Fights

Shawn Porter had the best seat in the house for Jake Paul vs. Tommy Fury -- he called the fight -- and the former 2x welterweight world champion tells us the judges screwed up ... The Problem Child won!

"I did not agree with the decision. I thought that Jake Paul pulled it out," Porter told Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weeknights on FS1), before knocking the overzealous referee's impact on the fight/scoring.

"Definitely hard to score the fight when you have a referee in there trying to control the action a little bit more than I personally felt he should've been."

Of course, 26-year-old Paul lost by split decision to 23-year-old Fury. One of the judges had Jake winning, 75-74. But, the two other judges both saw it the same way, with Fury winning on their scorecards, 76-73.

"Overall, I thought both guys did a fantastic job in terms of handling the moment, handling the ring itself, and everything that came along with it. But, overall, I thought Jake pulled it out," Porter said.

Tommy and Jake have both been criticized for not being real boxers (whatever that means) ... but Shawn says this was nothing besides a great night for the sport.

"This was a 50/50 back-and-forth match, ya just gotta appreciate it, man. Ya gotta appreciate boxing. It really was true boxing, the art."

We also asked Shawn -- who only lost four fights in his great career -- what advice he'd give Jake as he attempts to get over the first loss of his career.

"Go home, go back to Puerto Rico, get with your family, friends, people that love you, keep them around you right now, and just really decompress and get some space away from boxing right now."

Porter also talked about the hate Jake's surely receiving after the loss, advising him to steer clear of the haters.

"Boxing is a very vicious sport especially if you're misunderstood in the sport, you get a lot of people coming after you, and I'm sure he's been used to that for some time now, but exhaust yourself more? Take some time away from it all and just be with family and friends."

Now, Jake and Tommy will hammer out an agreement for a rematch ... but Shawn says we may actually see more than two fights.

Tommy Fury went from using his hands to using his pipes after beating Jake Paul on Sunday ... singing his heart out with his brother, Tyson, in the locker room to celebrate the huge win.

TNT was the happiest guy in the world after going 8 rounds with the Problem Child in Saudi Arabia ... and the man of the hour received a hero's welcome after exiting the ring.

"There's only one Tommy Fury," the crowd chanted as Tommy entered the room. "Walking along, singing a song, walking in a Fury wonderland."

Tyson couldn't have been more proud of his brother ... smiling from ear to ear as Tommy walked in with his new belt draped over his shoulder.

Tommy has all the bragging rights, but Jake has made it clear he's not riding off into the sunset ... and a rematch seems inevitable.

Jake took his first loss with respect ... thanking his fans for their support and praising the event.

"S*** happens, I guess," Jake said after the fight. "This is still the best job in the world."

Drake's picking sides in the Jake Paul - Tommy Fury feud, placing a bet on The Problem Child to knockout TNT ... and judging by the massive size of the wager, Drizzy's feelin' confident the 26-year-old YouTuber-turned-boxer will turn out Fury's lights.

Drake posted the Stake betting slip on social media Saturday night ... and he's risking $400,000. In order for the superstar rapper to cash out, Jake can't just win the fight, he must KO Tommy (in any round). If that scenario actually unfolds, Drake would receive $1.4 million ... which included his initial bet ($400k).

The payout's so large because statistically, it's a longshot ... the odds say there's a less than 30% chance the fight ends by Paul KO.

FYI, Jake's 6-0 ... and 4 of those fights have ended by KO. Tommy's also undefeated ... and obviously has never been stopped.

Drake's no stranger to making huge wagers. In fact, he bet $965k total on the Super Bowl ... and while he didn't hit on all his bets, he did pretty well. He's also bets heaps of money on UFC fights.

While the rappers riding with Jake, Tyson Fury is (obviously) siding with his brother. The heavyweight champion revealed earlier this week he put down over $100K on Tommy to win by stoppage.

"I've got 100 racks on it for an inside-the-distance stoppage, so if [Tommy] loses, then I'll lose 100 bags as well," Fury told iFL TV.

Jake and Tommy also made a bet during fight week (though, we'll see if it comes to fruition). If Jake wins the fight, he gets Tommy's money. If Fury wins, Jake double his money.

