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Boxing rising star Billy Joe Saunders -- who's supposed to fight Canelo Alvarez in May -- has been hit with a suspension after posting a controversial video on social media where he talks about hitting women.

The 30-year-old WBO super middleweight champ claims the video was meant to be a joke and since apologized for it, but the British Boxing Board of Control quickly decided to hand down the indefinite punishment.

"I just wanted to make a little video for all you dads, husbands, if you’ve got girlfriends etcetera," Saunders said in his video.

"Obviously this COVID-19 is getting very serious and we are isolated away in tight spaces. If your old woman is giving you a little bit of mouth and you try to be patient, you try to be calm, cool, but after the 7th day or 6th day you’re just about to explode."

Yeah, the BBBOC didn't find it funny. At all.

"The British Boxing Board of Control having considered comments made by Billy Joe Saunders on social media have suspended his boxer’s license pending a hearing under the Board’s misconduct regulation, at a time and venue to be confirmed as soon as possible." the org. said in a statement.

The video got the attention of boxing superstar Claressa Shields, who clapped back with her OWN advice video -- explaining how to fight someone who comes at you like Billy Joe suggested.

"Hit them as hard as you can in the nuts," Shields said.

NFL games played in empty stadiums?? Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank can see it, saying he thinks the league might have to go that route in 2020 amid coronavirus concerns.

"I could easily see camps being shorter, players being tested on a daily basis, things of that nature," Blank said. "No fan attendance. Things like that."

Blank revealed the bleak possibility to Peter King over the weekend ... saying the risk of infection might still be too high for fans to be at NFL games -- even in September.

Of course, fanless matches ain't exactly a new phenomenon in COVID-19 times ... soccer games overseas were already doing that before the lockdown -- and the NBA is reportedly considering doing the same if/when it returns this summer.

Blank says he also thinks the NFL could have a shorter preseason ... but he still believes a 16-game regular-season schedule is very much on the table for the league at this point.

"If I had to speculate now, and I use the word speculate because that’s really all it is, I would say yes [to 16 games]," Blank said. "Only because it’s so far away from where we are today."

The Falcons owner added he believes football is necessary to help heal people during the global pandemic.

"I do think we need football now," Blank said. "It’s hard to turn on any device you have today, almost any site, television, PCs, laptops, phones -- without the first thing popping up being something on the virus."

"And, that’s appropriate. However, I also think that people want a diversion. People want to be optimistic. People want to think about things that are really good times for themselves and their families and their loved ones and their communities. I think to have that kind of hope and aspiration mixed into your daily life is important."

The towel Kobe Bryant famously draped over his shoulders during his "Mamba Out" speech in 2016 just netted somebody a small fortune ... it sold for over $30K at an auction!!

You'll recall ... just minutes after the final buzzer sounded on Kobe's last game in the NBA on April 13, 2016 -- the Mamba grabbed a Body Armor towel and a mic and delivered a powerful speech.

He reflected on his L.A. career, thanked fans, and expressed gratitude for Vanessa, Gianna and the rest of his family for giving him the opportunity to hoop for the Lakers for 20 years.

Kobe famously ended the speech by saying "Mamba Out" ... and as he walked off the floor -- a lucky fan was able to nab the towel off his shoulders.

Turns out ... that was a VERY lucrative move -- because it not only fetched $8,000 at an auction in 2016 -- it sold again for $33,077.16 at a different auction Sunday.

Iconic Auctions president Jeff Woolf told CNN the winning bidder was none other than David Kohler -- the Lakers superfan who not only collects insane memorabilia but also sells it.

Remember, Kohler is the dude who scored $1 MILLION from Babe Ruth's 500th home run bat back in December!!

As for Kohler's plan for the towel ... Woolf says the guy with the massive Lakers collection wants to open up a museum someday with all of his L.A. memorabilia on display.

Shaquille O'Neal wants to make it clear -- he does NOT support Joe Exotic or the GW Zoo, despite the way it looked in the Netflix docuseries, "Tiger King."

One of the big moments in the series was when Shaq not only visited the GW Zoo back in the day -- but he then gave Joe Exotic a plug on "Inside the NBA." Shaq says he's visited the zoo several times and even appeared on Joe's reality show in 2014.

People have been critical of Shaq -- since the doc paints Joe as a scumbag who mistreated the animals at his Oklahoma facility. Also, he's accused of trying to put a hit out on a rival tiger sanctuary owner. Bad stuff.

