TMZ Sports - Page 50

Former pro boxer Mario Oscar Melo -- who fought Michael Moorer for the WBO light heavyweight title in 1990 -- died Sunday after choking on dough during a croissant-eating contest in Argentina.

**WARNING -- THE VIDEO IS DISTURBING**

Video shows several men violently trying to dislodge the croissant from Melo's throat while on stage at the event in Buenos Aires, but to no avail. Melo was rushed to a nearby hospital but was declared dead on arrival.

Melo was 56.

Reports say Melo was on his 3rd croissant when he started to choke. The pasty is known locally as a medialuna.

While eating competitions are popular around the world, the Major League Eating organization (which oversees huge events like Nathan's Famous 4th of July hot dog contest) always requires paramedics to be on hand in case a situation like this happens.

According to local reports, there was a firefighter and a doctor in the crowd who raced up and tried to help -- but it does not appear there was a dedicated, trained medical staff at the event.

Melo was 21-9 as a pro fighter, with the Moorer fight being his most famous bout -- though he lost in the 1st round.

Floyd Mayweather's first order of business after announcing his big fight in Japan?? Well, he ain't sprinting to the gym just yet ... he had to check in on his L.A. Clippers first.

As we previously reported ... Floyd is going up against undefeated 20-year-old kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa at RIZIN 14 on Dec. 31 in what might be an MMA match (the 2 sides are still deciding on the rules).

After the surprise press conference in Japan on Sunday night, the 41-year-old returned to the States on Monday in time to catch the tip off in his usual courtside seats at Staples Center.

Floyd is famous for staying in fight shape -- even when he's not fighting -- so, it's not like 1 day off will really matter.

Then again, Mayweather claims Tenshin is super fast and motivated -- so taking the fight lightly could be a mistake.

That said, critics like 50 Cent say this Tenshin guy is like fighting an Uber driver -- so, Floyd could stuff his face with hot dogs and popcorn and still light him up.

Farrah Abraham pulled no punches trash talking the celebrity boxing promoters she says did her dirty ... claiming they bullied her outta an anti-bullying event. Oh, the irony.

We got Farrah Monday night in WeHo outside of Catch restaurant and asked about her doomed fight against Nicole "Hoopz" Alexander. You'll recall Farrah pulled the plug claiming promoters screwed her by not providing her with hotel rooms, plane tickets and fight tix.

The ex-'Teen Mom' turned her guns on event organizers, including promoter Damon Feldman. Farrah says she's turning her attention to her new show.

Daniel Cormier tells TMZ Sports the fight with Brock Lesnar is 100% going to happen -- and he's already putting together a timeline to prepare his training camp.

The two have been going at each other in public for months but Brock's obligations to the WWE are an issue, especially since he's now the WWE Universal Champion.

But, Cormier says he's thinking about a March date for the Lesnar fight -- which lines up perfectly with UFC 235 on March 2 in Las Vegas.

"My preparation for that fight won’t start until the beginning of the new year," Cormier told the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weeknights on FS1).

"I got the Gilroy High School wrestling season up until February (he's a coach at the high school in Northern California). So, it has to be after that. So, I’m off limits until early March."

Cormier insists he's deadly serious about walking away from fighting on his 40th birthday -- which is March 20 -- so, UFC 235 would make the most sense.

That said, Cormier's career is on fire right now -- both in and out of the Octagon. So, we asked if Dana White came to him with an 8-figure offer to fight Jon Jones for a 3rd time, would he take it?

Triple H went to Saudi Arabia ... and all he got was this lousy pectoral injury!!!

GOOD LORD!!!

The WWE superstar suffered a pectoral tear during the pay-per-view show in Riyadh last week during a tag team between D-Generation X and The Brothers of Destruction.

Despite the injury, the 49-year-old legend finished the match -- and even put Kane into his trademark Pedigree finishing move.

But, the damage to his chest was pretty bad -- you can see the discoloration in his right pec ... it's bad.

The good news, Triple H scheduled surgery for Tuesday morning and he'll hopefully make a full recovery.

Wrestling -- still think it's fake?

Triple H isn't exactly a full-time wrestler anymore -- but he's been known to getting in the ring and mixing it up every now and then.

Dennis Rodman's going to bat for Luke Walton -- telling TMZ Sports he thinks the Lakers coach is doing a "very, very good job" ... but he's being treated unfairly by the organization.

"I mean, it's a sad situation," Rodman said ... "I think Luke Walton's been doing a very, very good job with the team."