Bets aside, Paul and Fury flat-out hate each other ... and Sunday's fight is the culmination of years of trash talk. The men were supposed to scrap on two previous occasions, but Tommy pulled out -- once for injury, and the other over a travel issue.

Diamond Dallas Page says Dusty Rhodes would have been overjoyed to watch his son, Cody, in the main event at WrestleMania 39 ... telling TMZ Sports "he would be walking on clouds."

Page -- who mentored his late best friend's son since he was a kid -- told us Cody's heavyweight championship match against Roman Reigns on Sunday, April 2 is the culmination of a journey, and a moment the Rhodes family can savor forever.

DDP explained the fact that Cody left WWE in May 2016 when he felt the company didn't believe in him, and then came back to have a monumental moment like the main event at WM 39 is proof of what can happen when people believe in themselves.

Cody -- a former WWE intercontinental champion -- joined All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he spent six years competing before rejoining the WWE last April at WrestleMania 38.

Now, he has the opportunity to end Roman's 900+ day streak as Universal Champion.

DDP says he was honored to be one of Dusty's closest friends ... and he knows that after all the years of hard work and dedication the Rhodes family put into the craft, it will be "really emotional" to watch Cody enter the squared-circle.

We also spoke to Cody recently, and the 2023 Royal Rumble winner admits defeating Roman Reigns at WM would be a "tall task" -- but reassured everyone he's up to the challenge.

"If you're in the spot you want to make sure you get the job done," said Rhodes, the half-brother of Dustin, professionally known as Goldust during his WWE career.

Pink claims Christina Aguilera wanted to throw hands during the  'Lady Marmalade' shoot -- something she says is ancient history ... but which definitely, allegedly, happened.

The singer spilled the beans to Chris Wallace on his weekly show, 'Who's Talking,' opening up about some apparent tension she says manifested on set when they were filming the music video way back in 2001. According to Pink, Xtina confronted her aggressively.

Watch how she describes it ... Pink says it all started because she was sitting in Christina's chair -- unclear if that means on set or off -- which she claims set Christina off. Supposedly, CA was so angry about this ... she was going to "shut down the entire production."

Pink says it didn't actually get physical right then and there, but did make clear ... she relayed to Christina at the time that she couldn't talk to her like that, period. Funny enough, Chris tells Pink he believes she could've kicked Christina's ass ... and Pink agrees.

As for the perceived shade everyone seems to think Pink is throwing Xtina's way ... Pink addressed that too, saying all she's doing is telling a story back as it happened and as she remembers it. If that truth happens to make someone look bad, so be it ... that's her view.

We should note ... Pink has claimed in the recent past that, in another old incident, Christina allegedly tried swinging on her at a club -- although Christina denied that at the time. As for this latest rehashing, we've already heard Christina also considers it old news/MAAN.

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!

The Gervonta 'Tank' Davis vs. Ryan Garcia super fight -- which boxing fans have been begging for -- is finally happening on April 22 ... and it's set to go in Las Vegas!

Tank (28-0, 26 KOs) confirmed the news on Friday by tweeting, "April 22, 2023 Las Vegas It’s on!  #DavisGarcia GOOOOO."

The venue for the highly-anticipated fight is not yet public, but that's irrelevant ... bottom line, Tank and Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) agreed to fight at a catch weight of 136 pounds for a 12-round non-title fight.

It will be a Showtime Pay-Per-View event, in partnership with Al Haymon's PBC, Golden Boy Promotions, and DAZN ... who all worked together to make it happen, according to TalkSport's Michael Benson.

The fight's been years in the making ... and the heat's been ratcheted up, especially lately. Both fighters have gone back and forth, talking crap to one another.

Many fans assumed the fight would never happen (and some still don't believe it will), but Oscar De La Hoya told us in April he was very optimistic about the fight not only happening, but RG easily winning, saying ... "Ryan Garcia wants to knock him out so bad. He's calling it in two rounds."

"Both guys are in their prime. Both guys are undefeated. It's gonna be a great fight," ODLH told us at the time.

But, not everyone expects Ryan to win. In fact, pound-for-pound king Canelo Alvarez recently told us he expects Tank to win ... citing his experience.

Floyd Mayweather is fighting this weekend, but the boxing legend didn't seem too fazed about the bout on Thursday ... partying it up with Jamie Foxx to celebrate his birthday!!

