Fights

Joey Chestnut's inner dog wasn't going to be deterred by a would-be human torpedo, who tried derailing his wiener gobbling mid-competition ... but failed, 'cause the guy won anyway.

The reigning Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest champ successfully defended his title Monday in Coney Island, where year after year he comes back to devour dozens of dogs in a matter of 10 minutes. This year, he did it again ... downing 63 franks, far ahead of the competition.

But something nuts happened about midway through ... a dude in a Darth Vader mask made his way onstage and made contact with JC -- and the King didn't take too kindly to that!

Check it out ... rather than let security haul the poser away (which they eventually did), Joey took care of this punk himself -- putting the whipper-snapper in a headlock and yanking him around a bit, before getting back to stuffing his face. He didn't even think twice about it.

We got video of the aftermath ... namely, this poor sap being dragged away to be dealt with -- but it's insane that Joey still won the race even with this major interruption.

Ya gotta wonder if it actually affected the number of sausages he was ultimately able to inhale. While 63 is nothing to sneeze at -- and way more than anyone else got to -- it doesn't compare to his record 76 hot dogs from last year.

Maybe the dark side did actually get to Joey after all. Oh well ... congrats, man!

It's clear Canelo Alvarez doesn't like Gennady Golovkin ... 'cause the boxing star tells TMZ Sports GGG is a straight-up "a**hole" who talks too much -- and he's planning to KO the guy because of it.

"He's a f***ing a**hole," Canelo said of his upcoming September opponent. "He's not honest. He pretends to be a good person and be different but he's not."

Canelo says his opinion of Golovkin basically boils down to this -- he believes the 42-1-1 boxer is just flat-out two-faced.

"He talks a lot of s*** about me," Alvarez said. "He'll say, 'I respect him, his career.' And, other part, 'He's an embarrassing boxer, he's embarrassing for Mexican boxing.'"

"I hate that motherf***er because of that."

Earlier this week, GGG told us he knew Canelo felt that way about him ... but he believed it was because the 57-2-2 fighter can't handle his honesty.

The beef will all be settled on Sept. 17 in Las Vegas when the two square off for the third time in their careers ... and, according to Canelo, he'll get the last laugh.

"My goal is to end this fight before the 12 rounds," Canelo said.

After that, Canelo said he'd like a rematch with Dmitry Bivol -- the only boxer he's ever lost to outside of Floyd Mayweather.

"I'm 100% focused on this fight [with Golovkin] because it's a dangerous fight," Canelo said, "but 100% looking for a second fight with Bivol."

Michael Pena might be getting flashbacks watching this ... a cop throwing hands with an unarmed civilian, and losing his own gear to get on equal footing.

Check out this wild fight between a police officer and a regular schmoe from the streets ... where they both decide to square up and duke out whatever issue they're having. It's pretty nuts -- the cop actually takes off his vest (but still keeps his gun) to throw down properly.

They exchange minor blows for a good while, with the cop seeming to have the upper hand -- he's way bigger for starters -- and the dude in green coming back for more each round.

In the end, they appear to leave their differences right there on the pavement ... seemingly without further incident. Of course, many have pointed out that this doesn't look to have happened in the States -- where a civilian would surely be busted for scrapping with a cop.

Of course, the other observation here ... this is very much like a scene from the 2012 movie "End of Watch," in which both Pena and Jake Gyllenhaal star ... where they play wayward cops. At one point in the flick -- Pena's character, Mike Zavala, brawls with a perp.

One of the greatest to ever grace the backfield is weighing in on two NFL running backs duking it out in the boxing ring ... and it's great news for Adrian Peterson.

Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson spoke with TMZ Sports about the massive Social Gloves bout between AP and Le'Veon Bell coming up later this month at Crypto.com Arena ... and the Rams legend says there's a clear favorite in his eyes.

"I know how strong AP is," ED said at LAX this week ... saying the ex-Vikings star is simply too big for Bell.

And, if he were to put money on the fight ... Dickerson says it's All Day.

We broke the story -- Peterson and Bell will face off as part of the Austin McBroom vs. AnEsonGib fight that's going down in Los Angeles on July 30.

The card will also feature ex-Laker Nick Young and rapper Blueface ... with more fights being announced throughout the next few weeks.

Valerie Loureda tells TMZ Sports a fight with Ronda Rousey in WWE is her dream match ... and now that she's officially signed to the wrestling giant, she's determined to make it happen!!

