Boxing

Manny Pacquiao says he made a "mistake" by saying gay people are worse than animals earlier this year -- but stands firm on his anti-gay beliefs.

PacMan was promoting his upcoming fight against Jessie Vargas when he told us he regretted making the comments back in February ... saying, "I'm just human. Nobody's perfect."

Of course, Manny started a firestorm when he went on a TV show in the Philippines and said heterosexuality is "common sense" -- you'd have to be dumber than an animal to not understand.

Roy Jones Jr. has a message for the boxing world ... I AIN'T DONE JUST YET!!

Less than a month after tearing his right bicep fighting Rodney Moore -- and saying the injury may end his career -- Jones Jr. tells TMZ Sports he feels great and is eyeing a return to the ring.

"I'm doing much better. My arm feels good."

In fact, Roy felt good enough to catch some big fish in Pensacola, Florida this weekend (Roy says he caught a shark) ... albeit while rockin' a big arm brace.

So, when does 47-year-old RJJ anticipate a return to the squared circle?

Don't call it a comeback, but Christina Milian's quick hands are back in a boxing ring ... and it's more than just a great workout, because the sweet science is in her blood.

We're told she started taking classes this week with her trainer, Jason Ross, at LA Fitness in Hollywood. It's the first time she's laced up the gloves in years, but her grandfather and father both boxed and taught her from childhood.

The video's pretty sick -- Christina's already throwing strong combinations. We're told it's mostly about fitness now, but she's not ruling out sparring eventually ... with very thick headgear, we hope.

Don't mess with yer moneymaker, Tina!

Undefeated boxing prodigy Jose Benavidez Jr. -- who's 25-0 as a pro -- was shot while out on a walk in Arizona early Tuesday morning ... but we're told he's expected to survive.

FYI, the 24-year-old Top Rank fighter is a rising star in the sport -- and recently chalked up a high profile victory over Francisco Santana on the undercard of the Crawford vs. Postol fight in Vegas.

Sources tell us ... Benavidez was out walking one of his pets near his home in Phoenix when he was approached by an unknown man who pulled out a gun and shot him in the leg.

The Phoenix PD confirms the shooting and says the victim was transported to a nearby hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

However, one source with knowledge of the situation tells us Jose's injuries pose a serious threat to his boxing career.

So far, no arrests have been made.

Story developing ...

Boxer James Kirkland -- a former WBO super welterweight champ -- was arrested in Austin, TX earlier this month in connection to a child support case ... TMZ Sports has learned.

We've confirmed ... Kirkland was taken into custody by the Travis County Sheriff's Dept. on August 8th for contempt of court/non-payment.

It's unclear how much Kirkland owes -- but according to reports, he made more than $1 MILLION for his May 2015 fight against Canelo Alvarez. He's also reportedly in early talks to fight Miguel Cotto later this year.

Kirkland's bond was set at $15,160.25 -- which he paid. He has since been released from custody,

Boxing star Victor Ortiz pled guilty to a battery charge stemming from a fight at a Kenny Chesney concert last summer but he won't spend a minute behind bars ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Boxing superstar Adrien Broner is BACK -- he's currently being released from jail after a 30 day stint ... TMZ Sports has confirmed.

Broner was locked up back in July after pissing off a judge when he arrived to a hearing 3 HOURS LATE and appeared to be drunk or hungover.

Broner had asked to be released early so he could train for an upcoming fight -- but the judge shot that down and told him he had to serve the entire 30 days.

We're told he's about to be released ... as long as he doesn't do anything stupid.

Wladimir Klitschko says Tyson Fury is jerking his team around when it comes to their rematch -- and now he's forced to go to court to get the heavyweight champ to honor their contract.

The two were originally supposed to fight in July -- but it was postponed when Fury got hurt. Now, they're expected to go at it in October ... but Klitschko says Fury is screwing things up.

"Unfortunately, Team Fury is trying to change the terms of already signed contract multiple times and is going on endless," Klitschko said.

"To protect my own rights, and eventually see the rematch, I'm forced to go to court."

No word on exactly what Fury is trying to change -- but clearly, Wlad is pissed.

Muhammad Ali's football star grandson says a call from his sports idol helped raise his spirits in the wake of his grandfather's death ... and that idol is Marshawn Lynch.