The Lakers are 4-6 and Magic Johnson essentially said Luke's job is safe (for now). So, what's so unfair about the situation? Here's what he said. See if you speak Rodman ...

"I think now, all of a sudden, with a 'higher power' coming to the Lakers, called LeBron, all of a sudden now things are changing. And, his hands are tied right now."

We think Dennis means Luke isn't really free to call the shots as long as LeBron is on the team. He's basically gotta do whatever Bron wants.

There's more ... Rodman also says Luke's gotta deal with some of the young guys on the team who thought they were gonna be stars in Los Angeles until LeBron came along.

"He's taking all that limelight away from these young kids now ... It's like, the kids gotta f**king grow up."

Dennis isn't just trying to dish out advice to the Lakers -- he strongly believes people battling addiction issues can learn a lot from his agent Darren Prince, whose new book details his own struggle.

Jon Stewart REALLY wants the Mets to be good -- and REALLY wants 'em to sign Bryce Harper -- but he's also been around long enough to know they'll bungle it.

"There's no way Bryce Harper is coming to the Mets," Stewart told us in NYC ... "It's not possible!"

Harper is reportedly looking for a MASSIVE new contract (some say $400 MIL) with his eye on several teams. But Stewart says fellow Mets fans shouldn't hold their breath.

"I'm sure they just signed a 14-year-old they're sure is going to be the next Bryce Harper," Stewart says ... "but is gonna turn out to be just another asthmatic with a bat."

Jon is one of New York's most famous die-hards ... but back-to-back seasons of fewer than 80 wins have him feelin' pretty down on the Mets these days.

Still, Jon says he's holding out a scintilla of hope ... because a strong left-handed batter would be DOPE!

Joakim Noah's model girlfriend Lais Ribeiro was so damn hot in her thong bikini in Malibu this weekend -- we barely noticed the beach was littered with a ton of HUGE stars!!

Seriously ... everyone from John McEnroe to Kenny Chesney and Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber were hanging out at Laird Hamilton's pad for a Sunday funday.

But, all eyes were on Joakim and Lais ... for obvious reasons.

Joakim was waived by the Knicks last month -- and while they lost to the Washington Wizards that day, Noah was having a much better time.

Lais is one of the top lingerie models in the world and will be walking in the Victoria's Secret fashion show later this week.

She famously rocked the $2 MILLION fantasy bra at the 2017 show in China -- which Joakim could easily afford, considering he's made more than $121 MILLION playing pro basketball.

Unclear how long Joakim and Lais have been an item -- but they were reportedly spotted out clubbing back in September and have grown closer ever since.

In fact, they spent Halloween together and even had themed costumes -- he was Aquaman and she was Storm.

Keenan Allen's got a little bit of Marshawn Lynch in him -- 'cause after the Chargers WR lit up the Seahawks on Sunday, he busted a crotch grab aimed right at some Seattle fans!

TMZ Sports has the footage showing Allen walking toward the tunnel after L.A.'s 25-17 victory over Seattle ... and grabbing his junk while staring at some loud Hawks fans at CenturyLink Field in Seattle.

After two solid pumps -- Allen playfully stuck out his tongue at the fans and continued into the locker room.

Allen had a helluva game -- hauling in 6 catches for 124 yards and 2 rushes for 28 yards. He was in a good mood.

Guessing Allen will likely get fined for the gesture. Also guessing he knew that already and didn't care because he's in the middle of a 4-year deal worth up to $49 million (with $20 mil guaranteed).

For comparison, Rams star Marcus Peters was fined $13,000 for busting a crotch grab while diving into the end zone earlier this season (in a tribute to his pal, Marshawn Lynch).

Deontay Wilder learned how to floss from the creator of the dance himself in the middle of an airport this weekend ... and TMZ Sports has the amazing video.

The 6'7" Wilder and the Backpack Kid randomly ran into each other at LAX ... and, of course, a floss lesson went down.

Deontay was surprisingly terrible at it ... but tells us he might find a way to work it into one of his next fights with a little more practice.

As for BPK ... he got shown a couple moves from Wilder too -- but says he hopes The Bronze Bomber can perfect the floss and turn it into his new post-knockout routine.

The feud between 50 Cent and Floyd Mayweather is still going -- Fiddy just CLOWNED the boxer's newly announced fight, saying his opponent is more "Uber driver" than contender.

As we previously reported ... Mayweather just signed a deal to fight on New Year's Eve in Japan against an undefeated 20-year-old kickboxer, Tenshin Nasukawa.

