Boxing

Nate Diaz says Jake Paul is a "spoiled f*ck" who needs to stop running his mouth before he gets beat up in real life.

And, Nate ain't messin' around.

The UFC legend went off on Jake after watching a new video Paul posted Monday night going off on Conor McGregor and Dana White.

Diaz felt the video was disrespectful -- because it was -- and went to Twitter to warn Jake to pump the brakes before something bad happens.

"Jake Paul u need your ass beat for free u spoiled f*ck," Nate tweeted.

"U can’t really fight dumbsh*t. Your gonna end up with your ass whooped for real somewhere talking like that."

It's good advice ... but Jake wasn't having it -- and fired back at Diaz.

"You saw what happened to the other Nate," Jake tweeted ... a reference to his violent knockout of ex-NBA star Nate Robinson.

Nate replied again -- this time, tagging Jake's big bro, Logan Paul -- in the hopes Logan can talk some sense into his brother.

"@LoganPaul check this little ho bitch before someone does."

Boxing star Victor Ortiz is officially off the hook in his sexual assault case stemming from an alleged rape in 2018 -- all of the criminal charges have been dropped, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

As we previously reported, 33-year-old Ortiz was hit 3 felony charges after a woman claimed she was raped by the boxer at a residence in Oxnard, CA.

Ortiz was arrested and booked for forcible rape, forcible oral copulation and forcible digital penetration -- and was facing serious prison time if convicted. Ortiz has long denied the allegations and spent the past 2 years fighting the case in court.

But, the case was formally dismissed at a court hearing on Monday -- and according to court records obtained by TMZ Sports, prosecutors say they simply could not prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Ortiz was pleased with the decision, posing for a picture in front of the courthouse with his attorney, Sam Spira, and others.

Ortiz also issued a statement, saying, "Although I was confident this would be the result, this still has been a terrible and unimaginable ordeal that I am relieved to put behind me."

"With this case no longer my focus, I look forward to picking up and advancing my boxing and entertainment careers."

"I can’t wait to get back in the gym. I also look forward to spending my time with my two young children, my family and loyal friends without the weight of these charges hanging over me and my loved ones."

Ortiz -- who competed on "Dancing With the Stars" in 2013 -- was dropped from his Sept. 2018 bout with John Molina Jr. after his arrest. The 33-year-old has not fought since.

Ortiz was also a budding actor before the allegations - starring in movies like "The Expendables 3" and "South Paw."

Canelo Alvarez has touched down in Texas for his big fight against Callum Smith ... and he's traveling in style!

The boxing superstar took off Sunday in a private jet from San Diego -- where he trains -- and landed in San Antonio just before midnight.

Once he landed, Canelo was driven to his hotel where he went through COVID safety protocols -- including a temperature check and walk through one of those sanitizing misters.

Canelo is set to fight the undefeated Englishman (27-0) on Saturday night at the Alamodome.

Promoters say, "A limited amount of fans will be in attendance" due to the pandemic.

It's been a whirlwind month for Canelo -- who split with longtime fight promoter Oscar De La Hoya after some issues with CA's famous $365 MILLION contract.

Alvarez officially split with Golden Boy in early November -- and quickly booked the fight with Smith.

Tyson Fury says he's "optimistic" he will fight Anthony Joshua in 2021 -- telling his rival, "Grow a pair and sign the contract, Big Boy!"

The Gypsy King appeared on "Good Morning Britain" where Piers Morgan referenced a report that the fighters could sign a 2-fight deal worth more than $500 MILLION!!!

"Well that doesn’t sound too bad," Fury said ... "but then again, I don’t believe everything I see in the paper."

"Let’s hope this fight happens. I’m willing to take the fight, I don't know if they are. I’ve been willing to take the fight for the last 5 years. It’s not happened so far but I’m very optimistic that will happen in 2021."

Of course, Joshua is coming off a violent victory over Kubrat Pulev -- he demolished the heavyweight Saturday night with a 9th-round knockout.

