Boxing

Here's video of Sugar Ray Leonard and Bruce Buffer giving daps at LAX ... then giving waaay different takes on how Floyd Mayweather would do against Conor McGregor in the UFC!

The meet-up happened courtesy of our photog -- who spotted the 2 legends randomly crossing paths. (Only in L.A., right??)

Sugar, of course, wasn't about to throw his fellow pugilist under the bus -- saying Floyd's "always" got a shot.

Bruce, on the other hand, was happy to -- telling us why it'd be "a very quick night" for Mayweather inside the Octagon.

Floyd Mayweather's good looks are also undefeated!

Here's a 21-year-old version of the fresh-faced professional boxer after winning a fight back in 1998 (left) and 20 years later ... the champ -- who celebrated his 41st birthday earlier this week -- at the All-Star Game in Los Angeles (right).

Knockout.

The question is ...

Nate Diaz ain't even close to a UFC comeback -- so says Dana White, who tells TMZ Sports it's clear to him that Nate "doesn't wanna fight."

Dana's so sure ... he says it's MORE likely we see Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather inside the Octagon than a trilogy fight between Conor and Nate!!

"We've been hitting him up since the last time he fought [UFC 202], offering him fights, and he's not interested in fighting," White told us earlier this week.

FYI, the UFC honcho also told us he's talked with Floyd's camp, but isn't "in active negotiations."

One guy who Dana says IS interested in throwing down right now -- Nate's older brother, Nick Diaz, who hasn't fought in over 3 years!!!

There's more -- Dana confirmed who Tyron Woodley's next title challenger is gonna be (and if ya haven't already guessed ... it ain't Nate).

Floyd Mayweather rolled out $2 MILLION in cars, jewelry and cash to dominate the Rodeo Drive shopping scene in Bev Hills ... and gave TMZ Sports a private tour of his new toys.

First off, our guy tried like hell to press Floyd on the possible Conor McGregor rematch -- but the dude bobbed and weaved like ... well, like he's Floyd Mayweather.

Instead, Floyd bragged about his upcoming 41st birthday celebration -- and showed us the new $600,000 Rolls-Royce and $1.3 MILLION Bugatti he's using to drive him around L.A.

Oh, he also bought a new $100,000 Rolex and showed off about $100,000 (maybe more?) in cash he had on him the entire time.

The video is an embarrassment of riches -- so, naturally, we had to ask what's next for the boxer?

What he says actually makes a lot of sense ...

Heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder boldly claimed he's so good, he would have even knocked out Mike Tyson is his prime.

Mike Tyson respectfully disagrees.

"Iron Mike" was leaving Mastro's Steakhouse in Beverly Hills on Wednesday when we asked him about the statement Wilder gave us last month -- that there's no fighter in history who could beat him.

That includes a 1986 Mike Tyson.

"I don't think so," Tyson told TMZ Sports.

Lennox Lewis has previously weighed in on the debate -- taking Tyson over Wilder.

"I like Wilder but he’s never been in there with someone that ferocious who truly wants to break his ribs with every punch. I don’t see it!"

Stop us if you've heard this one before ...

Floyd Mayweather hit up a crazy expensive restaurant sporting a crazy expensive watch -- and couldn't wait to show off his jewelry on camera!

This time, Floyd -- surrounded by his TMT bodyguards -- was in the mood for fancy Chinese food at Mr Chow in Bev Hills ... and on the way out it, he let his blinged-out wrist do the talking.

As we've previously reported, Mayweather has an insane watch collection -- including a $2 MILLION diamond-covered timepiece ... which he showed off back in 2016.

He also bought a $1.1 million diamond-covered Hublot watch during a shopping spree at a mall in Dubai back in 2015. It's one of the most expensive watches in the world.

No word if the watch he rocked on Tuesday is brand new or an old favorite -- but one thing's for sure ... it's expensive.

Conor McGregor hasn't stepped inside the Octagon in over 15 MONTHS ... and UFC star Khabib Nurmagomedov says that's proof he ain't fighting EVER again.

At least, not in MMA.

"I don’t think he gonna come back," Khabib told TMZ Sports outside Jay Glazer's MMA gym in Hollywood.

"When is Conor compete last time in MMA? Long time. He's boxing guy."

Khabib says McGregor's team is focused on a rematch with Floyd Mayweather ... instead of a real fight against him or Tony Ferguson -- who he's facing at UFC 223 in April.

Khabib also told us his contract for the Ferguson scrap explicitly states they're fighting for the "real belt" -- which means the UFC is "100%" stripping Conor of his lightweight title.

FYI, Dana White still hasn't made an official decision on Conor's championship status or his future with the UFC.

Stay tuned ...

Former boxing champ Adrien Broner was arrested in Atlanta Monday night for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman at a local shopping mall, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

Officials tell us ... cops were called to the Lenox Square shopping center Monday evening where a woman told police Broner had " inappropriately groped her."

Broner denied the allegation -- but after being interviewed by cops, they believed there was enough evidence to arrest him for misdemeanor sexual battery.

The 28-year-old was transported to Fulton County Jail without incident.

He's scheduled to face a judge around 9 AM local time. His booking sheet lists him at 5'8" and 160 lbs.

BSO is reporting the incident took place in front of a Louis Vuitton store.

Broner has had numerous outside-the-ring issues over the years -- including a September incident where he socked a man in the face on the Vegas strip.

His "big bro," Floyd Mayweather, tried to step in and mentor him back in 2017 ... but it doesn't seem to be working.

Wanna see Tonya Harding knock a chick out cold with a devastating right cross?

