RIP

Sugar Ray Leonard is heading to Louisville to attend Muhammad Ali's funeral -- telling TMZ Sports the man had a tremendous impact on his life and he wants to pay his respects in person.

Leonard says he's not scheduled to speak at the event -- but would if he was asked. However, he admits it's a pretty tough task to eulogize a man who accomplished so much.

He also has a message to the fans caught up in the melee over funeral tickets this morning -- CALM DOWN!!!!

The doctors who cleared Kimbo Slice to fight at Bellator 149 in February found NO SIGNS of serious heart problems during pre-fight health exams ... this according to Bellator.

A Bellator spokesperson tells us ... Slice was not only required to pass a physical exam before his fight (as with all fighters over the age 35), he also had to pass an EKG and an EEG in order to be cleared.

Slice passed away this week -- and doctors said his heart was in such bad shape in his final days that he needed a transplant.

But Bellator says Slice would have been pulled IMMEDIATELY if there were any red flags back in February.

“If there was ANY sign that Kimbo was not healthy enough to fight, we would NOT have allowed him to fight."

Ex-NBA player and 76ers assistant coach Sean Rooks died of heart disease... this according to the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office.

Sources told TMZ Sports ... the 46-year-old suffered a heart attack during dinner on Tuesday night.

Now, a rep for the M.E.'s office says the coroner has examined Rooks' body and "believes Rooks died of heart disease."

We're told additional testing will take place to confirm that finding.

An honest moment from legendary boxing trainer Freddie Roach -- who says he's sad about Muhammad Ali's death because it makes him think about "what I maybe have to look forward to."

Just like Ali, Roach has Parkinson's disease -- and while outside of Ecco in NYC, Roach told us the two actually bonded about their conditions when Ali came into his gym about 15 years ago.

"As soon as he started hitting the heavy bag, his tremors went away," Roach said ... "I said we have something in common, because when I do mitts, my tremors go away."

"I think it's more of our comfort zone. We're boxers, we're both very comfortable doing that."

He continued, "I'm a little bit sad that he passed away ... I wonder what I maybe have to look forward to sometimes."

Muhammad Ali's memorial service is still 2 days away, but thousands of fans are ready and willing to fight for a ticket to get inside.

Ali's memorial is scheduled to go down Friday morning at Louisville's KFC Yum! Center -- but the crowds started lining up Tuesday night and waited until sunrise to make sure they got a seat. 15,000 tix were gone in about an hour!

Even though they were super early birds, some of the fans got out of hand just before sunrise -- pushing and shoving. Security was able to shut it down before anyone was hurt -- and police are now helping with crowd control too. No one was arrested.

Ex-NBA player and current Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach Sean Rooks has died ... the team announced in a statement.

The 46-year-old -- who starred at the University of Arizona -- played 12 seasons in the NBA ... including stints with the Lakers, Mavericks and Timberwolves.

Our sources tell us ... it appears Rooks may have had a heart attack during dinner.

Rooks' mother issued a statement saying, "It is with deep sadness and overwhelming grief that we mourn the sudden loss of my son, Sean."

"Our family asks that our privacy be respected as we grieve during this incredibly difficult time."

Cops say they can't find a shred of evidence that proves OKC Thunder co-owner was trying to kill himself when he slammed his SUV into a concrete bridge back in March ... despite a 2 month investigation.

Aubrey McClendon had been charged with conspiracy hours before the crash for his alleged role in an illegal energy scheme ... and many people thought he took his own life out of shame.

But the Oklahoma City Police Dept. says a team of detectives and accident experts looked into the crash ... and spoke with a bunch of McClendon's friends and say there's nothing that points to suicide.

Now, cops also say they can't be 100% certain ... but at this point, they're convinced he didn't crash on purpose.

The coroner determined McClendon died from blunt force trauma -- but his body was so badly burned in the fire that ensued, they needed to bring in a dentist to identify his body.

Kimbo Slice was told he had been suffering from congestive heart failure in the days before his death and desperately needed a heart transplant ... this according to a hospital report.

The report -- which was given to the Broward County Medical Examiner's office -- says Slice was admitted to Northwest Medical Center on June 3rd and told he had a liver mass and congestive heart failure.

Doctors told Slice's family that he needed a heart transplant -- and appeared to be taking measures to transport him to a clinic in Cleveland on Monday night ... but he died before that could happen.

Slice was pronounced dead around 7:30 PM local time.

Also worth noting ... the report also states 42-year-old Slice did not have a history of drug use.