TBE welcomed all his friends to Restaurant Ours in London to honor his 46th trip around the sun ... and the bash had a ton of booze, an incredible cake -- and of course, huge tributes to the man of the hour.

Foxx looked like the life of the party ... showing off his dance moves while sporting a fancy purple suit.

Mayweather was spotted wearing a Clueless-esque yellow plaid outfit ... posing with a massive bottle of bubbly -- but remember, the guy doesn't drink, so we're assuming it was just for a photo op.

Actor Evan Ross, celeb jeweler Johnny Dang and designer Ozwald Boateng were in attendance ... as well as a ton of beautiful women, including model Ivana Knoll, who documented the rager on her social media page.

The event went down just 48 hours before Floyd is set to enter the ring with reality TV star and former Bellator fighter Aaron Chalmers at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday ... and it sure seems like he's feeling good before the exhibition bout.

An unruly spectator stormed the pitch and punched a player in the face during a Europa League match on Thursday ... and his reward was getting dropped with a vicious right hand before being dragged out by security.

It all went down at Philips Stadium in the Netherlands .... where PSV was playing Sevilla FC.

During the contest, a man ran onto the field and punched Sevilla goalkeeper, Marko Dmitrovic -- but the fan was in for a rude awakening because the Serbian star was ready for the smoke.

Check out the clip ... the guy comes face to face with Dmitrovic before teeing off, but Marko demonstrates quick reflexes and drops the fan to the ground with one punch.

Once Dmitrovic leveled the guy, who was wearing a black jacket, blue jeans, and sneakers when he did the ambush, Marko tried to subdue him until security intervened.

Players on the field began running in Dmitrovic's direction once they realized what was happening ... and eventually, a swarm of people surrounded the man.

The guy attempted to put up a fight while on the ground by trying to break free from Marko's grasp ... but he was unsuccessful, and security ultimately booted him from the match.

Storming the pitch is a common tradition in soccer ... but in this instance, the fan got more than he bargained for and chose the wrong goalkeeper to put his hands on.

Former NBA star Dwight Howard was ejected from a Taiwan basketball league game over the weekend ... after members from both teams got into a wild skirmish on the court.

It all went down on Sunday ... when Howard's Taoyuan Leopards were playing the Taiwan Beer HeroBears.

As Howard's teammate, Chen Hsiao-Jung, was looking to get separation from HeroBears guard Chiang Yu-an ... he elbowed him in the face -- sparking a big fight.

You can see in broadcast footage of the game, the guys immediately went after each other ... and a flurry of punches ensued. Then, all hell broke loose -- with players from both sides inserting themselves into the mayhem.

At one point, an assistant coach ran onto the court and threw multiple punches at Hsiao-Jung -- before the referees restrained him.

The fracas -- which started near midcourt -- spilled over to the other side of the court, and multiple people ended up on the ground as more punches were thrown near the sideline.

Cameras didn't catch Howard too involved in the melee -- he actually appeared to be playing peacemaker -- but he was eventually ejected nonetheless.

Forget cards and fruit baskets ... Jake Paul just thanked a mogul in Dubai for letting him use his gym this month with a way better gift -- a Man City jersey personally signed by superstar Erling Haaland!!

The YouTuber-turned-boxer brought the "thank you" present out to Umar Kamani at The Kamani Club this week ... after the PrettyLittleThing founder opened up his gym's doors to allow the 6-0 boxer to train for this weekend's Tommy Fury fight.

TMZ Sports has learned ... Paul got the No. 9, blue jersey signed by Haaland himself -- before framing it and handing it over to Kamani.

Of course, the gift was super meaningful -- as Kamani is known to be a huge Man City fan.

The 34-year-old appreciated the gift ... thanking Paul and wishing him good luck against Fury in a social media post.

"A great camp from #TeamPaul at @thekamaniclub over the last few weeks," the post read, "wishing you the best of luck in your upcoming fight."

Jon Jones hasn't yet gotten his feet wet in the UFC's heavyweight division, but he's already eyeing the weight class top dogs ... telling TMZ Sports he wants Stipe Miocic after he fights Ciryl Gane next month.

Jones told us he feels a tilt with the former champ could help "solidify my legacy" ... adding that if he wants to be known as one of the fight game's G.O.A.T.s -- he's got to beat the best to do it.