After the fight, Joshua was asked about a possible matchup with Fury -- and Tyson wasn't satisfied with his answer!

Tyson even mocked AJ on social media -- "Anthony Joshua just sh*t himself live on television! He got asked did he want the fight … and he went around the bushes and put his ass on the edge!"

"I want the fight! I want the fight next! I'll knock him out inside 3 rounds! He's a big bum dosser, I can't wait to knock him out!"

31-year-old Joshua is 24-1 as a pro with his only loss coming by way of Andy Ruiz. He defeated Ruiz handily in the rematch.

32-year-old Fury is 30-0-1 -- with his 1 draw coming by way of Deontay Wilder. He smashed Wilder in the rematch.

"[Conor McGregor] is one of the greatest fighters on Earth right now. He shouldn't be fighting kids that have f**king YouTube videos."

That's Dana White stomping all over Jake Paul's dream of fighting Conor McGregor -- telling TMZ Sports there's a "zero percent" chance that fight ever happens.

Remember, Jake Paul called out Conor McGregor after knocking  Nate Robinson out cold in the 2nd round of their Nov. 28 boxing match.

Jake later told TMZ Sports his team reached out to Conor's manager to begin talks about a possible fight -- and added, "I'm going in there to f**k Conor McGregor up."

And, with Jake's big bro, Logan Paul, scoring a boxing exhibition with Floyd Mayweather, seems anything's possible these days.

While Dana says he applauds both Paul bros for "injecting themselves into the fight world" ... he makes it pretty clear when it comes to fighting skill, they're not even on the same planet as Conor and Floyd.

"There's a market for these kinda fights. It's just not what I do," White says.

"There will be a day when Conor McGregor could do these types of fights and make a bunch of money," White adds ... but it ain't happening any time soon.

Shakur Stevenson says it'd be a baaad mistake for Vasyl Lomachenko to step in the boxing ring with him ... telling TMZ Sports he'll straight up whoop his ass!!

23-year-old Stevenson -- one of the most talented, young boxers in the world -- is fighting Toka Kahn Clary Saturday night (more on that later) ... a fight Shakur says is a warm-up for Loma.

Of course, 32-year-old Loma lost to 23-year-old Teofimo Lopez -- a big-time upset -- in October ... but is still considered one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world.

Shakur only has 14 pro fights (14-0, 8 KO's) ... but believes if he ends up in the same ring as Loma, he'll "beat him worst than what Teofimo did."

Why's he so confident about beating a guy who will go down as a legendary fighter??

Shakur thinks Lomachenko lacks heart.

"I don't even think [the Lopez loss was about] power. If I'm gonna be honest with you, I ain't think the power play a part in the fight. It had to do a lot with heart," Stevenson says.

"If we being real, ain't no fighter can win no fight going in for 6 rounds straight and not throwing no punches at all. I think that's heart."

First, Shakur has to beat Clary this weekend, which -- according to Stevenson -- ain't gonna be an issue ... 'cause SS told us there's NO WAY he can lose to the dude.

Things got loud and aggressive at the Anthony Joshua vs. Kubrat Pulev pre-fight weigh-in ... with the boxers threatening each other before Saturday's big fight.

Joshua stayed cool, calm and collected while Pulev -- who's 28-1 -- ran his mouth and tried to bait AJ into a physical altercation.

Both men started the weigh-in wearing COVID masks -- but those came off after the yelling began.

Security rushed in and got between the fighters -- it's typical pre-fight shenanigans. Apparently, they knocked over a light. Good times.

But, after the clash, Joshua predicted a violent end to his rivalry with Pulev when they finally get in the ring at the SSE Arena in London.

"I told [Pulev] that many years I've been watching boxing, and I've seen so many fighters talk a load of rubbish, then they get smacked up."

"I would have just clapped him on his jaw there and then. But, I've gotta do that tomorrow."

Joshua added, "He thinks he's a warrior, but I said 'don't let the guys you fought gas you up, you’re up against a real one now."

