Boxing

If Jake Paul's truly serious about taking an MMA bout after his huge KO win over Tyron Woodley ... he's got one of the best fighters in the ready to train him.

TMZ Sports talked to 26-year-old Bellator champ A.J. McKee in Tampa, FL on Friday ... and we asked the undefeated fighter about Paul saying he intends to take an MMA fight in the future.

"S**t, he better come train with me, but he can do good," McKee told us.

The 16-0 champ continued ... "If he wanna do it, he can do it. I think he's already shown his skills in what he can do in boxing, so if he wants to take it to a different lane, why not?"

If you missed Jake's comments ... he told the media on Thursday that he "100 percent" was going to fight MMA, saying, "I don't see why if I can do boxing at this high of a level that I couldn't do MMA at this high of a level."

In fact, later that same day, Jake told us he intended to fight and beat Conor McGregor in an MMA cage.

Paul said he going to train at AKA in northern California ... which happens to be the home gym of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Daniel Cormier.

He's very likely kidding ... 'cause DC and Paul ain't exactly buddies. Remember, they nearly came to blows at a UFC event several months back.

Unbelievable.

If you ever had any doubt about Jake Paul's skills in the boxing ring, the guy just flatlined a UFC legend -- beating Tyron Woodley in the 6th round of Saturday night's matchup.

Of course, Jake was initially slated to go against Tommy Fury, and he had a message for the "Love Island" star after putting Tyron on the canvas.

Check the video -- Jake celebrates the major win ... and says he's ready to face Jorge Masvidal or Nate Diaz to follow up -- calling them bitches in the process.

The win is by far the best of Jake's career -- he took the fight on less than a month's notice after Fury backed out.

The knockout was beautiful. Jake faked to the body, forcing Tyron to drop his hands. Then Paul came over the top with a right that landed flush on Woodley’s ear, sending him falling to the canvas. It was clear Tyron was out, so the referee didn’t count … the fight was over.

As for Woodley, he looked sharp up until the KO. The future UFC HOFer was far more aggressive ... and landed some nice, powerful punches.

Now that Jake erased any doubt this time around vs. Woodley, it seems likely a Paul vs. Fury fight will be in the works.

It all went down at Amalie Arena in Tampa .. and Jake's definitely gonna celebrate his ass off tonight.

Justin Gaethje says he -- NOT Conor McGregor -- deserves the next title shot against Charles Oliveira ... and he's gonna lose it if that doesn't happen.

TMZ Sports talked to the 33-year-old #1 ranked UFC lightweight -- the guy who almost everyone believes will fight for the belt -- about McGregor's recent social media post.

If ya missed it, Conor fired off a message ... "So what date am I fighting Oliveira?" shortly after the UFC 269 fight between Oliveira and Dustin Poirier.

"I'll burn it all down, dude! What do you mean? F***ing burn it down, that's what I'd do," Gaethje told us when we asked how he'd react to Conor (#9 ranked) leapfrogging him.

Justin continued ... "[Conor's] so irrelevant. He has not won a fight since 2016 in the lightweight division. I'm ranked number one."

But, how about this ... if Gaethje wins, would he want to defend his strap vs. McGregor ... who he's been lowkey beefing with for years?

Nope.

"I would absolutely not allow him fight for the title. He did not win to go through the process. He's not gonna s*** on everything that we -- there's too many. Beneil Dariush, Islam Makhachev. Those are the guys that we fight. Not Conor McGregor. That's not how it works. He's becoming more and more irrelevant as time goes on. Pretty soon you won't be even asking me these questions. It's gonna be a beautiful f***ing day."

It's pretty cool ... Justin says he's finally on the doorstep of the moment he's been waiting for since he got into fighting.

"My whole life I've been working towards this. That is what's next. If not, I f***ing burn it down. It doesn't matter. I'll show up and start throwing dollies everywhere."

Jake Paul is only 24, but he's suffering from memory loss and slurred speech, and it's largely because of boxing -- and it could get even worse with tonight's fight.

Jake appeared on "In Depth With Graham Besinger," and talked about something boxers rarely discuss when they're still in the game -- how boxing messes up their head.

Jake told Graham, "I notice it in conversations with like, with my girlfriend or friends, like, not remembering something that I should be able to remember that happened a couple days ago."

He went on ... "Sometimes in my speech, where like every hundredth or two hundredth word, I'll mess up or, like, slur, which I didn't do that before."

Jake says his problems actually started with football, but are clearly worsened by boxing. He doesn't even remember how many concussions he's suffered -- somewhere between 20 and 30.

Again, something boxers don't say ... Jake says he's scared about the long-term effects, although he thinks certain psychedelic drugs could help abate the problems.

