Larry Brown Sports

Mike Tyson famously had a gold tooth front and center on his grill that’s since been replaced by a standard, boring white tooth. The story of how Tyson lost the tooth several years ago is as crazy as Tyson himself.

Kiki Tyson, Mike’s wife, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that her husband lost the tooth “when his tiger, Kenya, headbutted him.”

It’s unclear if Tyson got a gold tooth replacement after having his original tooth knocked out by the tiger, or if his gold tooth was knocked out by the tiger, and that’s why he has a white tooth now.

Kiki also told the Review-Journal that her husband had some dental work done about a year ago to close his notable gap. Tyson went back to the gap-tooth look after realizing it was his signature. Smart move by Tyson. You take away your signature gap, you can no longer get awesome birthday surprises like this one.

H/T The Dish

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is nicknamed “Money” for a good reason — he has a lot of it and he likes to floss it. He’s shared pictures of his sports betting exploits via Twitter, he’s shared pictures of his new fly cars, and he’s shown off his $50,000 iPod. Oh, and does Floyd love to brag about it.

“My check looks like your Social Security number,” Mayweather told MLive.com.

Floyd is preparing for his fight with Miguel Cotto on May 5 and HBO’s 24/7 show begins in a few weeks to help publicize the bout. Mayweather’s point was that he’s great at hyping his fights. He even talked about having his father, with whom he fought prior to his fight against Victor Ortiz, stop by the gym to create controversy for the show to generate buzz.

Mayweather may brag about his ability to generate money as the villain, but let’s be real here — it’s not an act. He may be a great boxer, but he’s not a nice guy.

H/T Diamond Leung
Photo Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

Manny Pacquiao recently rediscovered his religious roots and it’s changed his perspective on life and boxing. He says he’ll be retiring soon because of what God told him in a dream.

“I will not stay long in boxing because He said: ‘You have done enough. You have made yourself famous but this is harmful,’” Pacquiao reportedly told dzMM radio in an interview Monday.

Pac Man is scheduled to fight Timothy Bradley on June 9th in Las Vegas. It may be his last fight.

Pacquiao was talking retirement last month because he believed hurting people counters his religious beliefs. He even gave up cockfighting, gambling, and clubbing to cleanse his soul. But now that he’s been faced with the direct word of God, continuing his fighting career may be even more difficult.

Roy Jones Jr. said on a radio show that he believes he could have beaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. if they fought, but he thinks he would have struggled against Manny Pacquiao.

“The young Roy Jones, Jr. would probably beat Floyd Mayweather, Jr., because basically Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and James Toney fight with the same style,” he said on DBoxing Source, according to Boxing Scene. “My style is a different style to theirs.”

“But when you come back and start talking about Manny Pacquiao, he’s a whole different animal. He’s a southpaw who throws bombs. You’ve got to survive his power first, then you deal with him. That’s still left to be seen. Of course with my size I’ll beat him, but if I was in his weight class, that would be a good fight to see.”

It’s surprising that Roy, who is cocky enough to believe he can still be a champion, would actually say another fighter would have given him problems. At least he’s humble enough to admit Pac Man would have been a challenge.

You won’t find someone who was a bigger fan of Roy in the ’90s than me, but I don’t think it’s a given he would have beaten Floyd. I think the two of them would have felt each other out plenty because they’re exceptionally quick. I think a fight between them would have ended in an extremely close decision. His point about Pacquiao is also an important one. Though Manny looked vulnerable against Juan Manuel Marquez, Roy’s quotes reinforce what is so important to recognize about fights: it’s all about styles.

Everyone wants to see Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao square off in the ring, but with each passing day it becomes less likely that it will ever happen. A variety of excuses like a lack of pay-per-view money or an unwillingness to split the fight money 50-50 have been used by both fighters. For boxing fans, the back-and-forth is one of the most frustrating dynamics in the history of the sport. Mike Tyson even believes it has been so annoying that they should be thrown in jail for it.

“Listen if I was President I would throw (Pacquiao and Mayweather) in jail if they didn’t fight,” Tyson said during an interview with WXYT in Detroit. “I’d have them arrested. You can’t do that but that’s what I would try to do. I’d be like ‘these guys need to get locked up and find a new profession until they get their heads clear.’”

For once, I actually almost agree with Mike — aside from the jail part of course. The reasons these two have come up with to not fight one another are embarrassing. The entire boxing world wants it to happen, yet Pacquiao and Mayweather continue to annoy all of us by talking trash and avoiding the issue.

On a completely separate note, Tyson was also asked if plans were being discussed to make a Hangover 3 movie: “I was told there was one and I would like to participate in it but we will see what happens guys.” From the things I have heard about the second one, they should just leave the legend alone.

This should come as a surprise to absolutely no one, but Floyd Mayweather Jr. quotes are fun to showcase anyway. A few weeks ago, Mayweather sent out a blatantly racist tweet claiming that Jeremy Lin has only received so much attention because he is Asian. On Tuesday, Floyd said he stands by what he said but insists he is not racist, which of course makes no sense in anyone’s mind but his own.

