Boxing

A UNLV student tragically passed away just days after taking part in a charity boxing event for his fraternity ... and now the incident is under investigation.

20-year-old Nathan Valencia -- a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity -- was part of the main event for the Kappa Sigma-hosted "Fight Night" on November 19 ... when he collapsed shortly after his match with a fellow student.

Valencia -- who had no prior boxing experience -- was taken to a nearby hospital with critical injuries ... where he passed away four days later.

Valencia's girlfriend told KTLV she had a "weird feeling" while attending the event ... and said Nathan was visibly trying to get away from the other fighter to regain his breath.

UNLV President Keith Whitfield sent a letter to students after the tragedy ... saying, "We are shocked and heartbroken as we mourn the loss of one of our own. Coping with the loss of life is always difficult, especially under these circumstances."

"UNLV is committing all available resources to review the incident and determine how off-campus events like these can be as safe as possible."

Valencia was a junior studying kinesiology ... and was described by peers as a loving and happy person.

"The amount of pain I’m feeling can’t be put into words," his girlfriend said on Instagram. "I love you more than I love myself. You have always been so amazing to me. I never knew what love was like until I met you."

"Every moment spent with you was a memory I knew I would cherish forever."

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department special investigation section launched a probe into the event. We also reached out to the Nevada State Athletic Commission for comment ... so far, no word back.

Oscar De La Hoya planned to fight this year, but COVID-19 had other ideas ... yet the Golden Boy is still determined to return to the ring next year, and the fight he wants most -- Floyd Mayweather!!

TMZ Sports talked to 48-year-old De La Hoya -- along with his GF Holly Sonders -- and asked the former boxing champ about his future in-ring plans.

"Personally, right now I'm not motivated because of COVID. I was actually in great shape and then COVID hit me, so my morale right now is a little low in terms of me fighting in the ring personally," Oscar says.

"But come January, I'm sure I will get right back into it and start training again and prepare myself mentally first. But I do want to get out there again, possible Cinco De Mayo."

Of course, Oscar was scheduled to fight 44-year-old MMA legend Vitor Belfort in September ... but caught COVID only days before the bout, forcing him to pull out.

Evander Holyfield took ODLH's place ... and was TKO'd by Belfort in the first round.

We also asked De La Hoya who he'd want to fight.

"Who knows, it could be Floyd Mayweather," Oscar said, later continuing ... "It's probably the biggest fight you could make today."

ODLH previously told us he'd offer Mayweather $100 million for the fight. We asked Oscar if that money was still there for Floyd, and he said yes.

If Oscar was to fight Floyd, it'd be a huge deal not just because they're two of the best fighters ever ... but because the men have history.

They fought in May 2007 ... a fight Floyd won via split decision -- taking Oscar's WBC light middleweight belt in the process.

36 minutes of fighting didn't squash the beef ... Oscar and Floyd have gone back-and-forth with trash talk over the years.

De La Hoya hasn't been in the ring as a fighter for 13 years ... a streak that could end very soon.

Floyd Mayweather may not be WBC champ anymore ... but his face will forever be part of the organization's famous green championship belt, 'cause TMZ Sports has learned the undefeated fighter's portrait was permanently added to the strap.

WBC prez Mauricio Sulaiman tells us the World Boxing Council has permanently added Mayweather's portrait to every future belt ... joining Muhammad Ali.

The belt above is Tyson Fury's ... hence why the Gypsy King is on the strap.

Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis -- both great former WBC champs -- also have their portraits on the heavyweight belts (other divisions have other legendary fighters).

The belt also features a photograph of José Sulaiman ... Mauricio's late dad.

Of course, the WBC is one of the 4 major organizations (IBF, WBA, WBO) that sanction professional boxing matches.

In other words, being WBC champ is a big deal ... and having your face on the belt for the rest of time is absolutely awesome.

Why Floyd? Well, he held WBC belts across multiple weight classes for many years ... and at 50-0, is regarded as one of the greatest boxers ever.

Amanda Serrano recently signed with Jake Paul's boxing promotion, and the boxing star says it was literally the best professional move she's ever made ... 'cause she's finally getting the respect she deserves.