It's pretty shocking he's saying all this when he's about to square off with former UFC Champ Tyron Woodley Saturday night. He beat Tyron by split decision in the past and the rematch promises to be fierce.

Jake said his doctor was blunt -- stay away from the ring, but that's not gonna happen.

Jake Paul knows Tommy Fury will be glued to the TV when he faces off against Tyron Woodley on Saturday ... and that's why he tells TMZ Sports he's planning to troll the hell outta TNT before his big fight.

You surprised??

We spoke with the Problem Child before his big rematch with the former UFC champ ... and asked if he thought his original opponent would be tuning in.

"100%," Jake said. "Tommy, you know, this could've been you."

"I have a message to send to him during my walkout. People will see my message for Tommy Fury while I'm walking out. It's pretty funny."

Now, Jake is known to be a world-class troll, even when it's time to rumble -- remember, this is the guy who wore a basketball chain and had matching music for his entrance before the Nate Robinson fight.

We also talked all about the upcoming fight ... and Jake says he can't wait to silence his critics again.

"I'm feeling really good," he added. "To me, it doesn't matter who I fight and this is an opportunity to right my wrongs. Last fight, obviously, I still won. But now, I wanna knock him out. That's a big opportunity to show people how much better I've gotten since then."

We also spoke with Tyron ... and he's guaranteeing to knock Jake out and make that extra money.

The fight card -- also featuring Deron Williams and Frank Gore -- is set to go down at 6 PM PT on Showtime.

Amanda Serrano's fighting on the Jake Paul-Tyron Woodley II card ... and the boxing star tells TMZ Sports she's looking to flatten her opponent, and set up a multi-million dollar bout with one of the baddest women in the world, Katie Taylor!

33-year-old Serrano -- the 41-1-1 featherweight champ -- recently signed to Paul's MVP Promotions ... and is boxing 38-year-old Miriam Gutierrez (14-1) Saturday night on Showtime PPV.

Amanda, who routinely KO's her opponents, is always fun to watch ... but this fight has some added juice because a win could set AS on a collision course with Taylor.

"[Me vs. Taylor is a] mega-fight for women's boxing. But, right now I have Miriam in front of me. This is my test. This is my measuring stick. If I knock Miriam out, it's gonna be a statement fight," Serrano told us.

If you're not familiar with the women (first, ya should be) ... Serrano and Taylor (in addition to Claressa Shields) are considered the top 3 female boxers in the world.

Who's the best? That's a surefire way to start a debate.

As for the payday with a Serrano-Taylor fight ... Amanda's coach, Jordan Maldonado, says both boxers can expect a fat check.

"Kudos to Jake Paul. Amanda's upcoming fight with Katie Taylor is a 7-figure fight, and it's because of him that that's happening. It'll be the first time in the history of female boxing that both girls are making 7 figures."

Obviously, we're talking a minimum of $1 million ... but first, Serrano needs to win in Tampa.

And, there's a reason the checks would be so big ... AS vs. KT would without doubt be one of the biggest women's boxing events ever.

"That's why Saturday night is a big night for me," Amanda said, adding "I'm not overlooking Miriam because she's a tough girl, she's a great test for me, but this fight definitely means a lot."

Maldonado broke it down like this.

Jake Paul is lettin' it be known he has no issue with being the "Problem Child" -- 'cause he turned his nickname into an insane diamond chain -- that's worth $225,000!!!

The YouTuber debuted the ice at his pre-fight event with Tyron Woodley on Thursday in Tampa, Fla. -- and TMZ Sports has learned it's an absolutely gaudy piece.

We're told Paul hit up his old pals at BlueMoon and Co. in Los Angeles to put the bling together ... and they pulled out all the stops for it.

In addition to the words "Prblm Child" written in diamonds on the front of the pendant ... the ice also has his full name inscribed on the back. There's also a spinning star on top.

We're told the chain is infused with 95 carats of VS quality diamonds and 14k of gold -- and in total it weighs a pound (545 grams)!

The whole thing is handmade by the company ... and we're told it's all valued at $225K.

Of course, the bling wasn't the only thing screamin' money during Paul's presser with Woodley -- JP also had a Most Valuable Boxer belt with him, which he says is worth $500K!

Mexican boxer Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez tells TMZ Sports he'll be honoring the late Vicente Fernandez during his fight tonight ... by rocking some custom tribute shoes and playing the singer's music in the arena.

The 30-year-old is set to scrap with Yunieski Gonzalez at AT&T Center in San Antonio later today ... and he tells us he's going to do everything in his power to make sure Fernandez's presence is felt.

Ramirez says on one of his shoes there will be an image of Vicente ... and when he walks out to the ring for his match, he'll play "El Rey."

"He was a legend," Ramirez said of Fernandez this week ... "It's sad for his family, for everyone too because everyone knew about Chente."