Unclear whether the bout will be a boxing match or full-on MMA ... but, either way, 50 says it's a joke.

"Champ fighting a Uber driver before the IRS embarrass him again. Pay preview my ass, we watching this on YouTube."

50 didn't stop there ... sayin' Floyd shoulda taken on Gennady Golovkin -- writing, "What happen to GGG, couldn't find his phone number. get the f**k outta here wit this sh*t."

50 added, "Champ done turned into a circus act ... at least Canelo fighting killers."

Fitty and Floyd have been beefing on social media for months ... with Mayweather recently saying a rift between the rapper and Floyd's manager, Al Haymon, is where the tiff all started.

Talk about staying cool under pressure ... NFL legend Andre Johnson kept his composure and didn't beat a dude's ass in a Houston bar Sunday after the guy called him a "bitch" in front of everyone.

Here's the deal ... multiple witnesses tell us the Texans great walked into the Belle Station club in Houston to watch the games around 5:45 PM when a "fan" approached him and started hounding him for photographs.

We're told Andre had just walked in the club and told the guy he'd do it after he got settled in. Problem is, the "fan" wasn't in the mood to be patient and started talking trash to the WR in front of a crowd of people.

Andre confronted the guy -- and you can see in the video, obtained by TMZ Sports, he wasn't happy. At one point the guy called Andre a bitch and several people we spoke with thought Johnson was just gonna end it right there.

We spoke with Johnson's rep, Kennard McGuire who says security stepped in and Johnson walked away without ever laying a finger on the guy.

Michael Vick's down for touchdown celebrations ... but when it comes to pullin' out cell phones in the endzone like Michael Thomas did Sunday??

"It's way too much," the Falcons legend tells TMZ Sports ... "It's way too much."

The Saints superstar wideout put an exclamation point on New Orleans' win over the Rams by whippin' out a Joe Horn-style phone call after a 72-yard TD in the 4th quarter.

It was flagged ... but Horn (and a buncha others) loved it -- with the ex-Saints star telling NOLA.com, "I teared up."

But, Vick clearly didn't feel the same way ... saying the old, cell-phone-under-the-goal-post routine is bad for the sport!!

"Nah, nah, nah. No cell phones," Vick tells us ... "We don't want to corrupt the game like that."

Anthony Joshua clearly ain't sweating about whether his superfight with Deontay Wilder will ever go down ... 'cause it's kinda hard to perspire waist-deep in the Atlantic!!!!

The unified heavyweight champ hit Miami Beach on Sunday ... showing there's not a care in his rock-hard body right now about a possible AJ-Wilder tilt.

Joshua bro'd down with some buds ... splashed around in the water ... and toweled off on the sand -- all while everyone still wonders if he'll ever scrap with The Bronze Bomber.

Reports say it'll get locked in for next April ... but nobody's agreed to anything -- with Wilder shelving the talks so he can focus on his big fight with Tyson Fury on Dec. 1.

When you're about to get one of the richest contracts in sports history ... what do you get your wife for her birthday?

Bryce Harper got his wife THE BACKSTREET BOYS!!

The MLB superstar took his wife to see the guys at Planet Hollywood in Vegas over the weekend -- and not only got her backstage for a meet and greet ... but, had the guys take her on stage for a 5-on-1 serenade!

Check out the video as Kayla Harper gets a flower and a special rendition of "Shape of My Heart" from AJ, Howie, Nick, Kevin and Brian!

After the show, Kayla wrote, "My 9 year old self lost her mind last night. Bryce has been surprising me with little gifts all week and one of them happened to be a black dress that he said I needed for Sat night."

"He let me know at dinner that he was taking me to see the Backstreet Boys... little did I know, the biggest surprise of them all was meeting them & then having them pull me onstage to be serenaded."

The Red Sox kept their World Series party rollin' Sunday with some dudes that are pretty familiar with winning championships -- Tom Brady and Bill Belichick!!!

Alex Cora, J.D. Martinez and the boys hit Gillette Stadium before the Pats beat down the Packers ... showing off their new 'ship to The Goat, The Hoodie and the 65,878 fans in attendance.

Bill held the trophy ... J.D. got the crowd fired up ... Cora got a selfie in with Tom. Good times were had by all (sorry, Aaron Rodgers).

The Sox won the Series two weekends ago ... and have hardly come up for air since -- dropping hundreds of thousands of dollars at clubs and tearing up the streets of Boston on parade day.

Speaking of that ... remember how the trophy took a beating from a rogue beer can out there? Thing looks all good now!