in there and fight -- Canelo gotta get in there and fight."

Charlo added that he's been training hard since he and Canelo agreed to face off ... even saying that while he was out in Vegas for the Crawford-Charlo matchup, he wasn't "on vacation."

Buckle up ... Jorge Masvidal's opened the door to a possible UFC return. He also wants to smash Conor McGregor's face ... preferably in the street, not an Octagon.

The 38-year-old MMA superstar sat down with Michael Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1) ... when the topic turned to the BMF title.

"I think I'm going to have to come back and snatch that belt up real quick. Something like that. But not at [155 lbs.], they gotta come up to [170 lbs.]," Masvidal said.

Gamebred continued ... "A UFC fight. Not now, but at some point, I think I gotta come back."

Of course, Jorge was the OG BMF belt holder ... he defeated Nate Diaz at UFC 244, and took home the belt, which was presented to him by The Rock.

Last weekend, Masvidal, who retired after his April fight with Gilbert Burns, was on hand in Salt Lake City ... and presented the belt to Justin Gaethje after he defeated Dustin Poirier.

We asked Jorge ... who would you want to fight in your return?

"Whoever's got the BMF belt," Masvidal started answering ... and that's when McGregor came up.

"Really I would like to fight Conor because he's such a bitch. I can't stand that dude. But him on the street for free, 'cause he'll never fight me in the ring."

"He never mentions my f***ing name in a comment," Jorge said, adding ... "[Conor's] calling out Dustin and Justin. Shut the f*** up, and do the due process. You f***ing bitch!"

If you're a fan of Masvidal, you know before Strikeforce, Bellator, or the UFC, he got his start fighting in the streets ... alongside the great Kimbo Slice.

"Conor doesn't want [a fight with me]. He's shut it down like 3 or 4 times and he's told people that I'm too big for him, yet he's at my weight class, 170," Masvidal said, explaining why he doesn't believe the fight would ever happen anywhere besides the street.

"He knows that the way that I'd beat him is the way that he wins fights. Stand up, f***ing punching his teeth in and kicking his ribs in, so I know it's just not good for his brand."

Even though Jorge hasn't been fighting, it doesn't mean he hasn't been busy.

Since retiring, Masvidal's launched his very own fight promotion, Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA ... and he's proceeded to book big fights with combat sports superstars.

In fact, former UFC heavyweight champions Junior dos Santos and Fabricio Werdum are fighting on September 8 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, FL ... a rematch of their UFC 90 scrap (2008), which FW won by KO.

There's much more with Jorge ... including his plans for his promotion, who he'd like to sign next (Derrick Lewis, anyone?), his renewed beef with Ben Askren, and of course, that coveted return to the cage!

Drake is picking sides in the upcoming Jake Paul and Nate Diaz fight ... placing a bet on The Problem Child to fall short ... and judging by the massive wager, Champagne Papi's feeling confident.

Drizzy posted the Stake betting slip on social media Friday night ... and he's risking $250,000 to win $1 million. In order for Drake to cash out, Nate has to win his fight with Paul.

Here's how Drake's explaining his bet ... "Jake is a dog but I can never bet against a Diaz brother that's just how I was raised."

Drake's switching up when it comes to the YouTuber-turned-boxer ... remember, he bet $400k on Jake to knock out Tommy Fury back in February, but Jake didn't make it happen and Drake lost.

But, Jake says Drake has won tons of money on him in the past ... though that doesn't appear to be influencing Drake's bet this time around.

The fight's going down Saturday night at the American Airlines Center in Dallas ... and Jake's a heavy favorite, though Drake is going for the underdog here.

Jake and Nate are chomping at the bit to fight ... their Thursday press conference spiraled into a massive brawl.

Tyron Woodley isn't done with the Paul brothers just yet -- the former UFC champion tells TMZ Sports that after two fights with Jake, he now wants Logan!!

"The Chosen One" was giving us his take on Jake's upcoming bout against Nate Diaz on Saturday ... when the conversation turned to his own boxing career.

We asked Woodley whether he would volunteer to be Logan's opponent for his event with KSI and Tommy Fury on Oct. 14 ... and a lightbulb went off in his head.

"I would love to fight Logan Paul," Woodley -- who lost to Jake in August and December 2021 -- told us.

Of course, the two have a bit of history ... and Woodley remembers the older Paul bro running his mouth back when he was feuding with Jake.

"Logan, what's crackin'? You was talkin' mad s*** while I was fighting your brother and I almost kicked your Polaroid off the boxing ring because he was distracting the fight, talking and hitting the canvas and taking pictures."

Woodley also claims Logan was supposed to be on the same card as his scrapped fight with KSI ... saying Paul was going to fight Dillon Danis until he injured himself in WWE.

"So, if y'all wanna do it again and flip the coin, let's get it cracking ... I was about to get to training anyway, let's get it in."