But, Shaq addressed the situation on "The Big Podcast with Shaq" -- and claimed he had NO IDEA things were as bad as they were at the zoo.

"I was just a visitor. I met this guy. Not my friend. Don’t know him. Never had any business dealings with him, and I had no idea any of that stuff was going on," Shaq said.

The NBA legend admits he made donations to the zoo -- claiming he does stuff like that all the time -- but would never support the mistreatment of animals.

"People that know me know that I'm righteous. I don't harm tigers. I love tigers."

"We found out that he’s involved with all the stuff, and then, actually, I stopped going.”

Shaq says he really likes the show -- he's binged watched it -- saying, "It's actually a really good documentary."

Tom Brady has NO hard feelings toward Bill Belichick despite his New England departure ... and calling their split this month a "divorce" wouldn't be fair -- so says the QB's dad.

"Divorce sounds a little bit harsh," Tom Brady, Sr. says, "I think it's a separation, you know?"

When Tom bolted for Tampa Bay earlier this month ... reports indicated Tom wasn't exactly pleased by the lack of love Bill and the Pats showed him when it came to free agency.

But, Tom's dad spoke with Steph Curry's parents, Sonya and Dell, on their "Raising Fame: Sports Edition" podcast ... and he shot down all rumors of a rift with The Hoodie.

"Bill's got a lot of responsibilities to keep the Patriots on track and that is a bigger responsibility than keeping Tommy under the hood," TB Sr. says.

"So, both of them are mature individuals and I really respect Bill's decision and respect Tommy's decision as well. It's okay to take different paths. You don't have to stay joined at the hip."

In fact, Tom's dad claims his son has nothing but love for the Patriots' head man ... even after the split.

"I mean, I can't tell you the hundreds of times that Tommy has said Bill is the best coach in football. Tommy sings Bill's praises."

Dallas Cowboys WR Ventell Bryant took at least 3 DUI tests prior to his arrest this month -- and cops say he bombed ALL OF THEM ... and it's all on police video obtained by TMZ Sports.

Bryant was pulled over in Tampa, Fla. at around 2:30 AM on March 11 after cops say he was driving his 2019 Dodge Charger without headlights on.

Officers say during the stop, the 23-year-old NFL player had bloodshot eyes, smelled like booze and admitted to having 3 margaritas before getting behind the wheel.

Cops got Bryant out of the car and onto the street ... and you can see in police footage, the Cowboys wideout went through a litany of tests to determine his sobriety.

Officers made Bryant -- who caught a TD pass from Dak Prescott last season -- walk in a straight line, balance on one leg and touch his fingers to his nose while looking up at the sky.

In the video, it didn't seem like Bryant outwardly bombed the tests ... but cops clearly felt differently, 'cause they slapped the cuffs on him in a hurry.

"Arrested?" Bryant asks one of the officers. "I can't afford this, bruh!"

You can see Bryant's friends were NOT happy to learn of the football player's arrest ... and when one asked which sobriety test Ventell failed, the cop replied, "Every single last one of them!"

Bryant -- a rookie who was signed by the Cowboys just before last season and is expected to compete for a roster spot with Dallas in 2020 -- was charged with misdemeanor DUI.

New York Knicks and Rangers owner James Dolan has tested positive for COVID-19 ... making him the first known major American sports team owner to contract the virus.

Knicks PR announced Saturday night that the 64-year-old billionaire owner -- one of the most controversial figures in sports -- has coronavirus ... but made it clear he was in good condition, and still in charge of his teams.

"The Madison Square Garden Company Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Dolan has tested positive for coronavirus. He has been in self-isolation and is experiencing little to no symptoms. He continues to oversee business operations."

Dolan lives in New York -- the United States hotbed for the pandemic -- with over 53,000 identified cases.

Before the NBA shut down earlier this month, Dolan was reportedly the only NBA owner who didn't want to play games without fans or suspend the season ... despite the growing threat of the virus.

The war between Claressa Shields and Laila Ali is even nastier BEHIND THE SCENES ... with Claressa revealing all the trash-talking messages they've been sending each other -- and it's WILD!!

Shields -- BY FAR the best active female boxer on the planet -- says she offered up an olive branch to Ali back in January, after Laila trashed her on 'Sway in the Morning.'

If you recall, 42-year-old Ali (24-0) said she would destroy Shields if they ever fought because Claressa isn't talented enough to hang with her.