You may remember Pulev as the dirtbag who was suspended by the California State Athletic Commission back in 2019 for kissing a female reporter during a post-fight interview without her consent.

The woman, Jenny Sushe, hired Gloria Allred to go after his ass.

Evander Holyfield's son -- a rising star in boxing -- says his dad is ready to kick Mike Tyson's ass for the 3rd time ... and when it happens, he wants to fight on the undercard!

23-year-old Evan Holyfield -- who's 4-0 as a pro -- says he LOVES the idea of his father running it back with Tyson, especially after Iron Mike's performance against Roy Jones Jr.

As we previously reported, 58-year-old Evander has been training for a comeback ... in hopes of a 3rd crack at his former rival.

Evan -- aka "Yung Holy" -- tells TMZ Sports his Dad looks ready to scrap!

"My dad's lookin' pretty swole right now," Evan says ... "I know he's been training this whole time, even before the whole thing, so I'm pretty excited to see what happens!"

"I don't expect him to lose! The first 2 [fights] went a certain way and I feel like the 3rd -- I know it's all for good sport and for charity and stuff at the end of the day -- but I don't plan on seeing my dad getting beat up."

Evan wasn't born yet when his pops fought Tyson in '96 and '97 -- so the chance to see those guys get in the ring again in 2021 would be special for him.

And, by the way, Evan's a pretty solid fighter himself -- he's got his 5th pro fight coming up on December 12 against Donnis Reed.

After that, Evan says he really hopes Mike and Evander can work out a deal ... because he really wants to fight on the undercard to create memories he can share with his own children.

He's deadly in the ring -- but Terence Crawford isn't one to be trifled with at home either.

The boxing superstar decided to show off his massive gun collection Wednesday -- which includes everything from pistols to high-powered rifles and even a shotgun.

16 firearms in all ... and Crawford says only HALF of his collection is pictured in the photo!!!

"They say I got too many I say I don’t got enough," Crawford posted.

"Always fun when I got time to pull these bad boys [out] and let em rip. P.S this only half. Maybe I do have a problem."

Crawford and some pals took the guns to an outdoor shooting area near his home in Omaha, Nebraska and opened fire on some exploding targets ... and shocker, his aim's pretty good!!

Crawford is widely considered one of the best pound-for-pound boxers on the planet ... and fans around the world are praying he'll fight Errol Spence in 2021.

The message here is simple ... don't get on Crawford's bad side. Ever.

Not everyone thinks Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul is a joke ... the head of the WBC says he supports the fight "100%" -- insisting it will be GREAT for the sport of boxing.

"This is going to be something good for boxing," World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman said this week on SiriusXM's "The Ak and Barak Show."

"This is going to bring millions of eyes to our sport."

The Feb. 20 exhibition match has been criticized by some boxing experts -- and even some top boxers -- as a circus act.

In fact, Yahoo Sports' combat sports writer Kevin Iole described the match as "another low blow to the boxing world."

He added, "No thank you, Floyd Mayweather. Hard pass, Logan Paul."

But, Sulaiman says he doesn't agree -- "I appreciate Logan and Jake, they have worked hard. I will support Floyd vs Logan 100%."

As we previously reported, 50-0 Mayweather will take on 0-1 Paul in an exhibition that will NOT count on their pro records.

Floyd is 43-years-old. Logan Paul is 25.

The rules of the exhibition -- including how many rounds and how it will be scored -- have not been released yet.

He's gone viral for a violent body slam KO finish ... but UFC fighter Jordan Leavitt felt horrible afterward and says the move should be outlawed from MMA.

The 25-year-old -- nicknamed The Monkey King -- was taking on 37-year-old Matt Wiman on Saturday when Leavitt picked up his opponent and slammed him into unconsciousness just 22 seconds into the 1st round.

Wiman's body went stiff -- and it was pretty scary to watch as medical personnel raced into the octagon to tend to him.

Leavitt tells TMZ Sports ... he's happy he won the match but hates the manner in which he got his W.

