TMZ Sports - Page 50

Adrien Broner hasn't fought in a year-and-a-half -- a streak that was supposed to come to an end this Saturday -- but the 4-weight class world champ just announced he's struggling with his mental health, and is pulling out of the fight.

33-year-old Broner was scheduled to box 32-year-old Omar Figueroa Jr. on August 20 at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, FL. ... but early Monday morning, AB let the world know the fight's off.

"Man, I'm going thru a lot at this moment in my life but I ain't go give up I set some more goals and UI ain't stopping until I finish what I started but sorry to say this but I'm not fighting #August20th," Broner wrote.

Just hours before AB made the announcement, he was still promoting his Showtime fight on Instagram. But, early Monday morning, he decided to announce he was pulling out because he wasn't feeling full-strength ... and the boxing ring isn't a place for play.

"Sorry to all my fans but #MentalHealth is real and I’m not about to play inside the ring I’ve watched a lot of people die playing with they boxing career and that is something I won’t do just pray for me I love the sport of boxing to much to not give my all and I feel Like I came up short before because my mind wasn’t 100%," Adrien wrote.

Broner says he needs to change some stuff in his life before he takes another boxing match.

"I need to make some changes for the better instead of worrying about other people feelings and pleasing them when In all reality I have nothing to prove to nobody," AB wrote, adding, "I have to step back and overcome this obstacle before I go put my life on the line inside the square circle again I know I’m far from being finished with the sport SEE YALL SOON #Respectfully❤️ 🆎"

Unfortunately, this is the 2nd time AB and Figueroa -- a former lightweight champ with only 2 losses -- were supposed to fight ... before the bout was canceled. In 2018, Omar was forced to pull out with an injury.

As for Saturday's event ... we're told execs are working on finding a new opponent for Figueroa Jr., and with just a few days to work with, there's a good chance it'll be another fighter from the card.

Legendary Princeton basketball head coach Pete Carril passed away on Monday ... his family announced. He was 92 years old.

Carril -- who is widely known for executing the "Princeton offense," which he used throughout the majority of his career -- died "peacefully," the family said.

The Hall of Fame inductee coached the Tigers for 29 years ... racking up 514 wins, 13 conference championships and 11 NCAA Tournament appearances.

Carril served as a public information officer in the U.S. Army before kickstarting his coaching career at the high school level. He became head coach at Lehigh University in 1966, where he remained for one season before taking the Princeton job.

Coach went on to join the Sacramento Kings as an assistant for several seasons.

Legendary commentator Dick Vitale -- who was good friends with Carril -- tweeted about the loss ... saying, "I believe that in defining greatness in coaches u must determine if they get maximum out of their TEAM personnel," he tweeted.

"PETE CARRIL is a prime example of a brilliant coaching mind that got max out of his talent."

Bronny James is looking more and more like his pops every time he takes the court -- because LeBron's oldest just unloaded an insane posterizing dunk on his opponent ... and the NBA superstar lost his mind!!

The moment just happened at the Club Basketball Euro Tour overseas ... where Bronny and his bro, Bryce, are suiting up for the California Basketball Club.

With under 2 minutes in the second quarter, #0 took the ball the whole length of the court ... and legit took flight as he slammed it home.

The highlight has social media going off -- including LeBron Sr, who tweeted, "OH MY GOODNESS BRONNY!!!!! 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱"

Donovan Mitchell added -- "This crazy bronny!!"

Of course, the James bros are finally suiting up on the same team together ... and hoops fans have been watching their every move.

The dunk is just a sign of more to come from Bronny ... who's entering his senior year of high school hoops.

New date, new place, same fights -- the Austin McBroom vs. AnEsonGib boxing match has officially been rescheduled for September 10 at Banc of California Stadium, TMZ Sports has learned.

As we previously reported, the Social Gloves event -- which was originally set to happen at Crypto.com Arena on July 30 -- was pushed back due to issues with Gib getting medical clearance ... and the whole thing was close to getting scrapped altogether.

Luckily for fans, we are told the original card -- including the Adrian Peterson vs. Le'Veon Bell bout and Nick Young vs. Blueface fight -- is still intact ... so there's a lot to look forward to.

Speaking of Young, Swaggy P has been working out like crazy leading up to the fight ... and by looking at his training footage, it's clear he's taking this thing seriously.

Le'Veon is certainly giving it all he's got, too -- previously telling us he's fully focused on his boxing career.

Many men wish death upon 50 Cent, but Floyd Mayweather isn't one of them ... 'cause the rapper says they have officially squashed their longtime beef.