"People consider him the greatest heavyweight of all time," Jones said of Miocic. "The opportunity to compete against such a man, I'd be honored."

"The opportunity to beat such a guy would be truly something special."

Of course, 35-year-old Jones has to get through Gane first in order to get that opportunity -- and he tells us it won't be an easy task.

The 26-1 fighter called Gane "one of the best talents the UFC has ever seen."

"I got a huge, huge order ahead of me," Jones said.

If Jones does get through Gane at UFC 285 on March 4, though ... Miocic sure seems down to get in the Octagon with him.

The 40-year-old tweeted right after the Gane vs. Jones matchup was initially revealed last month "I got winner in July."

Struggling to figure out who to bet on between Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia? Canelo Alvarez might be able to help sway you -- telling TMZ Sports he thinks Tank wins the super fight later this year.

The guys are expected to throw hands on April 15 -- that is, if the two can finally settle their differences in heated contract negotiations -- and when we got Alvarez out at the Super Bowl last weekend ... we had to ask, who ya got?

The Mexican boxing champ told us he expects Davis -- saying simply the 28-0 fighter has "got more experience."

Don't get it twisted, though ... he's still expecting a good effort from the 23-0 Garcia.

"It's gonna be a good fight," he said.

Tank has been more active in the ring and recently secured a TKO win over Hector Garcia in Washington D.C. last month. Meanwhile, Ryan hasn't taken a fight since July 2022.

But, of course, some might think Canelo is biased in his opinion because of a beef he had with Ryan when the young fighter left his camp back in February 2022.

Canelo, though, said that's just not the case.

The heroic Florida woman who bravely fought off an alleged sexual predator during her workout is keeping her head up, and not allowing the violent incident to derail her lifestyle ... even in the gym.

Nashali Alma joined "TMZ Live" Friday to talk about the terrifying moment she had to fight off the guy in the gym of her Tampa apartment complex.

She says he was a good 6 inches taller than her, but as we've seen in the video ... Nashali gave him all he could handle. She told us exactly what she did to fend him off.

She says she has gotten an outpouring of love and support in the last few days, since cops released the surveillance footage of the January incident -- and it all has her feeling really good.

As we reported, Nashali was working out in her gym when Xavier Thomas-Jones came to the door and she let him in, thinking he forgot his key.

Minutes later, he charged at her, but the nursing school student wound up giving him a major beatdown ... before eventually breaking free.

Xavier was arrested the next day and charged with sexual battery and kidnapping.

UFC bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling wants into the exclusive champ-champ club ... telling us he plans to fight Henry Cejudo in May, and then wishes to go up a weight class to fight champion Alex Volkanovski!

First things first, 33-year-old Aljo, the #7 ranked UFC pound-for-pound fighter, has 36-year-old Triple C in his sights.

"We're slated for May 6, that's what we're thinking right now," Sterling told Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs nightly on FS1), despite admitting he likely won't be totally healthy after tearing his bicep last year.

But, Aljamain says if he decides to fight, there are no excuses.

"If I make the decision to sign on the dotted line, I'm signing on the dotted line and we're gonna fight no matter what it is at the time. I don't give a s**t about that. Henry has some stuff he's dealing with. I have some stuff I'm dealing with. All fighters have stuff they're dealing with. It's just whose the better man that night."

After the Sterling-Cejudo fight, assuming Aljo's victorious, that's when things could really get interesting ... because he believes he'll have earned an opportunity to move up a weight class, and fight

"I fought a lot of the best guys," Aljo says, making his case for a title shot at featherweight. He continued ... "How much do I have to do to say 'Ok, this guy finally deserves an opportunity to go up and see what he can do at 145.' I'm getting older. I'm on an 8-fight win streak right now and I want to test myself and take the opportunity."

Of course, Volkanovski -- the featherweight champ (145 lbs.) -- lost an incredibly close fight to lightweight champ (155 lbs.) Islam Makhachev at UFC 284 ... in his bid to join the double champ club.

As for how a fight with Volk would look ... Aljamain Tweeted last year, saying he believed he could take down and submit Alex, and while it's a 7-month-old message, his opinion hasn't changed all that much.

"There's a couple of factors. That was at 155. So he had a little more weight. Maybe not as depleted as he would be at [145]. I would be coming up to 45, not being as depleted as much as I am at 35."