"It's really sad that he just passed away."

Ramirez said he grew up listening to Fernandez ... and had artist Ali Gonzalez add the Fernandez imagery to his shoes shortly after the singer's death earlier this month.

If you thought Frank Gore and Deron Williams were just gonna spar for a few rounds on Saturday, think again -- the NFL star tells TMZ Sports he's gunning to put a hurt on the ex-NBAer ... and come away with the win!!

Frank and Deron will both be making their boxing debuts on the Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley II undercard in Tampa ... and with just over 24 hours to go, we asked Gore what he's expecting in the fight.

"I wanna look good, man," he tells us. "I wanna show everybody whatever you put your head to, you can do it."

"I'm going for the W. I'm gonna do whatever it takes to win. If the knockout come, it will come. I wanna show everybody that I got skills."

BTW -- Frank and Deron weighed in on Friday ... and they both looked GOOD. Since Gore's been training like crazy, we had to ask if this was just a one-time thing, or if we'll see him in the ring for years to come.

"If I have a good time and feel like I want to do it again, I'll do it," he said. "I'm very happy about my decision to take this fight."

Gore admits he's a bit nervous as he gets closer to stepping in the ring ... but he's looking forward to showing the world what he's got.

Jake Paul just got an incredibly expensive early Christmas gift -- a $500k championship belt decked out with a Rolex, Cartier watch and a Birkin bag attached to it!!!

The Problem Child showed off the "Most Valuable Boxer" belt at his presser with Tyron Woodley on Thursday -- saying it's a one-of-a-kind and designed by artist Alec Monopoly.

It came out lookin' like money -- literally -- the thing has two wildly valuable watches sewn into the strap of the belt on one side.

The Hermes Birkin bag -- which comes with a starting price of around $40k -- is stitched in on the other strap.

Altogether, Jake says the piece cost $500k.

"Thanks to the kind-hearted CEO of @mostvaluablepromotions for the belt," Paul said, "It’s hand-painted by one of the greatest artists of our generation."

There's more -- Jake and Tyron went at it at the presser Thursday ... with the YouTube superstar coming close to saying he was going to eat Woodley's ass.

The UFC champ added he's gonna earn the $500k knockout bonus in the fight ... and then invest it all into cryptocurrency.

Jake -- and his belt -- will be facing off against Woodley on Saturday.

Jake Paul says he's looking to fight Canelo Álvarez in three years ... explaining he believes he'll be ready to box the world champ in 2024.

"I think three years from now," Paul said, "us getting in the ring will A) be massive, and B) three years from now, my skill level will be good enough to make it a serious competition."

Paul initially told TMZ Sports he was looking for a fight with Canelo ... but in his talk with Graham Bensinger on the latest episode of "In Depth With Graham Bensinger," he said he's ready for it to happen in only a couple of years.

Paul says it just makes too much sense monetarily ... telling Bensinger, "This year, 2021, Canelo will be the No. 1 highest paid boxer. And I will be No. 2."

"So, what better fight than to put the No. 1 highest paid and the No. 2 highest paid against each other? Because that equals the biggest payday."

Of course, a year ago, there appeared to be no chance of a fight happening between the two ... with Canelo telling TMZ Sports he was NOT a fan of either Jake or Logan Paul in the ring.

But, when we got Canelo in September, he sang a little different tune ... saying "maybe" Jake and Logan ARE good for the sport after all.

Canelo would likely rough up Jake if the two fought now -- and perhaps things wouldn't be a whole lot different in a couple of years -- but the YouTube star still says he wants in on the action regardless.

Abel Osundairo was proudly rocking a red MAGA hat while celebrating a big moment in his boxing career ... but he says he's not throwing a jab at Jussie Smollett.

Ya gotta see this video TMZ obtained of Abel and brother Ola celebrating Abel becoming the top amateur boxer in his weight class ... they're partying it up at a Chicago club, with some eye-catching hats.

Abel's got a red hat that says MAGA ... which, of course, plays like a reference to Jussie claiming his attackers yelled "this is MAGA country" during the hoax attack.

While some think he was gloating over Jussie, who was just found guilty of lying to Chicago cops, Abel's attorney, Gloria Rodriguez tells TMZ ... the hat is not a shot at Smollett or show of support for Donald Trump.

Instead, Abel's lawyer says he customized the MAGA hat with an outline of Africa as the letter "A" because he wants the hat to be a reflection of his Nigerian heritage. It's more like Make Africa Great Again ... than anything else.

The celebration went down Sunday night at Chicago's Sage nightclub after he won a boxing tournament in Louisiana, vaulting him to the No. 1 amateur boxing ranking in the 189-pound division.

