TMZ Sports - Page 50

Bare Knuckle Fighting star Joey Beltran was nearly KO'd before his Thursday night fight -- 'cause the #1 ranked heavyweight tells TMZ Sports he literally began choking at breakfast, and would probably be dead if someone didn't step in and save him.

And, guess who played hero? Bare Knuckle executive David Feldman!!

If you're a fight fan, you know 'The Mexicutioner.' Before joining BKFC (where he has a 5-2-1 record) a few years ago, Joey spent time in the UFC and Bellator.

Beltran was eating breakfast in his hotel room in Ft. Lauderdale when his coach showed him a funny internet video.

"An old school Fear Factor video or something and I started laughing," Beltran tells us.

"Next thing you know, I started choking."

The 40-year-old scrapper says he started panicking when he couldn't cough up the food -- and that's when Feldman came to the rescue.

"Of all people, the boss man had to come up and bust a Heimlich," JB said. "Couple of pumps and I spit it out and I was all good."

"So, contrary to popular people, David Feldman cares about us fighters!"

Despite the scary incident, JB is still scheduled to fight Frank Tate (1-1-1) tonight -- the main event for a loaded fight card.

It's arguably a must win for Beltran ... who's gunning for a rematch with Arnold Adams, the #3 ranked heavyweight fighter who recently beat him in a title fight.

Antonio Brown had a REALLY good 4/20 ... the dude smoked a footlong blunt -- and then rapped for a huge crowd in downtown Los Angeles!!!

AB was out in DTLA at Traditional dispensary on Wednesday night for Gunna's new weed strain launch event -- and the free agent wide receiver was having the time of his life.

TMZ Sports got video of the 33-year-old smokin' weed and then hitting the stage to perform songs off his new album, "Paradigm" -- which a packed crowd in attendance loved.

In video from the event, you can see Brown smoked several times (including once from a monster blunt) in between grabbing the mics -- and at one point during one of his songs, he even threw a bunch of money at the crowd.

Later, he asked fans about his football career, saying, "What you guys think I should do? Do you think I should play football? What do you think I should do? If you think I should play football, say, 'Yes!'"

Brown spoke with us later in the evening ... and hinted that he's receiving interest from the Dallas Cowboys to continue his football career.

AB eventually ended the night by rapping his hit, "Pit Not The Palace," with a white mask over his face ... officially putting an exclamation point on a helluva 4/20.

By the way, if you were wondering, the NFL has laxed its policy on weed in the past couple years -- its threshold for positive tests has increased, and it's no longer suspending players who do test positive.

Mike Tyson is not letting his airplane beatdown stop him from talking to a bunch of bigwigs in the weed biz at an industry event ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Our sources say Tyson is slated to speak at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference Afterparty at LIV in Miami at around 8 PM ET on Thursday night ... despite bloodying a man in an altercation on a plane in San Francisco on Wednesday night.

What's interesting ... Tyson was initially scheduled to talk at the Cannabis Capital Conference -- an event for those in the weed industry -- at 12:05 p.m. ET with Ric Flair, but event organizers told conference-goers Mike had to cancel on that "due to a flight change."

No word on if Tyson will address the plane incident at the afterparty ... or stick strictly to marijuana talk.

As we reported, Tyson was captured on video throwing a flurry of punches at a man on a plane at SFO on Wednesday after the passenger had appeared to annoy him.

Footage shows following the blows, the man was bleeding from his forehead. A witness on the plane told us the man required medical attention and went to the police.

For his part, sources close to Tyson claim the man was extremely intoxicated ... and wouldn't stop provoking the boxer prior to the outburst.

Novak Djokovic is condemning the decision to ban Russian and Belarusian tennis players from competing at Wimbledon due to the war in Ukraine ... calling the move flat out "crazy."

The Serbian tennis star spoke out against Wimbledon's decision to prevent tennis athletes from Russia and Belarus (a strong ally of Russia) from playing in the high-profile tournament on Wednesday ... saying it was the wrong move.

"I will always condemn war," Djokovic said. "I will never support war, being myself a child of war. I know how much emotional trauma it leaves. In Serbia, we all know what happened in 1999. In the Balkans, we have had many wars in recent history."

"However, I cannot support the decision of Wimbledon. I think it is crazy," he added.

The world's #1-ranked tennis player went on to say, "When politics interfere with sport, the result is not good."

As we previously reported, the All England Club dropped the bombshell news saying it was their responsibility to play their part in limiting Russia's global influence ... electing to keep Russian and Belarusian players from competing.

"In the circumstances of such unjustified and unprecedented military aggression, it would be unacceptable for the Russian regime to derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players with The Championships," the official statement read.

"It is, therefore, our intention, with deep regret, to decline entries from Russian and Belarusian players to The Championships 2022."