“Like I said, the media always take your words and screw ’em up,” Mayweather said according to the NY Daily News. “They failed to say that I said the guy was a good player.”

Mayweather said it wasn’t even him that made the tweet, but someone who works for him. He did, however, make it clear that he told the person what to write.

“Do I regret what I said? Absolutely not,” he added. “I stand by what I said and I meant what I said.

“It’s OK for Miguel Cotto to represent the Puerto Rican fans and represent the Puerto Rican flag. I’m a black American. I believe in supporting my own first. That’s where I come from. They can feel my struggle if they come from the same background that I come from. That’s what I’m going to stand by.

“It’s so crazy. I’m not racist at all. I have Jewish people that work for me. Dominican, Mexican, Puerto Rican, white people who work for me. One of my best friends, Kip, is a white guy. All-American. That’s my guy.”

I suppose if one of his best friends is a white guy and he has a Jewish guy working for him, the tweet wasn’t racist. You win, Floyd. Dana White was wrong about you. You’re off the hook.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. may have an ongoing defamation suit with Manny Pacquiao, but apparently it’s taught him very little.

During the first stop of the promotional tour for his upcoming fight with Miguel Cotto, Mayweather took a shot at the only two fighters to whom Cotto has lost.

“One man has to rise to the occasion and that will be me,” Mayweather reportedly said Monday in Puerto Rico. “Floyd Mayweather is not a cheater like Antonio Margarito and Manny Pacquiao. Hard work. Hard work. Hard work.”

We don’t mind Floyd calling Antonio Margarito a cheater because he is one. But calling Manny Pacquiao a cheater is unfair when there is no proof he’s cheated. Pacquiao takes the accusations seriously and has even issued denial statements in response to Floyd.

It would be nice if the two finally fought to sort matters out in the ring, but we know it’s going to be a long time before that happens, if ever. In the meantime, Floyd continues to settle for cheap shots.

NBA All-Star Weekend is always the place to be, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. made sure he wasn’t missing out. The boxer was in attendance for the Three-Point Contest in Orlando along with buddy 50 Cent. But it’s not Floyd’s presence that was noteworthy so much as his outfit. Dude was rocking a Cosby sweater.

Floyd and 50 were iced out as usual, flossing all their expensive jewelry. But a Cosby sweater? Is that really what’s in these days, Floyd? Guess he has to get all his outlandish tastes out of the way before he’s limited to an orange jumpsuit everyday.

Picture via NBA

How image conscious and controlling is Floyd Mayweather Jr.? The boxer reportedly insisted that if HBO wanted to produce his fight on May 5th against Miguel Cotto, their announcers would not be able to discuss his out-of-ring affairs.

Sports by Brooks reported the story and says Mayweather’s representative, Al Haymon, made the demand that also prevents HBO’s announcers from discussing Mayweather’s management team.

Brooks says Mayweather made the same demands during past negotiations but previous HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg would not agree to those terms. New president Ken Hershman reportedly has agreed.

What’s confusing is why Hershman would agree if Greenburg did not. If that was an issue for Mayweather in the past, wouldn’t he have just gone to Showtime? Maybe it wasn’t as big of an issue until his in-ring blowup with Larry Merchant. Or maybe now that Floyd has dealt with several court cases and is headed to jail, he’s more concerned with protecting his image.

If all the information from the report is true, it’s extremely disappointing that HBO would agree to the terms. Discussing the multiple lawsuits and court cases Mayweather is facing, including his upcoming jail sentence, is a big part of his story. I guess this proves what we already knew: Money talks, and Floyd delivers plenty of that.

In an epic rant that only Dana White and professional wrestlers are capable of, White unloaded on Floyd Mayweather Jr., calling the undefeated boxer a racist, among other fun and delightful things.

The UFC president was doing an interview with Fuel TV on Tuesday night when he responded to the controversial two cents Mayweather put in last week on the Jeremy Lin hoopla.

“First of all, what he said, I think is racist,” White started out. “He made a couple of racist comments. And yes, Floyd, you’re racist with the stuff that you’ve said. First of all, Jeremy Lin gets all this credit because he’s an Asian player in the NBA that African-Americans never get? Yeah, he’s getting all this praise because he is an Asian guy playing in the NBA.

“And you say African-Americans don’t get it? Really? Kobe Bryant doesn’t get any praise? Michael Jordan never got any praise? The list goes on and on of guys who completely get praised for being great NBA basketball players.”

But it didn’t stop there! Already all-in on being the moral police, White blasted Mayweather for once upon a time telling Manny Pacquiao to make sushi for him: “Sushi’s from Japan. He’s from the Philippines, dummy.”

White ended his diatribe by challenging Mayweather to finally fight Pacquiao: “You don’t deserve more of the purse. If there was ever a fight in history that should be split 50-50, it’s the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight. Shut up, both of you split the money up, and put on the fight that everybody, including me, wants to see.”

With all that, I think Pacquiao might be writing a “God bless Dana White” tweet tomorrow.

H/T Kevin Iole