"Euphoria" star Javon Walton is remembering his late costar Angus Cloud as one of the most genuine people he's ever met ... telling us there's not a lot of folks like Angus out there.

Javon and Angus played brothers on the hit HBO series for two seasons ... but their brotherly bond runs deeper than the "Euphoria" script. Javon says Angus had "the purest soul ever" and it's still tough to process just how suddenly Angus died.

Javon, who recently signed with Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions, tells us Angus took him under his wing from the beginning, and always wanted to see him thrive and succeed.

TMZ broke the story ... Angus died Monday at his family's home in Oakland, CA, where his mom called 911 to report a potential overdose.

Sorry boxing fans, there will be no Terence Crawford vs. Canelo Alvarez super fight ... 'cause Bud tells TMZ Sports he has absolutely zero interest in fighting his fellow boxing superstar!

In the wake of his dominating performance against Errol Spence, which Bud ended with a 9th-round TKO, the boxing world has been salivating over a potential future scrap between Crawford and Alvarez.

So, we caught up with 40-0 (31 KO) Terence, and asked him ... do you want Alvarez?

"No, not at all," Bud flat out told us. "Canelo really don't interest me because of the size factor."

Bud's got a point. While both men are about 5'8", Crawford's a 147 lb. welterweight. It's true, Alvarez used to fight in the weight class, but it's been years since he's been that light. Canelo, who has bounced around divisions over the last few years, is currently fighting in the 168 lb. super middleweight weight class.

Speaking of Saul moving around ... even Bud joked that it's hard to keep track of where he is, saying, "You don't know what weight [Canelo's] fighting at when he fighting."

Even though it won't be Canelo, that doesn't mean there aren't big fights on the horizon for the welterweight king ... including a possible rematch with Errol. Though, it's clear Bud prefers another bout over running it back with ES.

"That's my obligation in the contract and I gotta honor that if that's the next move for me and my career," Crawford said of the rematch clause.

Jermell Charlo is also very much in the mix.

"I would definitely choose Jermell Charlo. It's a meaningful fight," Crawford said. "It's more history. It's more on the table."

Regardless of who it is ... fans would be wise to appreciate the undefeated boxer while he's still kickin' ass, because the soon-to-be 36-year-old says he won't be around for too much longer.

Boxing star Devin Haney can breathe a sigh of relief -- his felony gun charge has been dropped, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

The L.A. District Attorney says Haney's case was declined last week due to insufficient evidence ... but it was not announced until his court appearance on Thursday.

We broke the story ... Haney was out in Hollywood on July 12th when the vehicle he was riding in was pulled over for an unsafe lane change and failure to use a turn signal.

Police said Haney -- who wasn't driving -- and his security got out of the car ... and during their search, they found a semi-automatic handgun under the driver's seat.

No one claimed the gun, but the car was in Haney's name ... leading to his arrest for felony possession of a concealed weapon. He was booked and released on July 13th on a $35k bail.

The violence simply couldn't wait for Saturday night -- the Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz press conference ended in an all-out brawl involving both fighters' security ... with multiple punches thrown.

The chaos went down minutes ago in Dallas ... shortly after Jake and Nate jawed back and forth in their last media event prior to their big fight at the American Airlines Center.

Something happened on stage as Nate and Jake faced off ... and a huge scuffle ensued.

It appears Nate was exchanging words with Jake's manager, Nakisa Bidarian ... when Paul's security intervened.

In footage from the incident, you can see punches thrown ... but thankfully, the scrap was handled rather quickly -- and both boxers appeared to steer clear of it.

Jake and Nate unleashed on each other earlier in the event ... with Paul saying, "I'm going to bend him over and f*** him like a cowboy."

"I'm gonna ball on his face, like Luka Doncic dropping 40 on his face. Knock him out, Luka Doncic on his head ass."

There were also some homophobic comments made ... with Diaz referring to Paul as the f-word during a heated exchange with a member of Betr Media.

The real fight goes down in just two days ... getcha popcorn ready.

Joseline Hernandez just got slapped with two more felony charges from her backstage brawl at a Floyd Mayweather fight ... so she had to go through the booking process again at a Florida jail.

The "Love & Hip Hop" alum was in court Thursday for her arraignment when the judge dropped the bad news ... prosecutors are charging her with two felony counts of battery on a law enforcement officer.

Joseline stood before the judge stone-faced as he explained why she needed to be taken into custody again and booked on the new felony charges ... check out the video, it sounds like she won't be spending much of her day in jail.

TMZ broke the story ... police body camera footage from the aftermath of Joseline's epic beatdown of Big Lex captured her violent, profanity-laced rage from start to finish ... and the video shows her shoving cops.

Joseline had initially been charged with a felony charge of resisting officers with violence, plus a slew of misdemeanor charges ... and she previously went through the booking process for those charges.

But, as the judge explained, two new felony charges being tacked on meant Joseline needed to be taken into custody and booked a second time ... in part to prevent her legal team from finding some potential legal loopholes.

Ask and you shall receive!!