Remember, the two used to be really tight up until 2012 ... when Fiddy claimed TBE stiffed him out of $2 million used to kickstart his Money Team boxing promotion.

The feud went viral -- with Fif incessantly calling Mayweather out on social media, including a video challenging the boxing legend to read one page of a Harry Potter book on camera to prove he could read.

Despite the bad falling out, 50 says that's all water under the bridge now ... telling "The Breakfast Club" he made amends with Floyd at a comedy show in Vegas earlier this year.

50 says the two realized life is short and they have a ton of respect for each other's success ... and after he apologized, Floyd replied, "What took you so long?"

The make up was made official on social media on Sunday ... with 50 announcing Floyd would be attending his Tycoon Weekend comedy event.

Former NFL star Aqib Talib's brother, Yaqub Talib, is a wanted man in Texas -- this after cops say he was involved in a fatal shooting at a youth football game this weekend.

The Lancaster Police Department fired off an announcement Sunday saying that they were looking for Yaqub in connection to the death of an adult male Saturday ... who was shot and killed during an argument at the conclusion of a match that parents were angry about.

The man is said to be a coach for one of the teams ... there's a name circulating online, but we'll refrain from ID'ing him at this time until the family and/or cops confirm. In any case, he succumbed to his injuries ... which police say was a direct result of a discharged firearm.

There's video of the alleged shooting which eyewitnesses claim shows a man pull out the gun and fire. We're told people in the crowd identified the man wearing all-black and a bucket hat as possibly being one of the Talib brothers -- but it's hard to make out who this person is, or if they have a weapon at all. What is depicted ... a scuffle/apparent shooting.

Lancaster PD says they've identified the suspect in this case as Yaqub, and note there's an active warrant for his arrest. It's unclear what charge, exactly, they wanna bring him in on ... but some say this looks to be outright murder. We've reached out to LPD for clarification.

A former mugshot of Yaqub was attached to the press release, and Lancaster is asking for any and all help in finding him. BTW, Aqib was also there for this tragic killing.

His attorney tells TMZ ... "Aqib was present when this unfortunate incident occurred and is very distraught and devastated over this terrible loss of life. He would like to convey his condolences to the family of the victim and to everyone who witnessed this unfortunate tragedy."

Aqib famously played for the Bucs, the Broncos (with whom he won a Super Bowl ring) and several other teams over the years. He was not named in Lancaster PD's release.

Tennessee Titans linebacker Bud Dupree just pled guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge stemming from his role in a fight at a Walgreens earlier this year, TMZ Sports has learned.

The 29-year-old football player -- according to a court official -- appeared in a Nashville, Tenn. courtroom on Monday and made the plea after striking a deal with prosecutors.

Dupree pled guilty to misdemeanor assault offensive or provocative, the court official tells us.

Dupree was sentenced to unsupervised probation for 6 months, according to the official. He also had to pay $418 in court costs.

The Titans had practice Monday morning ... though it's unclear if the pass rusher -- who signed a 5-year, $82.5 million contract with the Titans in 2021 -- made it to the workout.

As we previously reported, Dupree was initially cited back on Jan. 4 after cops say he attacked an employee at a Nashville-area Walgreens on Jan. 2.

Cops say Dupree grabbed the employee during the incident -- and then attempted to take the man's phone, before eventually fleeing the scene prior to police officers' arrival.

Sources close to Dupree allege the employee had heckled the Titans player ... and threatened to spit on the women he was with, inciting the fracas.

We've reached out to the Titans, Dupree's attorney, and prosecutors for comment, but so far, no word back yet.

Alex Rodriguez kept it real when talking about Padres star Fernando Tatís Jr. -- who received an 80-game suspension for a positive PED test -- saying he wishes young players would "learn from my stupidity" and not make the same mistakes he made as a player.

A-Rod made the comments during the "KayRod" broadcast of "Sunday Night Baseball" ... with the former NY Yankees slugger saying the young shortstop may never see the Hall of Fame after getting popped, and that disappoints him.

"I wish that a lot of these young players who I admire so much would learn from my stupidity and my debacle," Rodriguez said, "And, it almost brings me to tears to see a kid like Tatis who's 23 years old, that for the rest of his career, he's just going to play it out."

"There's probably no Hall of Fame," A-Rod continued, before acknowledging he will likely never make it to Cooperstown, despite deserving to be there, steroids aside.

"I'm not going to go to the Hall of Fame probably because of my own mistake. And that's heartbreaking for me. It's heartbreaking to explain that to my daughters. But that's on me."