We spoke with Loureda -- who officially became a member of WWE on Wednesday -- and asked her if there was one particular opponent she was eyeing before debuting on the main roster ... and she said yes, telling us, "Definitely, Ronda."

"She tweeted the other day 'Who's next?' and before I even found out I was getting a contract with WWE, I tweeted back, 'me,'" Loureda said of Rousey. "And that's the goal I have one day."

Valerie and Ronda both have MMA backgrounds ... and, in fact, Loureda says seeing Ronda fight back in the early 2010s inspired her to want to do the same.

"I never watched MMA before in my life," Loureda said, "and just so happens, Ronda was fighting, and I saw a beautiful woman fighting in a cage ... and I got goosebumps."

"I said, 'Nana, if she's doing that, I can do it too,' and that's really what gave me all that fire and passion inside of me to begin my martial arts journey."

Valerie -- who grew up an expert in taekwondo -- knows the transition from the cage to the squared circle will be a tough one, but she said if she ever gets in the ring with Ronda ... there will be fireworks.

It's been nearly 9 years since Max Holloway and Conor McGregor fought, but the rematch could finally be on the horizon ... 'cause Blessed tells TMZ Sports he's down to go at Notorious again -- in Hawaii!!

"It'd be a great, big fight for everyone," Holloway told us ahead of his matchup against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 276 ... adding his home turf would be the perfect location for the bout.

"I mean, we got a stadium. Why not do it?!"

Of course, Holloway makes it clear he's not looking past his current opponent ... but says a Conor rematch makes sense to have in Hawaii -- or Conor's native Ireland.

Remember, the first matchup at UFC Fight Night 26 in 2013 ... with McGregor taking the win via decision.

As for Saturday's fight, Max is stoked to get out there for the fans.

"This the first time in two years I get to fight in front of a crowd again. I got five title wins and I have to get my sixth title win against Alex in front of my family, in front of my friends on the 9th island. It would be huge."

AEW star Eddie Kingston gave new meaning to the word extreme during a wrestling match Wednesday ... 'cause he threw Sammy Guevara off the top of a cage -- sending him crashing through a timekeeper's table about a dozen feet below!!

It all went down last night at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit ... during the main event of AEW's "Blood & Guts" show -- which featured a six-on-six, cage match between Jericho Appreciation Society vs. Blackpool Combat, Kingston, Santana, & Ortiz.

The match featured two rings, one cage, a bunch of weapons, and a ton of blood ... and the only way to win the contest was by submission or to get your opponent to surrender.

During the match, as expected, the combatants made their way to the top of the unforgiving steel structure ... where Kingston threw Guevara off as Jericho watched nearby.

Guevera crashed landed through the structure ... all while Kingston looked on with a deranged expression.

The spot in the match was insane ... and the raucous crowd, who could barely stay in their seats for the duration of the show, became unglued.

Of course, WWE fans have seen similar moments before ... back at "Hell In A Cell" in June 1998, The Undertaker threw known dare-devil Mankind off the top of a cage in one of the most iconic moments in wrestling history.

Ironically enough, Kingston and Guevara's viral moment came almost 24 years to the date Undertaker tossed Mankind ... and it makes you wonder if they were paying homage to the legends.

Gennady "GGG" Golovkin has no plans to hang up his boxing gloves after his trilogy fight with Canelo Alvarez ... telling TMZ Sports he's "not ready" to retire yet.

In fact, the star pugilist said he'd straight up be down to fight Alvarez for a fourth time!

The news is somewhat surprising -- most thought the 40-year-old would call it a career after he takes on Canelo in September for the third time since 2017.

And, watch the clip, you can tell Golovkin has certainly considered it. But, he says he's still got more gas left in the tank despite having fought in 44 pro fights in his career.

"Not yet," GGG tells us about retirement. "I'm not ready yet."

As for why he'd come back to the ring to take on Canelo for a fourth time as opposed to callin' it a career ... he said that choice is very simple.

"The business side," he said, "it's very interesting."

For now, the 42-1-1 boxer says he's happy his fans want to see him in the ring with the Mexican boxer again -- and he tells us he's going for a KO in the match.

The Gypsy King vs. The Mountain in 2022?!?

It appears we could very well see that ... 'cause after Tyson Fury threw a verbal jab at "Game of Thrones" star Hafthor Bjornsson on Wednesday -- the actor-turned-boxer accepted a fight!!!