"I think slams are ugly and I think they’re dangerous," Leavitt tells us.

"I would have preferred to have won in any other way. I’m happy -- I mean it's a highlight and it's good for my career and notoriety -- but that's not the way I wanted it to be."

Leavitt says he tried to ensure Wiman landed on the side of his head instead of the back -- but it still looked pretty nasty.

The move is legal -- but Leavitt says he would be in full support of banning slams from the sport.

"I also 100% agree that I feel like the sport would be a much safer, artful thing if slams like that weren’t allowed."

"But, when you’re out there, when you’re in that cage you have to decide, 'Am going to pay rent tonight? Or am I going to have to downgrade to my house, and have to put my family in an unstable position?'"

"I feel like any person what do what I did in that situation. And, I did what I have to do."

Leavitt says he spoke with Wiman's wife after the match -- and apologized for the way the fight ended ... but there were no hard feelings on her end.

"She just said it's the fight game, it happens."

Dana White doesn't mince words -- and when the UFC boss was asked about Floyd Mayweather agreeing to fight Logan Paul, he didn't hold back.

"Yeah ... when people ask me about the state of boxing right now, that’s where it’s at,” White said Sunday night on the 'Nelk Boys' show on Twitch.

Then he dropped this factoid about Logan ...

"Didn’t that kid get beaten up by the f*cking video game kid from England and now he’s going to fight Floyd Mayweather?”

White is referring to Logan's only professional boxing match -- a 2019 sanctioned bout against his YouTube rival, KSI.

Paul fought well -- but ultimately lost in a split decision after 6 rounds.

"Doesn't he weigh 200 pounds too?" White added ... "I dunno. Good luck to him."

As we previously reported, Mayweather vs. Logan Paul is an exhibition -- not a sanctioned bout -- so it won't count on either of their records.

The fight is set for February 20 -- but soooo many questions remain.

Still unclear where the fight will take place? How many rounds will it be? Who will score it? Will they try for knockouts?

White isn't the only one who has doubts about the fight -- boxing star Ryan Garcia also had an interesting reaction after the fight was announced.

Evander Holyfield says his team has been in contact with Mike Tyson's camp -- and he strongly believes they're VERY close to inking a deal for a 3rd fight.

"I'm a very confident person," Evander tells TMZ Sports ... "I think it's gonna happen."

Remember, after Mike fought Roy Jones Jr. -- Tyson revealed his team had been in touch with the Holyfield camp, but they weren't able to make a deal.

But, Evander says there's been movement -- and it's heading in the right direction.

Evander is 58. Tyson is 54.

Of course, the two first clashed back in 1996 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas -- where Evander dominated Mike before securing a win via TKO in the 11th round.

The Tyson vs. Holyfield rematch went down in 1997 -- and that's when Mike famously feasted on Evander's ears. Tyson was disqualified in the 3rd round.

Evander's last sanctioned fight took place in 2011 when he was nearly 48 years old -- defeating 46-year-old Danish heavyweight Brian Nielsen.

Holyfield has been back in the gym training like crazy -- but does he have what it takes to beat Mike Tyson, who looked phenomenal against Roy Jones Jr.?

The Real Deal is hoping to find out ... sending this message to his old rival.

We told you it was close ... and now it's official -- Floyd Mayweather is fighting Logan Paul.

Here's what you need to know ... it's an exhibition boxing match set for Feb. 20, and it's available on Pay-Per-View on Fanmio.

(An "exhibition" means the fight will NOT count on either fighter's professional records)

Floyd is 43-years-old and boasts a legendary 50-0 record as a pro, with wins over all-time greats like Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao and Canelo Alvarez.

Logan is 25-years-old and 0-1 as a pro, after losing a split-decision fight to YouTube star, KSI, back in 2019.

Floyd is 5'8" and last fought at 150 pounds. Logan is 6'2", 200 pounds.

