Boxing

Not everyone thinks Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul is a joke ... the head of the WBC says he supports the fight "100%" -- insisting it will be GREAT for the sport of boxing.

"This is going to be something good for boxing," World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman said this week on SiriusXM's "The Ak and Barak Show."

"This is going to bring millions of eyes to our sport."

The Feb. 20 exhibition match has been criticized by some boxing experts -- and even some top boxers -- as a circus act.

In fact, Yahoo Sports' combat sports writer Kevin Iole described the match as "another low blow to the boxing world."

He added, "No thank you, Floyd Mayweather. Hard pass, Logan Paul."

But, Sulaiman says he doesn't agree -- "I appreciate Logan and Jake, they have worked hard. I will support Floyd vs Logan 100%."

As we previously reported, 50-0 Mayweather will take on 0-1 Paul in an exhibition that will NOT count on their pro records.

Floyd is 43-years-old. Logan Paul is 25.

The rules of the exhibition -- including how many rounds and how it will be scored -- have not been released yet.

He's gone viral for a violent body slam KO finish ... but UFC fighter Jordan Leavitt felt horrible afterward and says the move should be outlawed from MMA.

The 25-year-old -- nicknamed The Monkey King -- was taking on 37-year-old Matt Wiman on Saturday when Leavitt picked up his opponent and slammed him into unconsciousness just 22 seconds into the 1st round.

Wiman's body went stiff -- and it was pretty scary to watch as medical personnel raced into the octagon to tend to him.

Leavitt tells TMZ Sports ... he's happy he won the match but hates the manner in which he got his W.

"I think slams are ugly and I think they’re dangerous," Leavitt tells us.

"I would have preferred to have won in any other way. I’m happy -- I mean it's a highlight and it's good for my career and notoriety -- but that's not the way I wanted it to be."

Leavitt says he tried to ensure Wiman landed on the side of his head instead of the back -- but it still looked pretty nasty.

The move is legal -- but Leavitt says he would be in full support of banning slams from the sport.

"I also 100% agree that I feel like the sport would be a much safer, artful thing if slams like that weren’t allowed."

"But, when you’re out there, when you’re in that cage you have to decide, 'Am going to pay rent tonight? Or am I going to have to downgrade to my house, and have to put my family in an unstable position?'"

"I feel like any person what do what I did in that situation. And, I did what I have to do."

Leavitt says he spoke with Wiman's wife after the match -- and apologized for the way the fight ended ... but there were no hard feelings on her end.

"She just said it's the fight game, it happens."

Dana White doesn't mince words -- and when the UFC boss was asked about Floyd Mayweather agreeing to fight Logan Paul, he didn't hold back.

"Yeah ... when people ask me about the state of boxing right now, that’s where it’s at,” White said Sunday night on the 'Nelk Boys' show on Twitch.

Then he dropped this factoid about Logan ...

"Didn’t that kid get beaten up by the f*cking video game kid from England and now he’s going to fight Floyd Mayweather?”

White is referring to Logan's only professional boxing match -- a 2019 sanctioned bout against his YouTube rival, KSI.

Paul fought well -- but ultimately lost in a split decision after 6 rounds.

"Doesn't he weigh 200 pounds too?" White added ... "I dunno. Good luck to him."

As we previously reported, Mayweather vs. Logan Paul is an exhibition -- not a sanctioned bout -- so it won't count on either of their records.

The fight is set for February 20 -- but soooo many questions remain.

Still unclear where the fight will take place? How many rounds will it be? Who will score it? Will they try for knockouts?

White isn't the only one who has doubts about the fight -- boxing star Ryan Garcia also had an interesting reaction after the fight was announced.

Evander Holyfield says his team has been in contact with Mike Tyson's camp -- and he strongly believes they're VERY close to inking a deal for a 3rd fight.

"I'm a very confident person," Evander tells TMZ Sports ... "I think it's gonna happen."

Remember, after Mike fought Roy Jones Jr. -- Tyson revealed his team had been in touch with the Holyfield camp, but they weren't able to make a deal.

But, Evander says there's been movement -- and it's heading in the right direction.

Evander is 58. Tyson is 54.