Fury's barb was pretty clever ... on his Instagram page, he wrote, "I wonder if Thor Bjornsson could take a crashing right hand to that big jaw," adding, "Who would have Thor's hammer? Would this mountain be too big to climb?"

It didn't take long for Thor -- a former World's Strongest Man -- to see the quips ... and in a shirtless video, he fired back at Fury -- accepting a fight if the 33-year-old heavyweight champ was offering one.

"I'm 100% up for war," Bjornsson said. "Let's do this."

Now, don't get it twisted ... even though Bjornsson is an actor and a former strongman, he's no stranger to the boxing ring.

Since 2021, Bjornsson has boxed in 4 professional fights -- winning two bouts while the others ended up in a draw.

And, the two are roughly the same size -- both standing at 6'9".

Izzy Drake's career as a professional Drake impersonator is on the ropes ... a wobble he's looking to shake by challenging his idol to a $1M celebrity boxing match.

Damon Feldman of Celebrity Boxing tells us he signed the Drake imposter and booked a fight for an August 27th event ... whether the real Drake fights the fake Drake or not.

The stakes here are high ... fake Drake has agreed to stop impersonating the real Drizzy if he loses.

TMZ Hip Hop broke the story of fake Drake's embarrassing VIP eviction from one of real Drake's favorite Houston nightclubs.

Mikey Garcia -- the man who went undefeated in his first 20 fights with 17 knockouts -- is retiring from boxing, his team announced on Tuesday.

Garcia's brother and trainer, Robert Garcia, shared the news with ESPN ... saying, "My brother Mikey had a great boxing career. Becoming a five-time champion of the world in four divisions is something very few have done."

"I am very proud of my brother for everything he accomplished in boxing. Now it's time for him to enjoy his life together with his family and loved ones."

The 34-year-old SoCal native -- whose amateur career started at 14 years old -- is hanging up the gloves after 42 professional bouts ... posting a 40-2-0 record with 30 of his 40 wins coming via knockout.

Boxing runs in the Garcia family ... Mikey's father, Eduardo, was an amateur boxer in his heyday, and he even trained Fernando Vargas, a world champion boxer.

During his decorated career, Mikey -- who stands about 5'6" inches tall -- won titles in four different weight classes ... including featherweight, super featherweight, light welterweight and lightweight.

Garcia's last professional bout came in October 2021 against Sandor Martin -- who was a massive underdog heading into the fight -- where he lost by majority decision.

The Fury family's relationship with a major Irish crime boss is what's keeping Tommy from entering the United States ... with U.S. officials placing a travel ban on any fighters, managers and promoters with ties to the wanted man.

Daniel Kinahan -- who helped found the MTK Global boxing promotions company that previously repped Tyson Fury -- is accused of running a massive drug and firearms trafficking operation in Europe ... and is currently on the run from authorities.

Law enforcement sources tell us fighters with any association with Kinahan -- even the most tenuous ties with the guy -- are being barred from traveling as part of the federal investigation ... in hopes of getting information on bringing him down.

Here's the thing -- Kinahan is accused of some SERIOUS crimes with the Kinahan Organized Crime Group ... but as far as MTK Global goes, it was legit and well respected in the boxing community.

We're told the feds are even keeping former fighters who are now broadcasters from doing their jobs ... stopping at nothing to get people to cooperate in the investigation.

While Tommy seemingly has ZERO connection to Kinahan, it's Tyson's relationship with Kinahan that kept him from making it to New York for Wednesday's press conference for the Jake Paul fight.

Tyson has clearly avoided questions about his links to Kinahan in the past ... but has adamantly denied any wrongdoing.

Tommy Fury's fight with Jake Paul could go up in smoke ... after TNT claims he was denied entry into the United States ahead of their scheduled press conference in New York.

Just when it seemed like the bout was FINALLY going to happen, Tommy shared the crappy news on his Instagram on Tuesday ... saying his team showed up at Heathrow Airport to hop over the pond ... but they were shut down.

"As soon as I entered the airport, I was pulled to one side and told by a Homeland Security officer that my ESTA had been denied and that I wasn't able to travel to the USA for a reason I apparently know," Tommy said in a video.

Tommy, boxing superstar Tyson Fury's younger brother, went on to say he's done nothing wrong ... and claims he's totally dumbfounded as to why he's not allowed to travel to the U.S.