You're in luck ... because TMZ Sports found extremely rare footage from Tonya's last professional boxing match -- and she straight DESTROYED her opponent.

It all went down in 2005 -- when a 35-year-old Harding (3-3) stepped into the ring to face Brittney Drake in Brittney's first pro boxing match, a fight promoted by Celebrity Boxing creator Damon Feldman.

The Tom Brady of boxing is Roy Jones Jr. -- so says Roy Jones Jr. ... who broke down why he and Tom stand out among the G.O.A.T.s in their respective sports.

"You have to be able to rate people by how they perform under pressure, when things don't go their way," Roy told TMZ Sports.

Case in point -- Brady rallied the Patriots from 25 points down in last year's Super Bowl ... and RJJ told us there was a time in his career where he accomplished something similar.

As for the Brady of MMA ... Roy agrees with Dana White and says it's Anderson Silva -- who he's still gunning to face inside the ring.

RJJ didn't have an official update on that super-fight, but he did hint at making progress with Dana -- who, FYI, has agreed to broadcast his Feb. 8 "retirement fight" vs. Scott Sigmon on UFC Fight Pass.

Conor McGregor says Floyd Mayweather needs to stop flirting with an MMA fight and ACTUALLY BOOK IT -- or he'll regret it until the day he dies.

"If he does do it, I know he's flirting with it, I would have respect for him," McGregor told Adam Glyn.

If Floyd is just messing around and won't take a real MMA fight, Conor says, "it will follow him for the rest of his days that he did not do it."

As TMZ Sports previously reported, the head of Showtime Sports says he's talking with Floyd about getting a deal done ... and expects the fight would pay Floyd in the 9-FIGURES.

Floyd Mayweather is heading to Minnesota where he's set to meet with Showtime honcho Stephen Espinoza ... and the two will DEFINITELY be talking about a possible MMA fight.

"It will be a topic of conversation," Stephen told TMZ Sports ... acknowledging Floyd's recent videos from inside an MMA cage are VERY interesting.

"There's a chance ... whatever he puts his mind to, he sort of wills into happening. [Floyd] willed the McGregor fight into happening. So, if he sets his mind to it, it'll happen."

And how much money would it take to lure Floyd back?

"He's not an 8-figure guy anymore. He's a 9-figure guy," says Espinoza, the president of Showtime Sports and event programming.

Bottom line -- if Floyd wants an MMA fight, sounds like Showtime is 100% behind him.

11:39 AM PT -- Sources connected to Floyd tell us ... Floyd rented out the entire Syndicate MMA gym in Las Vegas on Monday for a private workout session.

As far as the MMA training goes, we've spoken to multiple people and everyone is being VERY tight-lipped about what Floyd was working on inside the gym.

We obviously know he spent some time in the cage -- but no one will say if Floyd was doing actual MMA training or just getting his usual boxing workout in with a change of scenery.

FYI, a ton of legit pro MMA fighters train at Syndicate, including UFC Hall of Famer Forrest Griffin, Jessica-Rose Clark, Mike Pyle and Julian Marquez.

11:28 AM PT -- Conor has seen the video and offered up some thoughts ...

"Hahahaha very good. Keep up the good work my son. Yours sincerely, Senior."

Well, here's Conor McGregor's dream come true ... Floyd Mayweather stepped into an MMA cage in what appears to be another attempt to bait the UFC star into another fight.

Floyd posted the footage on social media Tuesday -- one day after he took a shot at Conor for his #MCM ... which Floyd dubbed, "Mayweather Crushes McGregor."

Both Conor and Floyd made a killing off their superfight in 2017 -- but McGregor says he wants his next fight to be in the octagon.

So, how would that go? Oscar De La Hoya just told us the other day Floyd wouldn't last 10 seconds with The Notorious.

But we'd all probably pay to see it anyway ... and Floyd knows it.

Oscar De La Hoya has set the over/under for how long Floyd Mayweather would last in a UFC fight ... and Floyd's not gonna like it.

We got Oscar heading into Staples Center for a Lakers game the other day and asked him how his former boxing rival would fare in MMA.

De La Hoya's prediction -- "Tapped out in 10 seconds."

Ouch.

FYI, Floyd says he probably ain't gonna test his skills inside the Octagon ... but money talks, so don't rule it out.

Speaking of money fights, Oscar updated us on his quest to do business with Dana White ... a couple weeks after TMZ Sports got his initial pitch.

WARNING: THIS POST IS FULL OF BLASPHEMY.

IBF Welterweight Errol Spence -- one of the most feared boxers on Earth -- is about to do what no fighter has ever done before ... straight HATE on the best movie of all time, "Rocky."

Most people think Spence is up next to be the Floyd Mayweather-type, huge deal boxing star, so when we got him out in NYC, we wanted to get to know the slugger a little better.

We asked Spence what he thought the worst boxing movie of all time was, and he opted to let films like "Grudge Match," and "Play It To The Bone" off the hook and indict the holy grail of sports films.

"I didn't like Rocky, it was too fake. The dude got hit like a million times in one round and he's still going. It was just fake to me, I didn't really like it."

Remember the unstoppable, unbeatable force that was Mike Tyson in 1986?

If you don't, first check out the video below ... we'll wait. Terrifying right? Well, current heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder tells TMZ Sports he'd kick the hell outta that guy, and he totally means it.

Wilder is currently the scariest heavyweight alive, so when we got him at the Showtime boxing Upfronts earlier this week we thought we'd ask him how he'd fare against the scariest ever ... Tyson.

His answer? He obviously thinks he could take him, telling our guy no man in the history of boxing could ever beat him.

This is normally the point where we offer our unsolicited opinion, but we're gonna sit this one out.