Of course, the two first clashed back in 1996 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas -- where Evander dominated Mike before securing a win via TKO in the 11th round.

The Tyson vs. Holyfield rematch went down in 1997 -- and that's when Mike famously feasted on Evander's ears. Tyson was disqualified in the 3rd round.

Evander's last sanctioned fight took place in 2011 when he was nearly 48 years old -- defeating 46-year-old Danish heavyweight Brian Nielsen.

Holyfield has been back in the gym training like crazy -- but does he have what it takes to beat Mike Tyson, who looked phenomenal against Roy Jones Jr.?

The Real Deal is hoping to find out ... sending this message to his old rival.

We told you it was close ... and now it's official -- Floyd Mayweather is fighting Logan Paul.

Here's what you need to know ... it's an exhibition boxing match set for Feb. 20, and it's available on Pay-Per-View on Fanmio.

(An "exhibition" means the fight will NOT count on either fighter's professional records)

Floyd is 43-years-old and boasts a legendary 50-0 record as a pro, with wins over all-time greats like Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao and Canelo Alvarez.

Logan is 25-years-old and 0-1 as a pro, after losing a split-decision fight to YouTube star, KSI, back in 2019.

Floyd is 5'8" and last fought at 150 pounds. Logan is 6'2", 200 pounds.

Fanmio -- a site where fans can pay for custom videos from celebs -- says the PPV price is $24.99 right now ... but that number will go up at various benchmarks, until Feb. 11, when the price locks in at $69.99.

As we previously reported, Logan's team went to Floyd's camp with an offer for a boxing match earlier this year ... but it wasn't an easy process to get Mayweather to sign the dotted line.

Logan launched a public campaign trashing Floyd everywhere -- and saying he would beat TBE's ass any time, any place ... and finally, Floyd decided to put pen to paper.

Floyd responded to Logan on social media in November -- saying, "These YouTube girls better find some Barbie dolls to play with cause I’m not the one for the kid games. 3 years ago a fighter from the UFC said my name and I had to put a muzzle on that bitch. @loganpaul can get the same treatment before I go conquer Japan again."

Logan's only professional fight was against his YouTube rival, KSI, back in Nov. 2019 -- a 6-round fight Paul lost via split decision.

But, the takeaway from that fight was that Logan can scrap -- and the impressive PPV numbers proved he can draw an audience.

Floyd, a master promoter, knows a good thing when he sees it ... he clearly thinks he'll make a ton of money with little-to-no risk.

Remember what Floyd did to Conor McGregor when they fought back 2017?!?!? He dominated the UFC champ while taking a $300 to $400 million payday!!

No word how much each fighter stands to make this time around ... but Floyd wouldn't even consider taking this on if it wasn't a HUGE number.

"I, Claressa Shields, will whoop Jake Paul's ass! He can come in the ring weighing 180 pounds and I will come weighing 168 and I will beat the s**t out of him!"

Yup, that's one of the greatest female boxers ever ... telling TMZ Sports she's ready to humble the YouTube superstar and show him what it's like to go up against a REAL fighter!!

We spoke with the champ about the recent Paul and Nate Robinson fight ... and she says they made a "mockery" of the sport because there are actual boxers who should have gotten the chance to fight under a Tyson and Jones Jr. card instead of social media stars and NBA players.

The 25-year-old says it's smart for Jake to keep calling out non-pro boxers ... but guarantees the dude would get exposed against a real fighter.

"Jake Paul is making his money, he's doing his thing, but stay away from us real fighters," Shields says.

"And anybody out there that say 'Oh, Jake Paul will destroy her because she's a woman', ... I'm the greatest woman! So, no, Jake Paul won't do nothing with me and if he think he can, he can come see me."

Shields says she's not talkin' sparring, either -- she would take Paul on in a real fight ... and donate her earnings to the water crisis in her hometown of Flint, Michigan.

As for what the boxing world would think of the potential matchup, Shields thinks people would still take Paul just because he's a dude.

"I've been boxing for 14 years, 2 Olympics but they would still give Jake Paul the nod because he's a man. And it's like, you guys don't know nothing!"

"[Jake Paul] had too much talent for Nate Robinson. I'd like to get Nate down here for a few weeks and train him and get a rematch."