Bretagne, the 16-year-old golden retriever hailed as the last of the 9/11 search dogs, has died.

Bretagne was euthanized Monday, according to firefighters in Houston ... where she had been a founding member of the K9 Search & Rescue Team.

She put up some true hero stats over her career. As part of Texas Task Force 1, she and handler Denise Corliss spent days searching through Ground Zero for trapped victims. Bretagne also pitched in on rescue efforts during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

She left active duty at 10, but continued serving as a community ambassador.

Bretagne was given a hero's salute on her last walk into the vet's office and her body was draped with an American Flag on the way out.

Actress Theresa Saldana who played the commissioner's wife on '90s cop drama "The Commish" and was the victim in a highly-publicized stabbing has died ... TMZ has learned.

Saldana had been hospitalized with an unknown illness and died Monday at Cedars-Sinai ... according to a member of her family.

The actress made headlines in 1982 after being stabbed by a deranged fan outside her L.A. home. A delivery man who happened to be driving by saw her and came to her rescue, and she was able to survive the attack.

Saldana also famously starred alongside Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci in "Raging Bull."

She stopped acting in 2004.

She was 61.

Kimbo Slice's body will not be tested for things like steroids or drugs ... at least, not by the medical examiner's office which tells TMZ Sports there's nothing suspicious about Kimbo's death.

After the 42-year-old passed away suddenly near his home in Coral Springs, FL Monday -- we reached out to the Broward County Medical Examiner to find out if an autopsy would be performed.

We were told ... "We were informed of his death and after review of the circumstances, we declined jurisdiction. It is not a medical examiner case."

We asked if that meant the office believes his death is not suspicious and there's no need for toxicology tests -- to which the M.E. Chief told us, "No medical legal investigation, including toxicology is necessary.”

Slice reportedly tested positive for a banned steroid during his fight at Bellator 149 back in February.

Ken Shamrock says his heart aches for Kimbo Slice -- saying the guy made a tremendous impact in the world of combat sports ... but never got the respect he truly deserved.

Shamrock -- who fought Slice (and lost) last year -- says Slice made one helluva splash in MMA and boxing ... but still had to battle extreme negativity from haters -- even when he won his fights.

"Even when he won a fight it seemed like he was never good enough," Shamrock says.

"When you really care about your fans and you really care about what you do then those things that come at you from a negative position ... it hurts ... especially when it comes in thousands of people with negative thoughts. It stings, it hurts."

Shamrock says he never spoke with Slice directly about it -- but says it was obvious Kimbo was affected by the negativity.

Kimbo Slice was an inspiration -- a guy who turned nothing into something -- and he'll be missed ... so says rapper The Game.

Game is a huge fight fan -- and says Slice's story about going from strip club bouncer to one of the most famous fighters in the world is nothing short of amazing.

"Just being an African American and coming from the hood ... I think that Kimbo Slice is one of those stories that gives people hope."

Check out the clip ... Slice clearly meant a lot to Game -- and he explains the lesson that people should learn from the tragedy.

Kimbo Slice has died ... TMZ Sports has confirmed. He was 42.

George Foreman says the legendarily nasty public feud between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier was actually friendly behind closed doors ... telling TMZ Sports the two men secretly loved each other.

The war between Ali and Frazier is well-known -- Ali called him names like "gorilla" and "Uncle Tom" -- which reportedly wounded Frazier until his death in 2011.

In fact, Frazier famously expressed his distaste for Ali in a 1990 interview -- "I hated Ali. God might not like me talking that way, but I hated that man. First he made me a white man, then he made me a n****r.”

"How would you like it if your kids came home from school crying because everyone was calling their daddy a gorilla?"

But when Foreman -- who called Ali his "best friend" -- joined the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs tonight on FS1) ... we asked if Ali privately regretted taking things so far with his old foe.

Check out the clip ... Foreman says he was tight with both men and knows they all had love for each other.

"Whatever names we were called, they were all taken as a joke."

Laila Ali says she has "comfort" in knowing her father is "not suffering anymore" ... saying she felt Muhammad Ali was "trapped inside of his body" during his battle with Parkinson's.

Ali spoke with Robin Roberts on 'GMA' and said all 9 of Ali's children flew in to Arizona to be with their dad in his final moments.

Laila says some of her sisters recited Islamic prayers at his bedside -- she says it was "a very peaceful time."

Laila says she's also grateful her 5-year-old daughter, Sydney, got to spend time with the legend in the years before he passed. She even tells some heartwarming family stories.

#RIP.