It's been nearly two months since Russia, led by President Vladimir Putin, violently launched an aggressive war against Ukraine.

Aaron Rodgers was front and center at the Bucks' playoff game in Milwaukee on Wednesday ... hanging out with his bestie/teammate Randall Cobb and Mallory Edens.

The Bucks took on the Chicago Bulls in Game 2 of their first-round matchup at the Fiserv Forum ... and Rodgers -- who owns 1% of the team -- was in the building to check it out.

Rodgers sat right on the court with his trusted target ... as the Bucks heiress sat to their left. The group looked laser-focused on the game, which ended up going in favor of the Bulls in a nail-biter.

Rodgers loves to frequent Bucks games -- and tends to leave the fans with memories. In 2019, Rodgers famously got into a beer-chugging contest with his star left tackle, David Bakhtiari ... and the MVP failed miserably.

Of course, Rodgers sitting courtside is a welcoming sight for Packers fans ... as they previously feared they would lose the star QB following a tough loss to the 49ers in the divisional round of the playoffs.

It's been pretty rare to see Rodgers out and about without Shailene Woodley ... as the couple has been damn near inseparable since their breakup(?) back in February.

Joel Embiid walked the walk against Drake's beloved Raptors ... and then he talked the talk to the rapper -- hilariously clowning the guy after hitting the game-winner in Philly's victory over Toronto on Wednesday.

Embiid -- who's the favorite to win the NBA's MVP award this season -- gave Drake the earful following his ridiculous overtime shot at Scotiabank Arena ... playing around with the "Hotline Bling" artist for a few seconds on the hardwood.

"Get your ass out," the 7-foot center said to Drake as he was leaving the floor. "I'm coming for the sweep, too!"

To his credit, Drake took all the trash-talk in stride ... smiling with Embiid and seemingly attempting to dish a little of it back.

Of course, Drake doesn't have too much ammo to send Embiid's way -- his Raptors are now down 3-0 in the series and are facing elimination on Saturday.

Drake, though, seemed to be deserving of Embiid's ribbing ... because Philly forward Tobias Harris revealed following the game that the rapper was trolling Embiid in the first half -- when the star center struggled.

"In the first half, Drake was over there saying, 'He can't play here!' That's what he was saying," Harris said to the media during a post-game interview.

"I said, 'He can play here, for sure.' He was like, 'Nah, he can't play here.'"

Embiid must've heard Drake's heckling ... 'cause he closed out the game with 33 points, 13 rebounds and two assists in the W.

Lewis Hamilton and Serena Williams could be Chelsea FC's next owners -- both sports icons have reportedly pledged MILLIONS in a bid to buy the club.

The F1 superstar and tennis legend have joined British business mogul Martin Broughton's group of rich and powerful investors hoping to purchase the team from Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, according to Reuters.

There's a report Hamilton and Williams both paid $13 million each ... but the Mercedes driver's rep claims that is not an accurate number. In fact, we're told Lewis contributed tens of millions as part of the bid.

Josh Harris and David Blitzer -- who own the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils -- are also part of the bid.

Of course, Abramovich recently put the team up for sale amid the UK government's sanctions to seize the assets of those close to Vladimir Putin.

While RA has denied being tight with the Russian president, he still put the team on the market ... with a reported $3.93 billion price tag.

Williams made nearly $46 million alone in 2021 ... while Hamilton raked in $82 million.

Sasha Obama's boyfriend is none other than Clifton Powell Jr. ... a former college basketball player and the son of Clifton Sr., the actor.

20-year-old Sasha got together with 24-year-old Clifton Powell Jr. after she made the switch from the University of Michigan to USC -- according to The Daily Mail, who broke the story.

The former hoops star was awarded a four-year basketball scholarship at the University of California at Santa Barbara ... he's now jumped into the world of commercials ... working with big brands like Peloton and Nike.

His dad's acting chops might've served Clifton Jr. well  -- Clifton Sr.'s been in movies like "Ray" and "Next Friday," with a long list of upcoming projects.

As we reported, Sasha's older sister and recent Harvard grad Malia also made the move to the west coast after getting hired as a screenwriter for Donald Glover's latest project with Amazon.

Malia's been dating her British boyfriend Rory Farquharson since 2017 ... the two met at Harvard.

Von Miller is being sued by a woman in Los Angeles who claims the NFL star, consumed by rage and jealousy, distributed a sexually explicit photo of her to "two well-known celebrities" in May 2020, TMZ Sports has learned.

According to court docs, Miller was dating a woman in 2020 ... and the couple allegedly took personal and private photos together during "sexual acts" -- with the understanding they would never be shared.