That's 71-year-old boxing legend George Foreman -- fresh off watching 23-year-old Paul DOMINATE Robinson on the Tyson-Jones Jr. undercard last weekend -- offering to train the ex-NBA star for a rematch with the popular YouTuber.

Most people say 36-year-old Robinson -- who was finished with a devastating KO punch in the 2nd round -- should NEVER fight again.

Not Foreman -- the 2x World Heavyweight Champ who faced Muhammad Ali and beat Joe Frazier (and so many other heavyweights) -- who says Robinson has untapped talent.

"I can turn him into a 5, 6 round fighter in no-time flat. Make him do what I say," Foreman says.

"He may not want to box again, but I wouldn't want him to leave without doing a better show than he put on. You don't wanna go on like that."

Of course, it's highly unlikely Nate would get an immediate rematch. Paul wants to fight Conor McGregor ... and everyone from Antonio Tarver to Evander Kane has called out the YT star.

Down the road ... why not?

If it happens, real talk -- does Foreman actually believe he can train Robinson to beat the dude who just whooped him??

We asked George.

Jake Paul admits he's seriously wrestling with the idea of taking a boxing match against his older brother Logan Paul -- but says he's 100% certain he'd whoop that ass if they do!

"I sort of change my mind on it every day," Jake said about fighting his brother ... "One day I'll do it, the next day I'm like 'I don't think I should do that.'"

Remember, Jake called out Logan -- along with Conor McGregor and others -- following his KO victory over Nate Robinson on Saturday ... leading many to wonder, would he REALLY fight his own bro?

Now that he's had time to think about it, Jake says it's come down to this -- "I would just do it to prove people wrong."

Jake says he's sick of hearing everyone praise Logan as the superior fighter -- saying, "I'm like a 10-times better boxer."

"I've had 2 fights and I've been in the ring for a total of 7 minutes and I've knocked down my opponents 6 times in that 7 minutes."

Jake previously told us he's dead serious about pursuing a boxing career -- and wants to take on some bigger names.

Since then, athletes like ex-boxing champ Antonio Tarver and NHL star Evander Kane have called out Jake.

Bottom line ... he doesn't HAVE to fight Logan -- he's got options.

"If you want to get some legitimacy in the game, fight somebody with a name!"

That's former boxing superstar Antonio Tarver -- who famously defeated Roy Jones Jr. TWICE -- calling out Jake Paul for a sanctioned fight!

"I want to fight him, because I want to show him there are levels to this," Tarver tells TMZ Sports.

FYI, Tarver is 52 years old and hasn't fought in 5 years. Jake is 23 and coming off a highlight-reel knockout of Nate Robinson.

Antonio -- who famously starred as Mason "The Line" Dixon in "Rocky Balboa" -- says he was VERY impressed with Jake's performance and thinks a fight with Paul would be super entertaining and a lot closer than most people think.

"When you look at Jake Paul's ability, you would be crazy not to believe he's much better than his 2-0 record indicates," Tarver says.

Paul has been calling for fights with guys like Conor McGregor and Dillon Danis ... but Tarver says if he's serious about a career in boxing, he needs to fight a BOXER.

George Foreman was so impressed with Mike Tyson's performance against Roy Jones Jr. -- he thinks the 54-year-old could still make a serious run at a heavyweight title RIGHT NOW.

Yes, he's dead serious.

"If he gets 3 more exhibitions like that, at that level, I would even back him in challenging any title contender, even a champion," Foreman told TMZ Sports.

"If the right situation arrived, Mike Tyson could be in for a good title shot ... and [with 3 more] of these exhibitions, he can beat some of these guys who can be champion out there."

In fact, Foreman says he'd pick Tyson to beat guys like Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder ... under the right circumstances.

"If you go 8 two-minute rounds, I'd back Tyson," Foreman said ... "10 two-minute rounds, I'd back Tyson!"

Foreman said he didn't expect to feel so charged up about Tyson -- but he says his feelings are genuine, he was extremely impressed.

Forget Brad Pitt, there's a new "Fight Club" in town -- and this time, it's Snoop Dogg calling the shots!

