TMZ Sports - Page 50

The referee who was violently stabbed by a wrestler in the ring on Saturday actually agreed to take $75 to bleed during the match ... this according to cops.

A spokesperson for the Irving Police Dept. tells TMZ Sports ... officers spoke with the ref, Lando Deltoro, shortly after Devon Nicholson -- aka "Hannibal" -- repeatedly jammed an iron stake into his head at an independent wrestling event in Texas over the weekend.

The spokesperson says Deltoro told them he cut a deal with Nicholson prior to the match -- agreeing to dress up like a referee and then take hits to the head and gush blood in the squared circle.

The spokesperson says Deltoro told police, however, that the bit went too far ... and Nicholson actually ended up hurting him badly with the stake.

But, according to cops, Deltoro told them he did not want to press charges.

We also spoke to Deltoro on Wednesday, and he confirmed with us he was paid for the match, though he did not specify the amount. Deltoro also told us he did not agree to Nicholson's "extra" spiking.

As we previously reported, Deltoro suffered major head injuries as a result of the match, requiring sutures to close the open wounds in his head.

For his part, Nicholson says Deltoro gave him no indication during the match that he was being injured.

The top football recruit in the nation will be suiting up for Deion Sanders' Jackson State Tigers next season ... with Travis Hunter flipping from Florida State to play for the NFL legend's team.

The 5-star cornerback made the move official during national signing day at Collins Hill High in GA on Wednesday ... tossing hats from Georgia, Auburn and FSU -- the school he committed to in March 2020 -- and putting on a JSU Tigers cap!!

Of course, Sanders is a Seminoles legend ... and was rumored to be a candidate for FSU's head coaching spot after Willie Taggart was fired in 2019.

So yeah, this one's gotta sting in Tallahassee.

Hunter spoke about his decision to switch to Jackson State ... saying, "Jerry Rice, Doug Williams, and of course the legend, JSU's own Walter Payton -- Historically Black Colleges and Universities have a rich history in football."

"I want to be part of that history in football. I want to be part of that history, and more, I want to be part of that future."

Hunter says he hopes this move can show other high school recruits that playing for a HBCU isn't a bad thing and "may be everything you want and more."

"I look forward to working with the iconic Deion Sanders, and especially my fellow Tigers."

Of course, Coach Prime is hyped -- saying on Instagram, "When we stick together anything can happen."

Jake Paul says he's looking to fight Canelo Álvarez in three years ... explaining he believes he'll be ready to box the world champ in 2024.

"I think three years from now," Paul said, "us getting in the ring will A) be massive, and B) three years from now, my skill level will be good enough to make it a serious competition."

Paul initially told TMZ Sports he was looking for a fight with Canelo ... but in his talk with Graham Bensinger on the latest episode of "In Depth With Graham Bensinger," he said he's ready for it to happen in only a couple of years.

Paul says it just makes too much sense monetarily ... telling Bensinger, "This year, 2021, Canelo will be the No. 1 highest paid boxer. And I will be No. 2."

"So, what better fight than to put the No. 1 highest paid and the No. 2 highest paid against each other? Because that equals the biggest payday."

Of course, a year ago, there appeared to be no chance of a fight happening between the two ... with Canelo telling TMZ Sports he was NOT a fan of either Jake or Logan Paul in the ring.

But, when we got Canelo in September, he sang a little different tune ... saying "maybe" Jake and Logan ARE good for the sport after all.

Canelo would likely rough up Jake if the two fought now -- and perhaps things wouldn't be a whole lot different in a couple of years -- but the YouTube star still says he wants in on the action regardless.

Cincinnati Bengals star running back Joe Mixon is giving kids an awesome surprise for the holidays ... by handing out brand new bicycles!!!

Mixon partnered with Strikes for Kids for the special event ... hooking up 28 youngins at the local Boys & Girls Club with some wheels just in time for Christmas.

TMZ Sports is told ... the kids were taken to Main Event Entertainment Center in West Chester, where they enjoyed two hours of unlimited games, pizza and Icees.

As they had tons of fun, they were surprised with new bikes and helmets ... as the 25-year-old posed for pics with them.

Of course, the kids couldn't wait to try out their new wheels ... moving around inside the event space to get in a quick ride.

Mixon spoke about his decision to help out ... saying, "This community has embraced me and become a second home for me, so to be able to give back and inspire these children is the least I can do."

Mixon's kind gesture comes on the heels of notching yet another 1,000 yard rushing season -- the third time the RB has done so in his career.

It's clear he's a difference maker for the Bengals -- on and off the field.