TMZ Sports talked to the 33-year-old unified welterweight champ ... and we asked her if she's gotten more shine since signing with the Problem Child.

"Definitely! 100%! It's about time we get recognition, that I get recognition. I've been training and working so hard and all of the stuff I accomplished. With boxing, I never really been acknowledged and it's the best decision I've made."

Jake's Most Valuable Promotion is his boxing promotion organization ... and Serrano was the first fighter he signed. He previously told us he plans to sign a stable of fighters.

Despite the added attention, Amanda is still a super humble person.

"I'm still an average woman and I still have two feet that I walk on every day to the gym and work hard. It's just now it's a little more pressure. I gotta work even harder because I'm under a big platform with Jake Paul so I just want to continue to prove that I'm the best," Serrano told us.

Serrano's first test under the MVP banner is a December 18th bout with 14-1 Miriam Gutiérrez in Florida ... the card that features Jake and Tommy Fury.

Former NFL star Frank Gore and former NBA star Deron Williams are also fighting that night.

And, one thing's clear ... Serrano is looking to put on a show, and show the world why Paul locked her up.

"I'm gonna win no matter what but if it's in the first -- I have 10 rounds to do it, but I'm definitely going in there for a knockout."

Jake Paul let the verbal jabs fly during his presser with Tommy Fury on Wednesday ... and he did it from the comfort of his pool in Puerto Rico.

Jake tuned in remotely as he took on the whole Fury fam -- including heavyweight champ, Tyson -- and while he looked rested and relaxed while wearing sunglasses, a pineapple print hat and sipping on a coconut, it was far from cozy.

Tommy's dad started it off ... taking serious issue with Jake's wardrobe choice. It got so heated, John squared up with the TV that was showing Paul via live stream.

Jake said he's "pretty much on vacation" leading up to the December 18 bout ... saying he's been training non-stop much before the fight was announced.

Tommy's dad chimes in and tells Jake to take his shades off so he can "see the fear" in his eyes ... but Paul shut him down.

"Hey Tommy, Shut your bitches up for me," he said.

The focus switched to Tyson, as Jake bragged and claimed he made more money than the heavyweight champ this year.

Bring some baby wipes to tomorrow's Triller media event ... 'cause Shannon Briggs tells TMZ Sports Rampage Jackson will literally poop his pants when he lays eyes on Cannon.

We talked to the 49-year-old former heavyweight champ, acting as the captain (across from Quinton) for Triller's upcoming Triad Combat event on Nov. 27 ... and asked Briggs about coming face-to-face with his rival.

"We're gonna see each other, there's a press conference Wednesday, the weigh-ins Friday and the fights Saturday. I'm looking forward to it champ. When I look at him in his face and I tell him 'lets go champ', we're gonna see. I think personally he gonna defecate on himself. I think he gonna defecate, but he might not," Shannon says.

"If he don't defecate or urinate, he might be tougher than I thought."

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Shannon and Rampage's beef ain't new ... the combat sports legends have been going back-and-forth on social media for months.

We also talked to Shannon about the concept -- fighting in a triangle -- an idea Briggs believes will lead to almost nonstop action.

"It's definitely gonna bring a lot of anxiety, pressure to someone who's never done it before. How do you train for something like that? You're used to training whether it's an Octagon or a ring, now you're fighting in a triangle."

Briggs continued ... "It's gonna be amazing. I'm looking forward to it. I think it's gonna lead to a lot more toe-to-toe slugging."

FYI, Matt Mitrione, Kubrat Pulev, Frank Mir and Mike Perry are among the fighters on the inaugural card.

For now, Briggs (2x heavyweight champion) and Jackson (former UFC light heavyweight and PRIDE middleweight champ) are just captains ... but if the 2 former champs scrapped, it'd be a hot ticket.

Oscar De La Hoya, one of the greatest boxers ever, has received endless lavish and expensive gifts ... but the best present ever?? The tattoo his GF Holly Sonders just got inked on her shoulder.

TMZ Sports talked to the boxing great and his famous girlfriend ... and asked the couple about the tat.

"It actually tops everything that I've ever been given. Who can top this?" Oscar says, "I've been given everything you could possibly imagine. And a tattoo, a beautiful portrait of me looking up at the sky to my mother. The '94 Olympic Games were just incredible."