Mike Tyson is granting Francis Ngannou's wish ... officially joining the former UFC champion's team to help him train for his upcoming boxing match against Tyson Fury.

Remember, Francis told TMZ Sports last month he would love to work with Iron Mike leading up to his October 28 bout against Fury (33-0) ... saying, "I think getting some advice or some training from Mike Tyson would be good."

"I also think of somebody like Lennox Lewis, which could be good."

Well, it's happening ... 'cause Michael Benson of talkSPORT confirmed on Thursday the legendary heavyweight champ will be part of Ngannou's training camp and be in his corner for his fight in Saudi Arabia.

Tyson actually gave Ngannou tips on how to beat Fury in the past -- after he appeared on the Hotboxin' podcast, Mike showed the 36-year-old how to throw a body shot on the 6-foot-9 beast.

Wallo267's fight promoter aspirations just punched him back in the face!!!

The "Million Dollars Worth Of Game" cohost was congratulating Terence Crawford for his decisive victory over Errol Spence last weekend ... when he immediately looked to the future for Terence's potential next opponent: Jaron Ennis, whose nickname is Boots.

Terence's confidence was understandably swelling after KOing Spence and told Wallo he was indeed the undertaker of the ring ... jokingly asking, "y'all trying to see another dead body???"

Wallo then screenshotted Terence's reply and sent it to Jaron ... who accused Terence of attempting to change weight classes to duck the fight altogether.

The convo was apparently in jest and supposed to stay between friends because Terence completely unloaded on Wallo after he posted it to IG ... upset over the obvious lack of discretion.

Terence appeared on 'MDWOG' ahead of his fight with Spence, and probably thought he'd built a rapport with the boxer. Apparently not THAT good.

That said, now that the gloves are off, will Crawford vs. Ennis become a real thing??? Both fighters are undefeated and Jaron's already told us he wanted dibs on the Crawford-Spence winner.

Terence Crawford is on top of the boxing world right now, but it was his daughter who was the center of attention on Tuesday ... with the champ playing cheerleader at her track meet!!

Bud is fresh off his huge win over Errol Spence for the undisputed welterweight title on Saturday ... a dominating performance that proved he's the top-ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the game.

Despite the massive spotlight, Bud and his family sat in the stands with the normies as his star athlete daughter, Talaya, sprinted down the track at an event held at Drake University.

Crawford posted a clip from the meet ... and you can hear him yelling like crazy for his girl, shouting, "go Lay Lay," and "good job, baby," as she crossed the finish line.

Of course, Talaya is just like her pops ... and recently won three gold medals in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dash at the Cornhusker State Games.

She even famously won a race last year after losing her shoe right in the middle of the event!!

Logan Paul says he was terrified his brother, Jake, would end his life over the incessant hate he got on the internet early in his career ... admitting he and his father were "both legitimately concerned" he was going to die by suicide.

The older Paul bro detailed his fear in the new Netflix doc, "Untold: Jake Paul the Problem Child" ... where he explained the backlash Jake faced after a multitude of controversies had him at an all-time low.

"I mean, both my dad and I felt worried for my brother's life," Logan said. "Jake's always been pretty emotionally unpredictable, and volatile."

"There was a point where we were both legitimately concerned that Jake was going to kill himself."

Jake was low-hanging fruit for internet trolls during the start of his YouTube fame ... getting backlash for wild pranks and outrageous stunts that led to pissed off neighbors and losing his role on Disney's "Bizaardvark," as well as lucrative endorsement deals.

"It was easy to rip me apart," Jake said. "It became a thing to hate Jake Paul."

"It's not easy to be hated by the whole entire world and it creates a very dark mental place."

But Jake found a new purpose through boxing ... which has led to increased popularity and respect from legends in the sport like Mike Tyson.

Jake has since racked up wins over former UFC stars like Ben Askren, Tyron Woodley and Anderson Silva ... and will enter the ring against Nate Diaz this weekend, where he looks to bounce back from the first loss of his career.

Despite the one-sided affair inside the boxing ring Saturday night ... Shawn Porter tells TMZ Sports he truly believes Errol Spence can bounce back and beat Terence Crawford in a rematch down the line.

Of course, after what went down at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, many people have a different opinion ... considering Bud completely picked apart the previously unbeaten fighter for most of the nine rounds that the two went at it.

Crawford landed 185 punches and knocked down Spence three times. Sixty percent of his power shots connected as well -- and the fight was eventually halted because Crawford kept tagging Spence repeatedly with a flurry of huge blows.

Porter, though, says if Spence exercises his rematch clause and the fight moves into a higher weight class ... he says Errol's actually got a good chance of winning it.

"Errol Spence has the ability to make adjustments," said Porter, who fought both Crawford and Spence in his career. "He has the ability to come in stronger, especially at 154 [pounds], and, mentally, he's so strong that I think it's just now a wrinkle on his career and I think he wants to fix that wrinkle."