However, the unnamed woman (she filed under "Jane Doe") alleges Miller, "in a fit of jealousy, anger, and rage" sent "sexually explicit" photos to two unnamed celebrities.

The lawsuit claims the first message was sent on May 7, 2020 ... allegedly saying, "This the bitch you want? You can have her dawg."

The second message was allegedly sent three minutes later, to a different person, saying, "This the bitch you want?"

Both messages allegedly came with the explicit photograph.

And, Doe's attorney believes his client's alleged situation can be a learning experience for females who date celebs.

"This case is a cautionary tale for young woman that date professional athletes like Miller that think laws do not apply because of fame, money, and power."

"However, professional athletes are not exempt from the law and Miler's vindictive, manipulative and unlawful actions must not be overlooked," the lawsuit reads.

33-year-old Miller, an 8x Pro Bowler, recently signed a 6-year deal with the Buffalo Bills and is one of the most well-known, talented, and highest paid defensive players in the NFL.

"We Ready" rapper, Archie Eversole, was shot in the jaw while he was asleep, shortly before he died from his wounds ... this according to cops.

According to the police report ... Archie told cops someone had kicked open his bedroom door and he was awakened by a gunshot to his face on March 25, but he couldn't see who shot him.

The docs say police then asked if the shooter was still in the home and he nodded his head yes. Cops say they asked if he knew who it was but Eversole wouldn't answer and then he started to fade in and out of consciousness.

As we reported, Archie was rushed to the hospital and died April 3 ... police say his brother, Alexander Krause, was the shooter.

Cops found fresh blood covering the front door and a trail of blood from the stairs to Eversole's room where the blood-spattered door had been busted through ... there was also blood all over the bed, pillows and the wall.

According to the report, Krause initially told cops he was fine and just checking on his brother, although police did notice he had blood on his socks. He also told police he was limping from a blister on his foot.

As we reported, Krause has now been arrested for murder and is in custody in DeKalb County.

Shareef O'Neal is making it clear he's not done with basketball despite exits from both LSU and UCLA ... telling TMZ Sports he's not ready yet to give up the game.

Shaq's son spoke with us out at LAX this week about his future on the hardwood ... and even though he's leaving a major DI basketball program for the second time in his college hoops life -- he's still ready to play more.

"Yeah," Shareef said. "I'm not giving up."

As for where he might head after his departure from Baton Rouge ... we had to ask Shareef if he's leaning toward playing at Texas Southern University, where his sister, Amirah O'Neal, hoops.

Shareef, though, was mum about his next college destination, saying, "I ain't going say too much right now. But people going to see."

Shareef began his college hoops career in Westwood, but had to sit out his freshman season after undergoing serious heart surgery. He eventually recovered, but played sparingly in his second season at UCLA -- and eventually transferred.

He landed at LSU and played there the past two seasons -- but a foot injury limited his playing time, and he ultimately elected to transfer out of the school just a few weeks ago.

Wow.

Hall of Famer and Villanova Wildcats head coach Jay Wright is expected to step down from his position after 21 years with the team ... this according to multiple reports.

Wright -- who's 60 years old -- is "seriously contemplating retiring" before the 2023 season ... and will make his decision after talking things over with his family, Shams Charania says.

Wright has a 642–282 overall record as a head coach ... including 4 Final Four appearances and national championships in 2016 and 2018.

Jay is known for his incredible fashion sense over the years -- as we previously reported, the guy spent thousands on his custom suits ... and won several awards for his looks.

Wright was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.

He was the head coach of Hofstra University from 1994-2001 before joining 'Nova ... and was previously an assistant for Rochester, Drexel, Villanova and UNLV.

The move is pretty shocking ... and now Laker fans are going to start speculating about whether he will be their next coach.

Story developing ...

Hall of Famer Pam Shriver claims she had an "inappropriate" relationship with her much older tennis coach, Don Candy, when she was just 17 years old ... calling it a "miserable" experience.

The 59-year-old tennis commentator made the shocking revelation on ESPN's "Outside The Lines" this week ... when she detailed how her underage relationship impacted her every day.

"It affected me in almost every way," Shriver said. "He [Candy] was 33 years older. He was married. He was married long before I took my first lesson from him. I felt a lot of shame and guilt and I felt also a lot of anger, jealousy when his wife would come to tournaments."

"So I was just basically, at times, really miserable," Shriver added, "and because I was living the life of trying to be the best tennis player I can be, I really didn't understand how difficult the whole secret and the juggling was. And so I just kept it to myself."

Shriver told OTL some of her close friends eventually learned about her then-relationship with Candy -- who passed away in 2020 at age 91 -- but says at the time, what she was doing wasn't an uncommon thing.

"We weren't the only boundary-crossing relationship on the tour."