During the interview, Ali claimed Shields had called her a bad businesswoman -- something Shields says she never said.

So, Claressa reached out in Laila's DMs to try and clear things up -- and a few months later, she got a pretty scathing reply from Laila.

"She goes, You are a real punk. Talking all that sh*t publicly but trying to make nice in private,'" Shields explained.

Here's another message Shields claims she got from Ali:

"I'm gonna teach you a whole lot of things that will make you a better fighter and person. Lesson #1: Learn to shut your mouth about money being there because it's not there until it's in an escrow account."

"I can see right through you and always have. So just be patient, and hopefully you will have the opportunity to try and knock me out. Even though you're not even hurting these soft girls you have been fighting."

WOW.

Claressa responded -- "I hurt everybody I fight. But the girls are way tougher now, and they don't go down now like they went down back in the day. Those bitches was soft."

Just watch the video ... Claressa spells out the whole thing -- and tells us she's dead serious about a big money fight with Laila if the two sides can agree on numbers.

Francis Ngannou says if Dana White can lock down a location for UFC 249 -- the epic Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson card -- he will be there ... ready to beat the hell outta Jairzinho Rozenstruik.

The 33-year-old, 6'4", 260 lb. monster was scheduled to fight Rozenstruik -- a 32-year-old, undefeated heavyweight -- Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.

Then, Coronavirus screwed everything up ... and the highly anticipated March 28th fight was put on ice.

But, that doesn't mean the men ain't gonna scrap ... 'cause Ngannou tells TMZ Sports that he is 100% fighting -- assuming the UFC honcho can find a place that's down to host the event.

"[Dana] said if they find a location, we will be on the card," Francis says.

Ngannou has even found a facility where he can lift and train with his coaches ... 'cause he's planning to step in the Octagon in less than 3 weeks.

"Since we are expecting some potential fight for April 18th, so we have to stay ready. So, we have a closed-door training. Just me and Eric Nicksick, my coach. So, we keep working out."

There's been a crazy amount of speculation about where 249 could take place ... Khabib's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, recently told us the UFC was looking at locations in Africa.

Francis says even he doesn't know where it'll happen ... but if there's a place that's safe, you bet your ass he'll be there.

"I don't know exactly where the fight will take place," Ngannou says, "However, what I do know is wherever it is gonna be, I'm gonna be there."

Please, please, PLEASE, Dana ... lock down a spot for these fights!!

Forget expensive cars and flashy jewelry ... James Bradberry says the first big purchase he's going to make with his new Giants contract is the gift of retirement for his mom!!

"I'mma surprise her with that," the new NY corner tells TMZ Sports. "It's not an actual thing I'd be giving her, but I'll be telling her, 'Hey, you ain't got to go to work anymore if you don't want to.'"

James balled out this past season in Carolina, recording 3 INTs and 12 pass breakups ... and he was rewarded for the effort with a 3-year, $45 MILLION contract from the Giants in free-agency this month.

But, Bradberry says his mom is priority No. 1 when it comes to spending that new cash ... telling us she deserves all of it for the way she raised him and his sister as a single mom in Birmingham, Ala.

"She sacrificed a lot for me and my sister while growing up," Bradberry says. "And just to be able to repay her without having her go to work anymore that'd be good for me because she can now do whatever she wants. Enjoy life."

Ex-Steelers stud Ike Taylor says Tom Brady is going to LOVE his new head coach, telling TMZ Sports he had a blast playing for Bruce Arians for YEARS in Pittsburgh.

"BA's a 'we' guy," Taylor says ... "He’s one of the guys. BA is one of the guys."

Taylor spent nearly a decade around Tampa Bay's head man when Arians was a Steelers assistant ... and Ike had nothing but good things to say about him when we talked to him this week.

In fact, when we asked if TB12 was going to have an easy time playing for the dude down in Florida ... Ike couldn't have been more convinced.

"BA is the ultimate player's coach," Taylor says. "Just from being around BA, Tom Brady is getting a player’s coach, who, for the most part, is just going to let him be him."

Of course, there's been some concern that Bruce's infatuation with the deep ball could hurt Brady -- considering that requires 42-year-old TB12 to hang in the pocket more and take more hits.

But Ike says he knows Arians will be flexible ... and might even implement some of Brady's old offense into this season.

"I would say six or eight games throughout the season the offense should be clicking," Ike says.