Remember, we've seen Abel show off his boxing prowess before ... so it's no shock he's climbing the ranks.

Ola's got an interesting hat too -- his red lid says, "Free Larry Hoover," which is timely considering Kanye West and Drake just squashed their beef with a benefit concert for the notorious Chicago gangster ... who Ola believes was wrongly imprisoned.

AEW star Anthony Bowens is opening up about the fan who shouted a homophobic slur at him last week ... telling TMZ Sports he's glad the incident was captured on video, 'cause it proves there's still more work to be done towards inclusion.

As we previously reported, Bowens was called the homophobic f-word while competing in a 4-on-4 tag team match when the incident took place.

"Unfortunately that kind of stuff comes with the territory, being an out LGBTQ athlete," Bowens says.

"This is actually the first time that I've audibly heard something like that during a performance or during television."

Bowens -- who came out as bisexual in 2017, but now identifies as gay -- tells us it's something he's gotten used to after going public ... saying when he started a YouTube channel with his boyfriend, they received similar, if not, worse treatment.

"I have really thick skin, I'm kind of used to it from my boyfriend Michael and I," Anthony said. "We have our YouTube channel and when we first started that the comments were brutal."

"I can't even repeat them."

But Bowens makes it clear his time at AEW has been nothing but great ... and this was an isolated incident.

"This is not indicative of the AEW fans at all," Bowens said. "Any interactions I've had with them since starting the company have all been positive."

As for AEW, Bowens expressed his gratitude toward the company for supporting him throughout the entire ordeal ... and making him feel comfortable enough to be himself.

Tyron Woodley says it was actually a blessing Tommy Fury got hurt and had to pull out of his December 18 fight with Jake Paul -- because nobody wanted to see that crap!!!

Hey, T-Wood said it ... not us.

TMZ Sports talked to the 39-year-old future UFC Hall of Famer just days before he's set to step in the ring with the Problem Child, and Woodley tells us the real winners here are the viewers.

"Nobody wants to see no f***ing Tommy Fury fight, come on now," Tyron tells us, saying, "Now his brother is lit. But, he can't ride the coattails of Tyson."

TW went on to say that Fury may go on to have a solid boxing career ... but as of right now,  he simply doesn't present the same threats as Woodley.

So, when we asked Tyron if he was a more difficult opponent ... he didn't hesitate.

"Of course I am, s***. That's why he took [the Fury] fight instead. He made a double wager and then didn't honor it because s***, why would he go back and give me the chance to finish off what I started now that I've been in there with him."

Of course, Tyron and Jake scrapped back in August ... a fight that the YouTuber turned boxing star won by split decision (Woodley wholeheartedly believes he won the fight).

Since, Woodley has all but demanded a rematch ... but Paul shot him down. That is until Tommy pulled out of the fight last week with a chest infection and broken ribs, per his reps.

So, Tyron's in ... and this time he says he will not leave things up to the judges.

"I just feel like, definitely, I can't leave any doubt."

Jussie Smollett is a guilty man, but the only thing Bola Osundairo is guilty of is having hot hands ... as he demonstrated in the boxing ring just as the actor's fate was sealed.

Bola's been fighting for well over a year now, and it just so happened he had a match Thursday night in Louisiana while a jury found Jussie guilty on 5 of 6 felony charges for falsely reporting a hate crime.

As you can see from our video, Osundairo was dominant, winning a unanimous decision against his opponent Ezri Turner. The fight was part of the 2021 USA Boxing National Championships ... Bola won his previous contest as well.

Minutes after the jury read its verdict, Bola's brother, Ola, shared a few words with reporters outside the courthouse ... but he didn't talk about the case, just shouted out his brother's fight and exclaimed "Nigerian-American lives matter!"

TMZ broke the story, Bola and Jussie were friends -- even hitting clubs together -- in the weeks leading up to the staged attack. Ola and Bola maintained from the beginning that Smollett had paid them for the hoax because he wanted press.

BKFC fighter Jordan Nash suffered a NASTY eye injury Thursday night, forcing his fight to be stopped ... and it's pretty darn hard to look at.

Nash was fighting fellow bare knuckle boxer Noah Cutter ... when the horrific injury, a gash to his eyelid, happened in the ring.

Yikes.

In the pic (look if you dare), you can see the gruesome eye injury up close and personal. Nash is bleeding profusely from his left eye, and appears unable to open it.

Despite fighting with only one eye, Nash showed tremendous heart -- somehow making it to the fifth and final round of the fight -- before it was ultimately stopped by officials.

It was Nash's first professional loss.

Of course, horrendous injuries are common in fighting ... especially bare knuckle, where gloveless hands can gash skin.

The silver lining ... if fans didn't know Jordan Nash before, they certainly do now.