Biaggio Ali Walsh joined the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs Monday on FS1) -- and opened up about his relationship with Beast Mode and why it's meant so much to him.

"After the passing, he texted me and was like, 'How are you holding up?' ... and I really appreciated that. Especially him being one of my biggest idols. I look up to that guy."

FYI, Biaggio is one of the top high school running backs in the county and recently announced he'll attend Cal after his senior season.

Bad news for Tyga ... Kimbo Slice's son wants to nail his girlfriend -- and there ain't a damn thing he can do about it.

Hollywood badass Danny Trejo -- aka Machete -- was a real-life ass-kicker behind bars ... telling TMZ Sports he was a champion boxer of every prison he was in ... "and I was in all of 'em."

Trejo's story is legendary ... after going in and out of California prisons growing up, he got a job as a boxing trainer on an Eric Roberts movie ... which launched an incredible movie career of his own.

We got Trejo out in L.A. Wednesday night -- and he told us what it was like to fight in prison ... and it's just as rough as you'd think it would be.

Trejo also raves about Floyd Mayweather -- saying whether you love him or hate him, you have to respect him as one of the ALL-TIME GREATS.

Forget Beyonce or Justin Bieber ... there's only one huge star Sergey Kovalev wants by his side as he enters the ring to fight Andre Ward -- Russian President Vladimir Putin!

The Russian boxing superstar is all set for a championship superfight with Ward on Nov. 19th on HBO PPV -- it's definitely one of the biggest fights of the year!!

So, when we saw Kovalev in L.A. Monday, he told us he's laser focused on making President Putin proud.

In fact, Kovalev even looked into the camera and recorded a message for Vlad.

So many people are flocking to the gravesite where Muhammad Ali is buried, the cemetery has put up a temporary headstone to help guide fans to the right spot ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Light heavyweight boxing champ Sergey Kovalev says he's driven to be a champion by the memory of Roman Simakov ... the man who died 3 days after fighting Sergey back in 2011.

We talked to Kovalev about Conor McGregor revealing he's been seriously disturbed by the fact he trained MMA fighter Charlie Ward for a match where the opposing fighter ended up dead.

That's when Kovalev opened up to us ... saying after Simakov slipped into a coma and died three days following their 2011 fight, he immediately decided to dedicate the rest of his career to his memory.

"I will be champion for me and him ... this helped me and still helps me to fight."

You gotta check out the clip -- Sergey says there's one thing he wishes and thinks about every time he steps into the ring.

Former heavyweight champion Charles Martin was shot in the forearm earlier this week, and is laid up in the hospital ... TMZ Sports has learned.

A passenger in Martin's car told LAPD officers they were in downtown L.A. around 5 AM Tuesday when 2 men approached the vehicle and got into an argument with the boxer. According to the police report ... the men started shooting, but missed and fled. Martin got in his car and chased the alleged shooters, but crashed into a utility pole.

Police say that's when the suspects returned and opened fire again. This time, Martin took a bullet to his forearm, and the suspects fled again, this time in a car.

Officers responded and transported Martin to the hospital.

We reached out to Martin and he says the officers saved his life -- he was losing a lot of blood when they arrived at the scene. Martin says he doesn't know the suspects, and has no idea why they had beef with him.

One big difference in Martin's version of the story is he says he was trying to get away from the gunmen -- not chasing them -- when he crashed.

The former IBF heavyweight -- who lost the belt earlier this year -- adds he was worried the shooters were coming back to finish the job. He says he jumped in the bed of a parked pickup truck when he "looked down, and saw a pool of blood. I said to myself, 'I gotta get outta here. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna bleed to death.'"

"I have to pay respect to the cops. They saved my life."

Roy Jones Jr. says he's super stoked his kid is an elite athlete ... and even happier it's not in boxing ... 'cause according to Roy the sweet science is too dangerous and cutthroat for his boy.

Roy and his kid, Roy III, came on "TMZ Sports" (Thursday at 8:30 PM PT on FS1) when the guys asked why RIII -- who's a high school hoops star ... didn't pick up the boxing gloves like his old man.

Roy answers ... and we gotta say ... it's a pretty good one.

BTW -- stick around for some AWESOME father/son smack talk when we ask who'd win in a one-on-one game.