Boxing

George Foreman says Floyd Mayweather is RIGHT ... telling TMZ Sports, "Pound for pound, Floyd is better than me and Muhammad Ali ever were."

Mayweather received tons of criticism this week after saying HE should be considered the greatest fighter of all time ... and now, it seems Foreman's backing him up in a major way.

"This is a better generation BY FAR," Foreman tells us ... "They're smarter, they're stronger, they're overall just better fighters."

Of course, Foreman is extremely qualified to weigh in on the subject, having fought Muhammad Ali in the famous, "Rumble in the Jungle" in 1974 ... in addition to his 80 other pro fights.

"We were good and we liked the attention that we got. But boxing is on a different level. This is an amazing generation."

As for the fight, Foreman says he's rooting for Mayweather -- and believes he's the better fighter -- but says he thinks Manny will ultimately win the fight.

And just like that ... THEY WERE GONE!!!!

Less than 60 seconds after tickets to the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight went on sale to the public on Ticketmaster's website, they were sold out!!

ALL OF THEM.

EVEN THE $7,500 TIX!!!

Several people in our office timed the sale, and some say they got the "No Tickets Left" graphic less than 20 SECONDS after it started. Insane!

So, if you wanna be at the fight, you have to go to the secondary market ... where seats are going for up to $80,000-a-pop!!!

Good luck!

The delay over the sale of the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao tickets was all about GOOD SEATS -- with Manny's team holding up the deal because they felt Floyd's team got the better quality tickets.

Here's the deal ... sources connected to the negotiation tell TMZ Sports ... the sides had agreed to split 9,600 tickets evenly between Team Manny and Team Floyd for the May 2nd fight.

Team Manny includes Bob Arum's Top Rank Boxing and HBO. Team Floyd includes Al Hayman's company and CBS. Each side got 4,800 tickets.

But the rift, we're told, all had to do with seat location -- with Manny's people claiming Floyd's camp got the better tickets because of Mayweather's relationship with the MGM Grand.

As one source put it ... "Floyd's camp got more seats in the first few rows, including the front row, and that's a big deal." We're told Manny's camp demanded equality.

We're told Manny's camp refused to lay down on the issue -- thus delaying the ticket release indefinitely. And Wednesday, with 10 days 'til the fight, CBS honcho Les Moonves stepped in.

Sources say there was an emergency meeting in which Les stepped in and "played Solomon" (a reference to the biblical figure's negotiating expertise) ... and fixed the situation.

Finally ... tickets to the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight are going on sale TODAY -- but you gotta move fast, because we're told there will only be 500 available to the public!

The tickets will go on sale on Ticketmaster at Noon PT -- starting at $1,500-a-pop and going all the way up to $7,500.

Promoters are limiting the amount of tickets per household to just 4.

Seems the 50 Cent vs. Floyd Mayweather feud is finally OVER -- with the two superstars coming together Wednesday night .... months after they TRASHED each other in public.

Don't forget ... these two HATED each other after a bitter falling out -- with 50 publicly saying Floyd was so dumb, he couldn't read. Mayweather called 50 irrelevant.

But last night in Vegas, the two didn't just hang out -- they took a photo together ... and 50 posted it to Instagram with the caption, "THE original MONEY TEAM, you gotta love it. My brother ready,may 2 don't get scared now."

So, beef squashed?!

Here it is ... the $1 million emerald-studded WBC championship belt that Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will be fighting for on May 2nd ... in addition to their $100-million + paychecks!

TMZ Sports broke the story ... the World Boxing Council commissioned the belt when the fight was announced .. and adorned it with 3,000 real miniature emeralds.

The belt was revealed at a WBC event in Mexico -- and will make its way to Vegas this week ... escorted by a private security team.

Floyd Mayweather will do anything to beat Manny Pacquiao ... even subject himself to -220 degree nitrogen gas during Cryotherapy sessions ... intended to heal his body.

TMZ Sports spoke to David Levi ... owner of SubZero Recovery in Vegas ... who tells us Floyd makes daily ... and sometimes nightly ... trips to his business for the insanely cold therapy.

The Cryo sessions last 90 seconds to 3 minutes ... and according to Levi, it helps to enrich blood, expel toxins and also does a bunch of other cool stuff.

"Floyd comes in every day," Levi said, "I'm used to getting calls at 3 or 4AM with Floyd asking me to open the facility so he can use the machine."

As for the misery of sitting in -220 degree cold ... "Floyd hates getting in, but he knows what it does for him, so he tolerates it."

Legendary boxing promoter Don King is recovering from kidney stone surgery ... TMZ Sports has learned.

A rep for the World Boxing Commission confirmed King was hospitalized ... after doctors located several kidney stones in the 83-year-old's body.

We're told he's recovering at the hospital -- surgery went well and he's doing fine.

King was recently out in public to speak at an event at Howard University on March 28th and seemed fine.

Floyd Mayweather doesn't give a single DAMN about Conor McGregor -- telling TMZ Sports the UFC fighter is a joke ... who's using his name to try to get some cheap publicity.