"I've been training for a fight this whole time and that's all I've been doing," Tommy said. "I have no clue why I'm not allowed to travel and neither does my team or my lawyers."

"Now I've got to go to the embassy trying to resolve it and I'm in the middle of training. I don't know why this has happened a huge shock to me and my team."

As we reported, Tommy and Jake agreed to fight each other at the world's most famous arena -- Madison Square Garden -- in NYC on Aug. 6 ... but Tommy says the issues he's currently facing are bigger than the fight.

What's interesting -- Tommy was able to travel to California last month without issue ... something his nemesis pointed out.

Of course, this isn't going to sit well with fans who've been clamoring for the two boxers to fight after years of trash talk and failed negotiations.

The presser between Tommy and Jake was originally scheduled for Wednesday ... but it's been postponed, according to Most Valuable Promotions.

Despite the travel mishap, Jake isn't letting Tommy off the hook easily ... tweeting, "Tommy, no matter how hard u try to get out of this fight, I'm going 2 do everything in my power 2 not let u weasel ur way out."

A whopping 12 players and coaches have been suspended for their roles in the massive brawl at the Angels vs. Mariners game on Sunday ... with L.A.'s manager, Phil Nevin, getting a staggering 10-game ban.

The MLB announced the punishments late Monday evening ... just over 24 hours after the two teams fought each other on the diamond following what appeared to be an intentional hit by a pitch in L.A. on Sunday.

Angels pitcher Andrew Wantz was banned for three games for throwing at Jesse Winker. Winker, meanwhile, was hit with a 7-game suspension for his role in igniting the skirmish after wearing the fastball.

L.A. third baseman Anthony Rendon, who's out for the season after having wrist surgery, received a 5-game ban for leaving the team's bench while on the injured list and taking a swipe at Winker.

Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford got five games for throwing punches, while Angels closer Raisel Iglesias was hit with a two-game ban for throwing sunflower seeds and more onto the field.

Others punished, according to the MLB, included Angels assistant pitching coach Dom Chiti, Mariners OF Julio Rodriguez, Angels pitcher Ryan Tepera, Angels bench coach Ray Montgomery, Angels' interpreter Manny Del Campo and Angels catching coach Bill Haselman.

The punishments were slated to begin Monday night, though most of the players have chosen to appeal.

If it were up to Dana White, a boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor would never go down again ... with the UFC honcho telling TMZ Sports, "I have less than zero interest in seeing that again."

Of course, Conor made it seem like a May-Pac run-back could be on the horizon ... after he posted a photo on his Instagram earlier this month of him boxing Mayweather with the caption "I accept."

Dana, though, tells us he hasn't heard anything about the possibility of the two squaring up again in a ring -- and he sounded hopeful it stays that way going forward.

"I didn't even know that," White said. "I haven't seen it."

Mayweather and McGregor made a ton of cash the first time the two boxed back in August 2017 -- it reportedly had more than 4 MILLION pay-per-view buys -- but the two are in vastly different places in their careers now.

Floyd is 45 and has only fought in exhibitions since. Conor, meanwhile, is 33 and is coming off not only a serious leg injury, but losses in 3 of his last 4 UFC fights.

Dana made it clear he'd much rather see McGregor make his return to combat sports in the octagon ... telling us a scrap against Michael Chandler is a fight he still likes.

Unclear when McGregor will be able to return from his broken leg ... the timetable he was given in July 2021 was about one year.

A boxing showdown between two NFL superstars is in the works -- Adrian Peterson is currently in the process of becoming Le'Veon Bell's opponent at Crypto.com Arena next month, TMZ Sports has learned.

We broke the story earlier this month, 30-year-old Bell is slated to take his first boxing match as part of YouTube superstar Austin McBroom's Social Gloves event in Los Angeles ... but his opponent had het to be announced.

Now, we're told the 37-year-old former NFL MVP is in talks to take the ring against Bell on July 30 ... in what would be a massive fight between two accomplished running backs.

Adrian -- a 4-time first-team All-Pro and 7-time Pro Bowler -- last played for the Tennessee Titans and Seattle Seahawks in 2021 ... suiting up for 4 total games last season.

Bell -- a 2-time first-team All-Pro and 3-time Pro Bowler -- played for the Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021 ... appearing in 8 games.

The fight card is already stacked with big names -- as we previously reported, ex-NBA player Nick Young is fighting against rapper Blueface ... and McBroom is going up against YouTuber AnEsonGib.