Fanmio -- a site where fans can pay for custom videos from celebs -- says the PPV price is $24.99 right now ... but that number will go up at various benchmarks, until Feb. 11, when the price locks in at $69.99.

As we previously reported, Logan's team went to Floyd's camp with an offer for a boxing match earlier this year ... but it wasn't an easy process to get Mayweather to sign the dotted line.

Logan launched a public campaign trashing Floyd everywhere -- and saying he would beat TBE's ass any time, any place ... and finally, Floyd decided to put pen to paper.

Floyd responded to Logan on social media in November -- saying, "These YouTube girls better find some Barbie dolls to play with cause I’m not the one for the kid games. 3 years ago a fighter from the UFC said my name and I had to put a muzzle on that bitch. @loganpaul can get the same treatment before I go conquer Japan again."

Logan's only professional fight was against his YouTube rival, KSI, back in Nov. 2019 -- a 6-round fight Paul lost via split decision.

But, the takeaway from that fight was that Logan can scrap -- and the impressive PPV numbers proved he can draw an audience.

Floyd, a master promoter, knows a good thing when he sees it ... he clearly thinks he'll make a ton of money with little-to-no risk.

Remember what Floyd did to Conor McGregor when they fought back 2017?!?!? He dominated the UFC champ while taking a $300 to $400 million payday!!

No word how much each fighter stands to make this time around ... but Floyd wouldn't even consider taking this on if it wasn't a HUGE number.

"I, Claressa Shields, will whoop Jake Paul's ass! He can come in the ring weighing 180 pounds and I will come weighing 168 and I will beat the s**t out of him!"

Yup, that's one of the greatest female boxers ever ... telling TMZ Sports she's ready to humble the YouTube superstar and show him what it's like to go up against a REAL fighter!!

We spoke with the champ about the recent Paul and Nate Robinson fight ... and she says they made a "mockery" of the sport because there are actual boxers who should have gotten the chance to fight under a Tyson and Jones Jr. card instead of social media stars and NBA players.

The 25-year-old says it's smart for Jake to keep calling out non-pro boxers ... but guarantees the dude would get exposed against a real fighter.

"Jake Paul is making his money, he's doing his thing, but stay away from us real fighters," Shields says.

"And anybody out there that say 'Oh, Jake Paul will destroy her because she's a woman', ... I'm the greatest woman! So, no, Jake Paul won't do nothing with me and if he think he can, he can come see me."

Shields says she's not talkin' sparring, either -- she would take Paul on in a real fight ... and donate her earnings to the water crisis in her hometown of Flint, Michigan.

As for what the boxing world would think of the potential matchup, Shields thinks people would still take Paul just because he's a dude.

"I've been boxing for 14 years, 2 Olympics but they would still give Jake Paul the nod because he's a man. And it's like, you guys don't know nothing!"

"[Jake Paul] had too much talent for Nate Robinson. I'd like to get Nate down here for a few weeks and train him and get a rematch."

That's 71-year-old boxing legend George Foreman -- fresh off watching 23-year-old Paul DOMINATE Robinson on the Tyson-Jones Jr. undercard last weekend -- offering to train the ex-NBA star for a rematch with the popular YouTuber.

Most people say 36-year-old Robinson -- who was finished with a devastating KO punch in the 2nd round -- should NEVER fight again.

Not Foreman -- the 2x World Heavyweight Champ who faced Muhammad Ali and beat Joe Frazier (and so many other heavyweights) -- who says Robinson has untapped talent.

"I can turn him into a 5, 6 round fighter in no-time flat. Make him do what I say," Foreman says.

"He may not want to box again, but I wouldn't want him to leave without doing a better show than he put on. You don't wanna go on like that."

Of course, it's highly unlikely Nate would get an immediate rematch. Paul wants to fight Conor McGregor ... and everyone from Antonio Tarver to Evander Kane has called out the YT star.

Down the road ... why not?

If it happens, real talk -- does Foreman actually believe he can train Robinson to beat the dude who just whooped him??

We asked George.