As we reported, Tatis Jr. -- one of the best players in the sport -- was suspended 80 games by MLB for testing positive for Clostebol, a performance-enhancing substance.

On Friday, shortly after the suspension was announced, Fernando issued a statement claiming he accidentally ingested the banned substance when taking medication for ringworm.

Rodriguez -- who played 22 seasons in MLB (3x AL MVP, 14x All-Star -- was suspended in 2013 by commissioner Bud Selig for using performance-enhancing drugs and violating the league's drug prevention and treatment program.

A-Rod, the Yanks third baseman at the time, received a 211-game suspension ... which sidelined him for the remainder of the 2013 season and the entire 2014 campaign.

Rodriguez has admitted to taking the PEDs and recognizes his mistake will be inextricably linked to his career, something he didn't want to be the reality for rising superstars like Tatis.

Wayne Gretzky allegedly lied about dropping pounds by chewing gum -- and a man is now suing the hockey legend over it ... claiming The Great One's great fib cost him $10 MILLION.

The allegations are all spelled out in a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports, filed in Los Angeles on Monday.

The plaintiff, Steven Sparks, says he created a "natural gum used to manage weight," and called it "OMG gum." He says in the suit he eventually hired on Wayne's wife, Janet Marie Gretzky, to be a spokesperson for the product.

The problem, according to Sparks, is Wayne eventually made up a lie about the gum -- saying after he chewed it for roughly a two-month span ... it helped him lose 35 pounds.

Sparks alleged Wayne used the lie to boost the company's stock -- "which he surreptitiously purchased under his family's name."

Sparks, claiming he had no idea Wayne was lying about the weight loss, says he reinvested both money and services into the company. But, when Wayne eventually admitted he had fabricated the weight loss -- it caused the company to tank, and hit Sparks HARD in his wallet.

Adele is convinced she'll never find someone like Rich Paul again -- saying she's "happy as I’ll ever be" in a relationship with the sports super agent.

The "Easy On Me" singer gushed over Paul in a recent interview with Elle magazine ... explaining that things are going so well with LeBron James' BFF, she "might as well be married."

"I've never been in love like this," she said. "I'm obsessed with him."

The 34-year-old hasn't been shy about expressing her feelings for Paul -- she said in an interview with Rolling Stone back in 2021 that the two had the most "incredible, openhearted, and easiest" relationship.

The couple seems so smitten with one another, many have speculated they're already engaged, but she told Elle that's not the case ... yet.

Adele added in the interview that she was hopeful she could have more kids some day.

"I'm a homemaker and I’m a matriarch," she said, "and a stable life helps me with my music."

Draymond Green's wedding celebration turned into a rap concert this weekend ... 'cause after the Golden State Warriors star tied the knot with his fiancée, Hazel Renee, he took the stage with DaBaby and Roddy Ricch!!

Green and Hazel -- who got engaged back in 2019 -- jumped the broom on Saturday ... and their wedding ceremony brought out some of the biggest names in hoops AND music.

NBA stars Jayson Tatum and LeBron James were in attendance to see the Warriors forward get married ... as well as his Dubs teammate, Steph Curry, and his brother, Seth.

Green -- a 4-time NBA champ -- is no stranger to celebrating his accomplishments ... he's fresh off earning his most recent title after beating the Boston Celtics in the Finals.

Green tapped DaBaby and Roddy Ricch to perform their hit song "Rockstar" for all the guests ... and, instead of watching them do their thing, Green joined the duo and started performing too.

In the video, you see Green and his wife, Hazel, flanked by both DaBaby and Roddy Ricch ... rapping word for word, and you can tell #23 was super into it.

Rich Paul and Maverick Carter were also in the building ... and Mav and LBJ seemed to be having the time of their lives at the reception.

Milwaukee fans are probably having the worst Monday ever ... 'cause Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo just revealed he'd love to play for the rival Chicago Bulls one day.

It's not time to panic just yet, Bucks fans -- the 2-time MVP and 2021 NBA champ made it crystal clear he's committed to his current team during an interview with "The Sports Zone" on Fox 32 Chicago ... but the 27-year-old also raved about the possibility of suiting up in Black and Red at some point in his career.

"It's a team that won multiple championships, it's a team that one of the greatest players -- if not the greatest player to ever play this game -- played for, so it's a no brainer," the Greek Freak said Sunday night.

"Everybody would love to play for Chicago. Down the line, you never know, you never know how life brings it, maybe I'll play for Chicago. But right now, I'm committed to Milwaukee."