What prompted Holly to get the ink ... which she says took 2.5 hours to complete?

"There was no reason for it," Holly says, adding, "I have 3 tattoos. I've wanted a 4th for a while."

So, Sonders just wanted to show her man some love.

FYI, the tattoo was done by Oscar's brother-in-law, Esteban Camacho ... and commemorates the moment De La Hoya became The Golden Boy, winning Olympic gold at the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona, Spain.

De La Hoya and Sonders started dating a few months back after they met at a boxing event where Holly was working ... and sparks flew.

They've basically been inseparable since ... hence the tattoo.

There's more ... we also talked to Holly and Oscar about Sonders' NFT drop, featuring 1,000 of her favorite hottest/sexiest photos.

The pics are fire on their own ... but Holly also told us she's raffling off a round of golf. As for Oscar ... he decided to throw in an awesome prize, too (boxing fans will like this).

Kamaru Usman doesn't care who doubts him ... telling TMZ Sports he STILL wants to box Canelo Alvarez, and wholeheartedly believes he can beat the world's best pound-for-pound boxer.

We shot the UFC welterweight champ Thursday night at Il Pastaio in Beverly Hills, and we asked the 34-year-old fighter ... "who's a name that interests you?"

"I've already said the name that interests me. Canelo. That's what interests me."

We then asked Usman about Dana White's recent comments, following Canelo's latest KO win over Caleb Plant, where the UFC president said "[Kamaru] doesn't want to fight Canelo" -- because Alvarez is so damn dangerous in the ring.

But, Usman isn't letting that stop him.

"That's Dana, but I'm fighting. Dana's boss man, but I'm the one who's fighting," Kamaru says.

Prior to that Plant fight, we recently talked to the 31-year-old, and asked the boxing superstar if he was interested in boxing the top pound-for-pound MMA fighter in the world.

Canelo didn't exactly slam the door ... but told us he was focused on solidifying his resume as one of the greatest fighters ever.

If the men do fight ... make no mistake, Kamaru isn't doing it just for a paycheck. He straight up believes he can beat Alvarez.

Deron Williams says it's amazing to see fellow class of 2005 draftee Chris Paul still crushing it at 36 years old ... telling TMZ Sports he's amazed by the guy's longevity, but admits he's a bit jealous.

"I'm a little jealous he's still out there shining," 37-year-old Williams said this week. "And, you know, it's fun to watch."

"He's a special player, one of the best to ever do it and he's defied time."

Of course, this is CP3's 16th season in the league -- he's played for 5 teams, including the Suns ... who he just led to the NBA Finals last season.

Williams applauds Paul's ability to succeed everywhere he goes.

"Seems like every team he goes to he makes them instantly better because there's nobody who predicted the Suns to be in the Finals last year," D-Will said.

"He was a huge part of that."

D-Will also admits that he misses the game since he last played for the Cavaliers in 2017 -- but an NBA comeback is not in his plans.

"To be out of the league for four years and just to go back on that, I'm smarter than that. I realized that ship has sailed so I have to let that go."

Floyd Mayweather says Logan Paul is lucky their exhibition wasn't a real fight ... 'cause if it was -- and he actually trained for it -- it would've been a 1st round knockout!!

Remember, the YouTube sensation went the distance with Mayweather in June -- even landing a few punches on the undefeated champ.

There wasn't a knockout during the bout ... which pissed off every boxing fan and gave the Paul bros. the bragging rights to say Logan went 8 full rounds with one of the GOATs in boxing.

But, Floyd says no one should've been surprised there was no KO ... 'cause it wasn't a real fight.

"People have gotta know, there's a difference between a real fight and an exhibition," Mayweather said this week at the WBC convention.

"I did an exhibition with the YouTuber Logan Paul. We had fun."

Now, for a REAL fight, Mayweather pulls out all the stops when training for his opponents ... even chopping wood like he did before his Manny Pacquiao fight in 2015.

But, for Logan, Floyd says he wasn't even training that hard.

"All I did was work out from time to time," Mayweather said, "If it was a real fight, it would've been a blowout in the first round."