The rapper has teamed up with Triller co-owner Ryan Kavanaugh to launch a brand new pro boxing league called "The Fight Club" ... and we're told there's already a blockbuster event in the works!

TMZ Sports was talking with Kavanaugh about Snoop's wildly entertaining performance as a commentator at the Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. fight ... when Ryan dropped the bombshell on us.

"This was the first event of a league that we have called 'The Fight Club,'" Kavanaugh said.

"It's a league owned by Proxima, which is the parent company to Triller and Snoop, and this was the first of many, many events."

Kavanaugh says Snoop is a co-owner of the league -- plus, he'll be doing fight commentary and helping book the fights and musical acts!

"This is gonna be big," Kavanaugh says ... "The whole idea is we want to change up the way that boxing is done."

The plan is for "The Fight Club" to put on both sanctioned fights and non-sanctioned fights ... basically, like the Mike Tyson card.

Kavanaugh says he's already got a MAJOR sanctioned fight in the works involving some huge stars.

"I can tell you that the main fight — I can't say it yet — but it’s gonna be something that everybody wants to see. If you thought [Tyson vs. Jones Jr.] is big, I think that this would be even larger from a worldwide-appetite perspective and something that people want to see."

Kavanaugh says the undercard will be stacked too -- they're currently looking at social media stars, actors, musicians, athletes and pro boxers to get in on the action.

Boxing superstar Claressa Shields says the boxing business is straight-up SEXIST -- with promoters screwing her out of paydays for years because she's a woman ... and that's why she's jumped to MMA.

25-year-old Shields -- one of the greatest female boxers ever -- just inked a 3-year contract with the Professional Fighters League, a global MMA promotion.

And, get this, Sheilds says one of the biggest reasons she made the move is because of PFL's biggest star, Kayla Harrison -- who's already won PFL's $1 million tournament, TWICE!

"Kayla, I watch all her fights," Shields says ... "She had a chance to fight for a million dollars [in MMA] before I had a chance to fight for a million dollars in boxing and I've accomplished everything there is to accomplish in boxing."

Claressa is right -- she's won every title imaginable and is widely regarded as the top pound-for-pound female boxer in the world.

But, despite her accolades and her talent on the microphone (she's entertaining as hell) -- Shields says she's been constantly low-balled by the shot-callers in her beloved sport.

"Boxing is so sexist," Claressa said ... claiming they treat her like a charity case instead of a world champion.

"These men are fighting for multiple millions that haven't accomplished half of what I accomplished but I'm supposed to just be happy?? Like yeah, go ahead and pay me $300k and then offer me $150k for the next fight?"

So, instead of bitching about it ... Claressa simply left the sport.

She's been training like a maniac and tells TMZ Sports the promoters at PFL aren't trying to turn her career into a circus by immediately booking her to fight Kayla Harrison.

Instead, Claressa says she'll start fighting opponents with similar MMA experience and she'll move up from there.

"I'm happy that they understood that this is not a ... 'Oh, I'm just coming over here like a Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather type of deal,'" Shields tells us.

"This is a 3-year deal we have together ... It's very lucrative. 160 different countries that they'll be showing my fights. I'll be able to grow my brand and just continue to be a bigger role model."

"And I'm just happy they understood that and just didn't come talking to me like, 'Hey, we want you to get in the cage and fight Kayla Harrison the first main event.'"

As for her training, Shields says she's been in the gym every day -- and has gone from bench pressing 135 pounds to 185 pounds since kick-starting her training in June.

"Just trying to get stronger and fast to be more explosive -- and really just treat my body like a temple so we can get ready to go through all these different changes we're about to go through having to be an MMA fighter."

There's more -- Shields says the MMA community has welcomed her with open arms ... and name-drops some huge stars in the sport who have offered to help her as she begins her new journey.

Jake Paul says he's already reached out to Conor McGregor's camp to start negotiating a boxing match with the Irishman ... saying, "I'm going in there to f**k Conor McGregor up."

The 23-year-old called out Conor after destroying Nate Robinson on the Mike Tyson undercard over the weekend -- and while many scoffed at Jake's comments, Paul tells TMZ Sports he's dead serious.

"My team is talking to his manager but that's all I'll say," Jake said with a smirk.

