Larry Brown Sports

Mike Tyson is not the same ferocious fighter that he used to be. I wouldn’t go as far as to say Iron Mike has gone soft, but if someone told you in the 1980s that Tyson would be starring in comedy movies and doing interviews with Oprah in 25 years you would have laughed in their face. Not anymore.

Several unflattering moments defined the later years of Tyson’s career, the most notable of which was his decision to turn into a carnivore during a fight against Evander Holyfield. There’s also the frightening tattoo Tyson got on his face when his life really started to spiral out of control. He has since buried the hatchet with Holyfield, and Iron Mike tweeted on Monday that the infamous ink will soon be gone.

At the doctors office this morning. Getting this tattoo removed from my face. This is going to be painful.

— Mike Tyson (@MikeTyson) April 1, 2013

This will certainly make Tyson look less intimidating, but that’s probably what he’s going for. You don’t stand up for Lance Armstrong unless you have gotten in touch with your sensitive side, which seems to be the case for the former heavyweight champion. Good for Mike.

UPDATE: Annnnd I’ve been duped. That’s what happens when you let your guard down on April Fools. As @ticketscore pointed out on Twitter, Tyson later tweeted that he was joking and the tattoo is with him forever. Darn.

H/T Black Sports Online

Adrien Broner is a flamboyant boxer who seems keen on trying to build himself in the image of Floyd Mayweather Jr. He made his LBS debut last year when we wrote about him faking a marriage proposal in the ring after winning a fight. He has won two more fights since then and remains undefeated at 26-0. He also has continued his antics.

Black Sports Online has been all over the Broner beat, sharing stories about him literally flushing money down the toilet and making it rain at a strip club. Broner’s latest escapade included a trip to the DMV where he tried bribing people to switch spots spots with him in line by offering money auction style.

There is some profanity and the video is kind of long, but Broner finds a lucky taker for the price of $200 at the end of the video:

Broner is moving up in weight to face Paulie Malignaggi in June. He’s trying to grab all the publicity he can in the meantime. With funny things like this, he’s succeeding.

Timothy Bradley overcame a knockdown and what he says was a concussion to beat Ruslan Provodnikov in one of the most exciting fights of the year.

Bradley, who was fighting for the first time since winning a controversial decision over Manny Pacquiao last June, was awarded a unanimous decision victory by the judges. Two judges had the fight 114-113, while the third had it 115-112 in favor of Bradley, who retained his WBO welterweight title.

The two slugged it out for 12 rounds and were left with massive welts and bruises on their faces and bodies. Though Provodnikov won the first two rounds, Bradley rallied in the middle rounds, which is likely where he gained the most points with the judges. He was also lucky that the referee did not rule a knockdown against him in the first round.

Bradley took a monster right, stayed on his feet momentarily, and he fell forward to the canvas a few seconds later. For some reason, the referee did not rule it a knockdown, even though Bradley stumbled back to the ground when he attempted to get up (seen below).

The horrendous decision by the referee could have cost Provodnikov a point on the judges’ cards, which could have resulted in two of them having it a 113-113 draw.

Bradley did officially get knocked down in the final round. He was wobbly after taking a severe beating in the final minute of the fight. Bradley dropped his knee to the canvas with 12 seconds left and got up just before the final bell.

The final punch stats were in Bradley’s favor. He landed 347 of 1000 (35 percent) punches thrown compared to 218 of 676 (32 percent) for Provodnikov, per HBO. He also landed 218 of 511 (43 percent) of power punches, compared to 186 of 514 (36 percent) for Provodnikov.

After the fight, Bradley told HBO’s Max Kellerman that he was concussed early in the fight.

“I think I got a concussion. I know I do,” Bradley said with a giggle. “Without a doubt.

“This guy is a power puncher,” Bradley said of Provodnikov. “He’s a great warrior, and I take my hat off to him. He’ll beat any 140 and 147-pounder out there. He’s the real deal.”

Bradley’s mental state was so bad, he forgot that he had told Kellerman a minute before their interview that he had been concussed.

“What did I say? I forgot,” Bradley said when Kellerman asked him to repeat what he had told him moments earlier.

So, yeah, Bradley overcame a concussion, knockdown, and received a break from the referee to get the win. According to Bryan A. Graham, Bradley will face the winner of Brandon Rios-Mike Alvarado. The winner of that fight will likely face the winner of Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez.

British boxer Curtis Woodhouse was the subject of some online abuse from a Twitter troll after losing a fight last Friday, and he wasn’t about to let it pass. He decided to take matters into his own hands by hunting down his main Twitter antagonist nearby the person’s home, which left the Twitter user apologetic and presumably frightened.

Woodhouse, 32, is a former professional soccer player who decided to pursue boxing professionally in 2006. He is 17-5 after losing a light welterweight fight to Shayne Singleton by split decision last Friday. Though many people sent him support on Twitter by saying he got robbed in the decision, at least one person criticized him for the loss.