Funny thing is, Logan told us back in July if he got a rematch with Floyd, "I promise I'll knock him out. Promise."

Well, money talks -- Mayweather reportedly made at least $30 million for the Logan fight ... and like he says, "When it comes to legalized bank robbing, I’m the best.”

Frank Gore could be making a career for himself in the boxing ring -- 'cause the ex-NFL Pro Bowler tells TMZ Sports he's open to taking a boxing match against Jake Paul!!

The 38-year-old is fighting Deron Williams on the undercard of the YouTuber's highly-anticipated match against Tommy Fury ... and Jake previously told us he's down to take the winner of the battle of the NBA and NFL stars.

We spoke with Gore right before his press conference leading up to the Dec. 18 event ... and while he says he's focused on taking care of DW, he admits he's interested in taking a future fight against the Problem Child.

"I'm with it," Gore said. "I wanna win this Dec. 18 and if it's time to go that me and Jake Paul can get in there, I'm with it."

As for his current fight against Williams, Gore says he's been boxing since 2005, so he's got plenty of experience leading up to stepping in the ring.

"I do love the sport and I respect the guys who box, man, because it's totally different."

Khaos Williams -- rising UFC star -- says there's no (legit) controversy surrounding his UFC Fight Night KO win ... which some have argued was stopped early by the ref.

"I'm glad that he's alright, but he was asleep. It was a good stoppage. It was a good stoppage. Live to fight another day," Khaos tells TMZ Sports.

He added ... "Definitely wasn't no early stoppage."

27-year-old Williams floored Miguel Baeza in the 3rd round with a perfectly placed right hook to the chin, sending the fighter crumbling to the Octagon floor. Khaos jumped on top of Miguel, raining down a few heavy ground and pound shots before the fight was stopped.

Baeza immediately protested, and he wasn't the only one.

Even Henry Cejudo said the stoppage was early, writing on social media ... "These refs really have to get checked. If someone gets dropped it doesn't mean you call the fight off! Too many refs calling the fights early @danawhite"

FYI, Dana White said the stoppage was good.

As for what's next for the rising star, Khaos is now 13-2 (and controversy aside, just beat a guy who only has 2 career losses) ... and is looking to fight a ranked opponent.

And if/when he does, Williams tells us he'd LOVE for hip-hop star Meek Mill -- a guy he's admired for many years -- to be by his side as he walks in the Octagon.

Sorry, Tyron Woodley -- that "I love Jake Paul" tattoo was all for naught ... 'cause Jake Paul tells TMZ Sports he's officially slamming the door on giving the former UFC champ a rematch.

Of course, Woodley held up his end of a tattoo bet he made with Paul after losing the Aug. 29 bout ... getting the phrase etched on the side of his middle finger nearly a month later, but clearly, Jake thought he was too slow to getting it done.

Paul -- who's fighting Tommy Fury on Dec. 18 -- says there's no need for Woodley to wait around in hopes of getting another shot at the YouTube superstar after he's done with TNT ... and has a pretty good reason why.

"I don't think people really wanna see Tyron vs Jake Paul again," Jake tells us. "He had his chance."

As for his upcoming fight, Paul admits the 7-0 brother of Tyson Fury is his toughest opponent to date ... but he's expecting the same outcome from his first 4 fights.

"Definitely the toughest guy, but I'm coming for his head," Jake added. "He has a lot a lot to deal with and he chose the wrong time to fight me because I'm not playing around this time."

Jake Paul and Tommy Fury might not be the only ones getting down and dirty -- the Problem Child's girlfriend, Julia Rose, tells TMZ Sports she wants to go up against TNT's lady, Molly-Mae Hague in a mud wrestling match for the ages!!!

There's been a lot of drama between the two girlfriends leading up to the Paul vs. Fury fight -- Julia publicly asked Molly if she wanted to place a friendly wager on the result, but got no response.

We caught up with Rose to see where things stood with Hague as the December 18 bout approaches ... and she said her efforts were all for naught.

"I tried having a bet," Rose told us while out in Vegas. "She didn't respond. Molly's not too confident in her man."

"Molly, let's make a bet. How confident are you in Tommy? Let's see."