As for why the tennis legend chose to divulge this information over 40 years later, Shriver said she never allowed herself to think about how damaging the relationship with Candy was to her life and to her career.

Shriver notes Candy was not a predator -- nor did he physically or emotionally abuse her -- but says what happened was his responsibility.

Shriver said after her mom died last August, she did some reflecting on her experience ... and one of her biggest regrets is not telling her parents what happened.

"It's a tough one to tell parents, but there's nobody who wants to keep you safe and healthy more than your parents."

"I just feel like it's time. For me, I feel like it's important for my healing and it's important that I can maybe feel that me coming forward and talking about my story in detail might just help a few young players. Maybe it'll help coaches to understand that they need to not cross that boundary."

Oscar De La Hoya is being accused of sexually assaulting a woman on two occasions ... with the former co-worker alleging the boxing star brutalized her, causing "severe physical and emotional damage" that plagues her to this day.

But, the boxing Hall of Famer is adamantly denying the claims ... accusing the woman of being nothing more than a bitter employee who was fired.

"Unfortunately, with the twenty-four-hour news cycle, we find ourselves today, more often than not, as the recipient of vindictive and unjust accusations that are interpreted and spread as truth -- without any evidence to support erroneous claims," Oscar's rep told TMZ Sports in a statement.

As for the explosive allegations ... they're part of a larger lawsuit -- initially filed by Casa Mexico Enterprises -- where 49-year-old De La Hoya is a business partner.

ODLH's accuser was sued by Casa Mexico ... before filing a countersuit where she revealed the disturbing claims.

The accuser says she was on a work trip with Oscar and others at the company distillery in Mexico in March 2020. She says while fast asleep, someone began banging on her door. She says she got up and opened the door, only to find ODLH standing there with his pants around his ankles. She claims Oscar pushed his way past her and got into her bed.

The accuser states she got Oscar out of her bed, and back into his own room ... before returning to her room for the night.

However, the next morning she claims she was tasked with waking Oscar up ... and that's when she says things took a turn for the worst.

The alleged victim says she knocked on the door, but didn't get a response. She went inside the room. Once inside, the woman claims Oscar "subsequently pulled [name withheld] into his bed, where he sexually assaulted her."

The lawsuit makes no mention of the woman going to law enforcement ... or alerting Casa Mexico execs.

Unfortunately, the woman says the abuse didn't end there.

Sometime after the Mexico trip, the woman says she went to dinner with work colleagues, including Oscar, before returning to his home after eating.

The woman claims Oscar "revealed and retrieved a sexual object from a stored collection in his house" and "forcibly inserted the sexual object into" the alleged victim's body.

At that point, the woman says she alerted Don Buccio, the Casa Mexico founder, but she says no action was taken.

Despite the serious allegations, De La Hoya believes his name will be cleared.

Logan Paul continues to cut his ties to L.A. ... selling his mansion for $7.405 million.

Real estate sources tell TMZ the deal was finalized Wednesday for the 7-bedroom, 6-bathroom, 7,667-square-foot home which is set behind a private gate comes with a massive yard, wine cellar, and a billiards room.

The new owners will be able to enjoy a large pool, plenty of lounge and entertaining space, an outdoor Grotto kitchen and a detached guest house with a full bedroom, bathroom, and complete view of the property.

Logan bought the house in 2017 for $6.6 million and remastered and renovated the pad while living in it. While the profit isn't as big as he first wanted -- he listed it for $8.995M -- $1M turnaround ain't bad.

We broke the story ... Logan's house hit the market last November. Paul has been very vocal in the last couple years about his desire to move to Puerto Rico for financial reasons.

A college baseball pitcher looked more like an NFL linebacker on Wednesday ... absolutely pummeling his opponent during the guy's home run trot -- and the wild scene was all captured on video.

It went down just hours ago during the sixth inning of the North Central Texas College game against Weatherford in Weatherford, Texas ... when NCTC first baseman Josh Phillips hit a go-ahead homer off Owen Woodward.

It's unclear if Phillips said anything to Woodward as he rounded the bases -- but just after the slugger touched third, Woodward charged at him and leveled him to the grass.

You can see in the clip, the blow was brutal -- it flattened Phillips, causing his helmet to fly yards away from his body.

Phillips' teammates raced to the scene to pile onto Woodward -- and, somehow, Phillips was able to get up and touch home plate to give NCTC the lead.

Woodward was taken away from the area by his teammates ... and then he was, presumably, ejected from the contest.

A spokesperson for the Weatherford Campus Police tells TMZ Sports ... Woodward was not arrested, but they are investigating the incident.

As for Phillips, the spokesperson said he has "no life-threatening" injuries.

We've reached out to both schools for comment, but so far, no word back yet.