Then came the smack talk ...

"No other fighter with this big of a platform is calling out McGregor. My dogs have more followers than the guy he's fighting in January."

That's not exactly true ... Conor's next opponent is Dustin Poirier, a widely respected UFC fighter with 1.7 million followers on Instagram.

Jake's dogs, Lil Moo and Thor, have 1.6 million followers.

Jake has 13.9 million.

Paul says it's not a matter of "if" when it comes to Conor, it's a matter of "when" -- claiming, "It's gonna be legendary."

"I'm gonna win, too! That's what I want people to understand!"

Jake added, "I'm gonna dedicate my life to winning that fight because I'm not going in there just to say I did it -- I'm going in there to f**k Conor McGregor up."

There's more ... Jake also tells us he's reached out to Nate Robinson after the knockout and hopes to connect with him in the future.

Mike Tyson almost got into a second fight after stepping into the ring with Roy Jones Jr. -- because some wacko swung on him trying to prove something ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Sources familiar with the situation tell us ... Mike was leaving Staples Center Saturday night after his bout with Roy -- which was called as a draw -- and on the way out, he came across a small group of fans looking for autographs.

When he walked over to do some signing, we're told a man in the crowd yelled out to Mike ... asking why he wouldn't let the guy fight him. Our sources say Mike jokingly responded, joking with the dude that it probably wouldn't end well for him.

Next thing you know, we're told the dude swung at Mike ... and then proceeded to reach into his waistband, as if trying to pull out a weapon. Our sources say Mike's team jumped in right away before things got ugly.

We're told the guy took off -- and our sources also say some folks on Mike's team recognized him from a previous signing, where they say he also tried starting trouble.

Law enforcement sources tell us cops got a call about a possible battery involving Mike Tyson around 11 PM PT (well after Mike tussled with Roy) ... but when they responded to the scene, all parties had left and no report was taken.

Lil Wayne is blaming an "unrelated 3rd party" for screwing up his plans to perform at the Mike Tyson fight -- telling TMZ Sports there's no bad blood between himself and Triller.

Our Weezy sources tell us the rapper cut short his Thanksgiving weekend celebration with his family in Louisiana so he could be in L.A. to perform at the fight -- and he DID actually make the trip out.

But, something went wrong on the day of the fight leading Wayne to bail on the entire event.

So, what happened?

"Unfortunately there was an unrelated 3rd party who attempted to insert themselves in the production process between Triller and Lil Wayne the night before the event and the morning of and it unfortunately caused enough of an issue that Wayne couldn’t perform," Triller said in a statement co-issued by Wayne.

The details behind the scenes are unclear -- but one source put it this way ... one of the event's producers "interfered with Triller and Lil Wayne at the last minute trying to insert themselves and ended up creating a mess and all around confusion. At a certain point, Wayne got frustrated and decided it was best to pull out of the performance. By the time Triller learned about the mess it was too late."

Wayne -- who is actually a co-owner of Triller -- said he's proud of the way the event turned out, "but was truly disappointed I was precluded from performing by the 3rd party."

Floyd Mayweather is calling on everyone to stop clowning Nate Robinson for getting knocked out this weekend ... saying, "I will never kick my brother when he’s down."

36-year-old Robinson became a meme on social media in the moments after he was KO'd in his debut boxing match against 23-year-old Jake Paul. Some of the images were straight-up mean.

Enter Floyd ... who's calling on everyone -- and specifically the Black community -- to back off the ex-NBA star.

"Nate, I’m proud of you and I will always stand behind all my brothers," Mayweather posted on social media.

"I will never kick my brother when he’s down."

Mayweather continued ... "It’s ok for people to voice their opinions on social media, but no black athletes or black entertainers, especially black NBA players should make a mockery out of you."

"We are supposed to all stand with each other through the good, bad and ugly. I’m here to uplift you and let you know we all love you and congratulate you for just making an effort."

Floyd added a "sidenote" at the end of his post -- addressing issues he's had in the past with other Black people.

"The times I’ve had issues with another brother is when they came at me first. I was just defending myself."

As for Nate, he posted on social media after the fight saying he's okay -- and thanked everyone who reached out.