Earlier this week, McGregor said he'd DESTROY Mayweather in a fight in less than 30 seconds -- because Floyd wouldn't be able to handle an MMA-style attack.

But sources close to Mayweather tell us ... Floyd "scoffed" when he saw the quotes and said, "I don't take that dude seriously. He's just trying to get himself some publicity."

TMZ Sports has obtained footage from Adrien Broner's DUI arrest in Ohio back in January -- in which the boxer insists he's NOT drunk ... but brags about making more than $100 MILLION in his career!!

The footage shows Broner being pulled over around 1:30 AM in his white Mercedes on January 11th -- after the cop sees the boxing champ driving in two lanes.

At first, things seem bad for Broner -- the officer is pissed and Broner can be heard slurring his words.

But things take a turn -- Broner professes his innocence ... and actually charms the cop, who eventually tells him she just wants the best for him.

During the arrest, Broner talks ... A LOT ... and says some interesting stuff. Among the highlights:

-- "Ya'll don't know who you arrested. If ya'll did, I'd be on the news right now."
-- The cop compliments Broner's physique.
-- Broner tells the cop, "I love you."
-- Cop asks Broner where he fights. Broner responds, "The world."

But the best part ... when Broner tells the cop he's "blessed" -- 'cause he's made more than $100 million in his career.

Conor McGregor's got some major support from his boss -- 'cause UFC honcho Dana White tells TMZ Sports he's 100% confident Conor would CRUSH Floyd Mayweather in a street fight.

Dana was out in NYC today ... when we asked about McGregor's fight prediction -- that he would WRECK Floyd in less than 30 seconds.

White doubled down even harder -- saying EVERY SINGLE FIGHTER on the UFC roster could take it to Floyd ... 'cause he's only skilled in 1 simple fighting style.

The MILLION DOLLAR championship belt that will be awarded to the winner of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao has its own private security detail that will escort it from Mexico to Vegas ... TMZ Sports has learned.

A rep for the World Boxing Council tells us ... the belt -- which is encrusted with more than 3,000 real miniature emeralds -- will be unveiled on Monday in Mexico ... at WBC headquarters.

After it makes its public debut, the belt will travel to the MGM Grand -- escorted by the President of the World Boxing Council and 2 private security guards.

Ultimately, the belt will be handed over to MGM officials -- who will safeguard the belt in a special case until the night of the fight.

UFC badass Conor McGregor says he would ANNIHILATE Floyd Mayweather in a real deal street fight ... saying, "I would kill him in less than thirty seconds."

McGregor told Esquire he looks down on combat athletes who only specialize in one type of attack method -- for example, boxers.

"I don't look at a man who's expert in one area as a specialist ... I look at him as a rookie in ten other areas. If you can box, what happens if I grab hold of your legs?"

That's when he brought up Money Mayweather: "If you put me face-to-face with Floyd Mayweather - pound-for-pound boxing's best -- if I fought Floyd, I would kill him in less than thirty seconds."

"It would take me less than thirty seconds to wrap around him like a boa constrictor and strangle him."

Here's the tale of the tape

Conor McGregor:
Age: 26 years old
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 145 lbs

Floyd Mayweather:
Age: 38 years old
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 151 lbs

Hold off on the campaign ads ... Manny Pacquiao says he's TOO YOUNG to think about becoming the future president of the Philippines ... but says he's not counting out a run for the Senate.

Earlier this week, Manny's promoter Bob Arum said he believes Pacquiao will run for the office in 2022 ... and says he has a bright career in politics -- but clearly, Pacman wants to rack up more experience before gunning for the highest seat in the land.

"I'm not qualified," Manny said at his media day in Los Angeles yesterday ... "I don't have that in my mind. I'm young."

Ex-heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe says his bank account hasn't been knocked out ... telling TMZ Sports his $20-a-tweet-stunt was just a little fun with his nearly half-a-million followers.

Bowe set his Twitter on fire yesterday when he announced to his 451k followers that he'd tweet anything they wanted him to ... if they dropped $20 in his PayPal account.

After Bowe's announcement, his @RiddickBowe account became a series of insanely hilarious nonsense ... and people began to wonder if the champ -- who filed for bankruptcy in 2005 -- had fallen on even harder times.

We spoke to Bowe's reps ... and they tell us that the stunt had nothing to with his finances ... he was just giving his Twitter fans what they wanted.

“He was just trying to help out his fans, they ask me to tweet things and it kinda got spurred out of control.”

He can DEFINITELY afford tickets, but Floyd Mayweather says he WON'T be hitting up Jay Z's post-fight mega-party in Vegas -- there's another place he's already committed to be.

TMZ Sports spoke with Money at his media day workout at his gym near the Las Vegas strip Tuesday night ... when we pointed out all of the post-fight party options ... Chris Brown, Nicki Minaj, Snoop, Jay, etc.

By the way, VIP packages for Jay's shindig are on sale for up to $50k!!! Insane, but a drop in the bucket for Floyd.