A Twitter user who guys by the handle of @jimmyob88 and the nickname “the master” began attacking Woodhouse and calling him names:

@woodhousecurtis Haha u lost u silly mug fight a 10 year old next time if u want to actually win u waste of spunk

— the master (@jimmyob88) March 11, 2013

@woodhousecurtis retire immediately cant even defend a pathetic little title you are a complete disgrace #awfulboxer

— the master (@jimmyob88) March 11, 2013

Woodhouse retweeted some of the nasty messages that user sent him so that his entire following would see it. He even wrote back “lol” to “the master” in response, but his friendly tone quickly changed after the nastiness continued.

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Now that Floyd Mayweather Jr. has joined Showtime, the network has big plans for its newest superstar. Mayweather recently signed a six-fight, 30-month deal with Showtime after spending his entire boxing career with HBO. The TV deal is reportedly worth at least $200 million and could pay Mayweather as much as $300 million.

Mayweather’s first fight on Showtime will be against Robert Guerrero on May 4. The network is expected to promote the fight through its CBS affiliate during March Madness and programs like “60 Minutes,” much in the same way it has done with Manny Pacquiao. They also will have “All Access” shows that follow Mayweather and Guerrero leading up to the fight.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Steve Carp spoke with executive vice president and general manager of Showtime Sports Stephen Espinoza about how the network signed Mayweather. In his story, it is suggested that Mayweather, who frequently boasts about his sports betting exploits, could host a gambling segment on “Inside the NFL.” Espinoza told Carp that the NFL would likely frown upon a gambling segment on the show.

Mayweather has become known for posting winning tickets on Twitter of his massive sports bets, and he even posted a slip from a losing bet several months ago — something he has rarely done. Given Mayweather’s interest in the NFL, it could make sense for him to have some role on the show.

Even if an appearance on “Inside the NFL” isn’t in the cards, there are clearly a number of ways Showtime can consider using Mayweather to boost ratings outside of the boxing ring.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story attributed the idea of Mayweather hosting a gambling segment on “Inside the NFL” to Espinoza, but the idea came from Carp.

Even though 50 Cent and Floyd Mayweather Jr. are no longer as close as they used to be, 50 still has his former best friend’s back when it comes to boxing debates.

The rapper joined ESPN’s “First Take” Thursday and was asked about the elusive Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao dream fight that never happened. Though host Skip Bayless tried to put words in 50′s mouth by asking a loaded question, the rapper said Mayweather is not scared of Pacquiao.

“He’s not afraid of Pacquiao or any fighter,” 50 answered in response to a question about how afraid Mayweather was of losing to Pac-Man.

50 explained that Mayweather looks at his fights as a businessman and takes a measured approach when selecting opponents.

“It’s more of him saying who I have to fight. At this point, it’s more him sorting out who’s the perfect opponent than him fighting the toughest fighter to fight.”

50 Cent confirmed what most boxing fans already knew — Mayweather doesn’t pick what will be the most thrilling fight, but the one where he can maximize revenue while minimizing his risks.

He further elaborated on Mayweather’s mentality, explaining that the biggest impediment to the superfight was Mayweather’s stubbornness.

“He concentrates on how much someone else is getting paid opposed to how much he is actually getting paid,” said 50. “He sees himself in a space that nobody else sees himself in, and that he’s so high on top of it that he shouldn’t actually give some of the other great fighters at this point.

“That’s $100 million and he just left it.”

50 also said he would have picked Mayweather to win had the two fought.

Most people have picked up on ESPN’s promotional tag line and spun this interview as 50 saying Mayweather “ducked” Pacquiao, but that’s not exactly how I see it. 50 is saying that Mayweather is not scared of Pacquiao or any fighter. The term “ducked” only was brought up because of Bayless. According to 50, the biggest reason the fight didn’t happen is because Mayweather didn’t want Pacquiao to get filthy rich off of it, which was evident based on Floyd refusing to give Manny a cut of the pay-per-view or split the purse 50-50. To use a cliche, Floyd cut off his nose to spite his face, which is why fans have been so frustrated with him.

You can watch the interview below:

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Everything Floyd Mayweather Jr. does has to do with money, and he would be the first person to tell you that. We’re talking about a guy who once admitted that he parties as much as he does to maintain his “money image.”

On Saturday night, Mayweather celebrated his new deal mega-deal with Showtime. The welterweight champion also turned 36 on Sunday, so his new network family presented him with a classic Mayweather birthday cake. As you can see, it featured his face on a $1,000 bill.

Is this the first birthday cake Mayweather has had featuring fake money? Of course not, and this cake from a couple years ago serves as a reminder of how obsessed he is with stacking paper. That helps explain why he chose to leave HBO for Showtime, as he is reportedly set to earn a minimum of $200 million over six fights with his new deal. Life is good for Floyd, even as he creeps closer and closer to 40.

Photo via Twitter/Floyd Mayweather Jr.