And, that's why Sterling likes his chances.

FYI, only four fighters in the UFC's history have ever held two belts simultaneously: Conor Mcgregor, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes and Cejudo.

We also talked to Aljo about his side hustle ... making music. Sterling just released a track titled "Go Dumb", featuring his brother Troy, who raps under the name Troy Grindz.

"This is something I always wanted to do, my brother's been the musician of the family, he's always been very, very good lyrically," Sterling says ... but in a competitive industry, his bro's had trouble gaining traction.

Enter Troy's famous brother.

"It's been hard for him to promote himself, but it's something I always wanted to do, but fighting kind of called my name first. I think I was a better fighter than I was a rapper. I always wanted to make a song with him, so this was a cool opportunity now that I had some downtime," Aljo says.

We asked Aljamain if this was a one-time thing, or if he may make more music.

Like him or don't, it's undeniable that Jake Paul can strike ... but if the Problem Child truly wants to brush up on his wrestling skills and take an MMA fight, there's a U.S. wrestling legend who tells us he's happy to train the 27-year-old star -- Bo Nickal!

Nickal is a 3x NCAA Division I wrestling champion (184 lbs. x 2, 197 lbs.) who earned a UFC contract on Dana White's Contender Series last year. On Wednesday, TMZ Sports was talking to the 27-year-old, who just signed a deal with Jake's media company, Betr (more on that soon), when we asked if he planned to train with JP.

"Oh yeah. 100 percent. I'm super excited to train with [Jake]. Not only to be able to help him out a little bit on the MMA grappling side, but also just to learn from him," Bo said, adding, "He's got a ton of experience boxing and it'd be awesome just to be able to get together and work together."

Of course, Paul, 6-0 as a boxer, recently signed a deal with PFL ... and called out Nate Diaz. Jake, a solid wrestler in high school, proposed a two-fight deal with the MMA star from Stockton ... one MMA fight and one boxing match.

As for the partnership with Paul's Betr, Bo says he and Jake have a few things up their sleeves ... including a 'UFC Embedded'-style show that'll follow Nickal as he prepares for his first proper UFC fight.

Speaking of, Bo, 3-0 in MMA, just learned when he'll be making his first non-Contender Series appearance ... and it's on a big card, UFC 285, headlined by Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane. Jones hasn't been in the Octagon since beating Dominick Reyes in February 2020, over three years ago.

Nickal will face MMA veteran, Jamie Pickett at middleweight (185 lbs.) in the first fight on the main card.

Bo has visions of winning a UFC title, but isn't looking past his first fight ... a scrap he intends to end with a knockout or submission, and early on in the fight.

"I think first and foremost, I plan on just focusing on one fight at a time. Taking care of business this next fight, putting on a spectacular performance. I'd like to get a first-round finish. I'm expecting to finish this guy, regardless."

"Getting a finish in my UFC debut is really most prominently on my mind."

To say Bo's pumped about the Pickett fight may be an understatement ... he's ready to go!

An already emotional scene was ramped up after a man inside the courtroom lunged at Buffalo mass shooter Payton Gendron during the monster's sentencing hearing.

Barbara Massey, who lost her sister, Katherine, during the attack in May 2022 which left 10 dead, addressed the shooter directly Wednesday inside an Erie County Courthouse. Massey exclaimed, "My sister Katherine Massey was a great person, Kat didn't hurt anybody ... You don't know a damn thing about Black people, we're human, we like our kids to go to good schools, we love our kids. We never go in neighborhoods and take people out."

At that point, a man dressed in grey who was standing next to Barbara pushed her aside and lunged at Gendron, only to be restrained by several officers protecting the murderer.

As the incident happened, you can hear several people in the crowd become emotional ... and both Gendron and the man who lunged at him were escorted out.

Gendron, who is white, killed 10 Black people and wounded several others during a mass shooting at a Buffalo-area grocery store.

Gendron live streamed his brutal attack, carrying out the killings with an automatic weapon inscribed with racist words and phrases -- including the N-word and "Here's your reparations."

He's expected to be sentenced to life in prison -- pleading guilty to charges including domestic terrorism motivated by hate and murder.

The hearing resumed after a brief pause to settle the courtroom.