Giannis says any NBAer "would be a liar" if they said they didn't want to play for Chicago ... which just goes to show how much influence Michael Jordan still has on today's game.

Brittney Griner is fighting back in her drug case in Russia -- formally filing an appeal of her conviction in the foreign country, days after she was sentenced to 9 years behind bars there.

Griner's attorney confirmed the filing to CNN on Monday. It's not immediately known what the grounds of the appeal are, or when it will be heard in court.

The move, though, was expected -- after Griner was convicted and sentenced on Aug. 4. The WNBA superstar admitted to having hashish oil in her luggage at a Moscow airport, but she told a courtroom she packed it inadvertently and had no intentions at all of breaking the law.

Regardless of the appeal process, the U.S. -- which has called Griner wrongfully detained -- is continuing attempts to strike a prisoner swap deal with Russia in order to bring the 31-year-old home.

"I call on Russia to release her immediately so she can be with her wife, loved ones, friends and teammates," Biden said following her conviction earlier this month.

"My administration will continue to work tirelessly and pursue every possible avenue to bring Brittney and Paul Whelan home safely as soon as possible."

Make some room in Cooperstown for Justin Crawford in about two decades -- 'cause Johnny Damon says the Philadelphia Phillies' top draft pick is about to have a MONSTER MLB career!!

Damon -- who used to play against Justin's father, Carl Crawford, in The Show -- made the guarantee to TMZ Sports while out at an event in NYC earlier this month.

"He'll probably steal 500 bases," Damon said of Justin, "hit a couple hundred home runs. Just be a menace to his opponents throughout the years."

Justin was officially taken by the Phils with the #17 overall pick in last month's MLB draft -- and because of his skill set and famous father pedigree, everyone's assuming he's got a bright future ahead of him.

But, Damon, who had to try to get Carl off the base paths for years when the two were AL East rivals in the early 2000s, took it one step further -- and said he's expecting flat-out, Hall-off-Fame-level greatness from the 18-year-old.

"I'm happy for Carl," Johnny said. "And I know his son is going to have a great Major League career."

Ex-NFL star Prince Amukamara and the Players Choir are ready to be the newest members of NSYNC -- 'cause the footballer-turned-singer says his guys are ready to collab after the pop star approved their rendition of his song on "America's Got Talent!"

If you missed it, the Players Choir -- a group of 11 former NFL athletes including Amukamara, Isaiah McKenzie, and Bryant McKinnie -- performed Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop The Feeling!" on 'AGT' earlier this week ... and they killed it!

Timberlake was very impressed, sharing the clip of their gig on his Twitter with praising hand emojis ... and, Amukamara says they were hyped about the nod.

"Anytime you do another artist's song, you want to make sure that you make them proud first and foremost," the former Giants cornerback tells us this week.

"Getting that stamp of approval from Justin was huge!"

Does this open doors for a collab with the award-winning singer? If it does, Amukamara tells us the squad is down for it.

"Of course!" Amukamara said, "No one is gonna decline that!"

"It was just even awesome for him to retweet us and show us some love. If that opportunity comes, we're all gonna be jumping up and down for that."

Until then, PC -- who made their debut in 2008 -- will continue to sing on stage with more to come soon.

"Being on stage was awesome," Amukamara said, "and if we get another opportunity which I'm sure we will and we have been."

"Stuff's coming up so it's awesome."

WWE Superstar Austin Theory knows it's damn near impossible to replace his former boss, Vince McMahon ... but there's one person he believes can and will get the job done, and that's the billionaire's son-in-law -- Triple H!!

TMZ Sports spoke with 25-year-old Theory -- who was with rising women's star Raquel -- out at LAX ... and asked him his thoughts on HHH succeeding Vince as the company's heartbeat.

"Triple H, I feel like he has a very creative mind," Theory said, "and I think now he always says it's very hard to fill Mr. McMahon's shoes, and it's gonna take a lot of people to do that."

Theory and Raquel both expressed that there's a level of comfortability with "The Game" in charge as the head honcho ... and the relationship they developed with him formed during their time in NXT.

"I would say for me, and I'm sure she feels the same way, but both of us coming up in NXT and Triple H was in charge there along with Shawn Michaels, and for us, it was a great experience," Theory said.

"I feel like there's a lot more freedom now and a lot more to explore," he added.

Theory called Vince, his former on-screen mentor, "iconic" and said that anybody stepping in after him would inevitably have tough shoes to fill because of what Vince meant to the world of sports entertainment.

"I would just say with Mr. McMahon, he's always gonna be, I think John Cena just said it, if there was a Mount Rushmore, he'd be the only one on it," Theory said.