Rose says the bet doesn't have to be like Jake's bet with Tommy -- which would force Fury to legally change his name to "Tommy Fumbles" for a year if he loses -- but makes it clear she's down to get something set in stone before the big event.

As for whether she'd take her beef into the ring with Molly-Mae ... Rose has an even better idea -- "We could mud wrestle."

Jake Paul says his DMs are getting bombarded with verbal jabs from the Gypsy King himself, telling us Tommy's heavyweight champ brother Tyson is already talkin' smack ahead of their fight.

The Problem Child joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs nightly on FS1) shortly after Tommy posted footage training with his big bro ... and Jake gave us his first impression of the video.

Long story short ... Jake says Tommy should lay off the junk food, and quit trying to fight like Tyson.

Speaking of ... Jake says he and Tyson have been going back and forth on social media, privately messaging each other a whole bunch of trash talk.

In fact, Jake shares one of the voice messages with TMZ Sports ... and it's hilarious.

"Jakey Boy, he's gonna annihilate you, Jakey!!!!" Tyson is heard telling Jake.

But, don't get it twisted, Jake is a HUGE Tyson fan, telling us he's got nothing but respect for the best heavyweight fighter in the world.

"You can't hate the guy. Like Tyson, I love ... I love Tyson. I love that he's involved. Great entertainer. Unfortunately, I have to end his brother's career."

Of course, this is arguably Jake's hardest test to date ... facing an up-and-coming, undefeated fighter (7-0).

4-0 Paul previously beat YouTuber AnEson Gib, ex-NBA star Nate Robinson, MMA star and Olympian Ben Askren, and most recently, future UFC Hall of Famer Tyron Woodley.

There's more ... we also talked to Jake about Deron Williams potentially fighting Frank Gore on his undercard.

We also asked Paul about Canelo Alvarez and Kamaru Usman -- 2 guys who won big Saturday night -- that Jake has a history with ... and could possibly fight in the future (hey, don't put it past the guy).

Who's the greatest Mexican boxer of all time?? It ain't Julio Cesar Chavez or Oscar De La Hoya ... boxing star Ryan Garcia tells TMZ Sports it's "without a doubt" Canelo Alvarez.

We talked to the 23-year-old, undefeated Garcia on the way out of the Canelo fight ... and we asked the Mexican American fighter whether 31-year-old Alvarez (57-1-2) should now be considered the best Mexican fighter of all time.

"Oh yeah, without a doubt. He's the best," Ryan says.

If you know boxing, you know Mexico has been the birthplace of some of the greatest pugilists to ever lace up a pair of gloves.

Cesar Chavez was a multiple-time world champion across several weight classes ... including super featherweight, lightweight, light welterweight, and lightweight. He was considered the world's top pound-for-pound boxer in the early '90s.

Julio -- who fought 115 professional fights (107-6-2) -- defended his title 27 times, a record. He beat Héctor Camacho and Roger Mayweather, just to name a few.

De La Hoya -- an Olympic gold medalist -- won 11 titles across 6 weight classes ... and beat guys like Héctor Camacho, Fernando Vargas, Ricardo Mayorga, Pernell Whitaker, and Arturo Gatti.

FYI, Oscar and Julio actually fought each other twice ... with De La Hoya winning both. Though, their first fight in 1996 was stopped largely due to a gash that reopened up (he originally got the cut in training camp) above Chavez's left eye.

The fighters rematched in 1998 ... and Oscar won via 8th round TKO.

As for Canelo, he's only lost 1 fight in his career -- to Floyd Mayweather in 2013 -- as a 23-year-old fighter.

So, we asked Garcia if today's version of Alvarez would beat Floyd.

"Most definitely. [Canelo's] focus, he's got everything on lock. He knows what to do now. He knows how to approach a fighter who keeps moving, and that's what he did today [against Caleb Plant]."

We also ran into Elie Seckbach from EsNews ... and asked him whether Alvarez had a chance to go down as the greatest boxer of all time (watch out Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson & Floyd).

Back to Ryan. We couldn't let the 21-0 fighter -- who recently underwent surgery for a hand injury -- go without getting a health update ... asking the lightweight contender when we'd see him back in the ring.