The first athlete named to Michigan State's recruiting class Wednesday was not a five-star QB or a four-star D-lineman ... no, it was Tate Myre, who the Spartans honored following his tragic death in the Oxford H.S. shooting.

"We are honored to recognize Tate Myre as the first Spartan Dawg of the 2022 class," MSU football head coach Mel Tucker said in a video message on National Signing Day.

"A Spartan Dawg is defined not by the plays they make on the field, but by the character they exemplify, the leadership they bring to their team and their community, and for extraordinary individuals like Tate Myre, their heroism."

Tate was one of four people killed when a gunman opened fire in the Michigan high school on Nov. 30. He tragically died while trying to disarm the suspect.

Just days before the shooting, the Wildcats' two-way football player visited the Univ. of Toledo as a recruit -- but, growing up, he had made it known MSU was his dream school.

"He had a passion to one day play for Michigan State," Tucker said. "This passion was paired with an unstoppable drive and follow-through to get there."

"Tate's consistency on and off the football field elevated everyone who knew him. Tate is, and always will be, a Spartan Dawg."

Tucker added that the Spartans will continue to support Myre's family as well as the families of the other victims -- Hana St. Juliana, Justin Shilling and Madisyn Baldwin.

7-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton is now Sir Lewis Hamilton -- the racing superstar just received his knighthood from Prince Charles at Windsor Castle!!

36-year-old Hamilton first learned of the honor last December -- after matching Michael Schumacher's all-time record of 7 championships.

In case you're not up to speed on the honors, a knighthood is an award and title given to someone by the royal family for high achievement and service to their country within their respective industry.

Of course, the Mercedes driver has won more races than any other in F1 history ... and was on his way to securing a record-breaking eighth title this past Sunday, had it not been for a controversial decision at the end.

Hamilton had a lead wiped out when a safety car was deployed after a late crash ... allowing Max Verstappen to eventually catch up and pass him.

According to reports, the British racing star was heard saying, "This has been manipulated, man," on his car radio, but Hamilton later congratulated Max and his team after the race was over.

Wednesday's ceremony hopefully helped ease the loss -- Hamilton attended with his mother, Carmen, who watched as her son became just the fourth driver in Formula 1 history to be knighted.

Holy crap, this is nuts.

The Cleveland Browns have a major COVID-19 problem on their hands -- Baker Mayfield and head coach, Kevin Stefanski, tested positive for the virus Wednesday ... just one day after 8 players were placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

The timing couldn't be worse for the Orange and Brown -- they're fighting for a spot in the playoffs and have a crucial game against the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday.

This is now the second time Stefanski has tested positive -- last season, he had to miss the Browns' playoff win against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

While Baker and KS could return in time for Saturday if they return two positive tests, there's a lot more to worry about -- stars like Jedrick Wills, Jarvis Landry, Austin Hooper, Wyatt Teller and Kareem Hunt were also placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list on Tuesday.

As of right now, there is no plan to postpone the game.

Steph Curry's not only the greatest 3-point shooter of all time, he's an incredible teammate too ... 'cause he gifted Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala Rolexes after he broke Ray Allen's record Tuesday.

The Warriors star handed over the pricey watches after he secured the NBA mark vs. the Knicks ... giving his two longtime teammates a cool "thank you" gift after they had helped him succeed for so much of his career.

You can see in video from the post-game celebration, both Green and Iguodala were pumped to receive the presents in the bowels of Madison Square Garden ... with Green getting an adjustment made to his new watch right on site.

Of course, Green and Iguodala have been teammates with Steph for YEARS -- and have helped Steph win multiple championships, while also assisting on plenty of his 2,977 career 3-pointers as well.

According to ESPN's Dominique Collins, Steph also got a watch made for Klay Thompson -- though the other half of the Splash Brothers was not in attendance to receive it as he's still working his way back to Golden State following his Achilles injury.

Steph, meanwhile, was still able to get in plenty of celebrating with his other teammates following the record-breaking night ... with the guys dousing him in ice and water in the locker room after the win over NY.

Kayla Harrison has a message for Julianna Pena -- "don't bite off more than you can chew"  -- after the new UFC champ said the 2x Olympic gold medalist fought in the "B-leagues."

31-year-old Harrison -- the hottest free agent in MMA -- was in the building when ATT gym mate Amanda Nunes shockingly lost her bantamweight title to Pena.

After the fight, Julianna crapped on Kayla, questioning her ability in the cage.

While talking to TMZ Sports on Tuesday, 12-0 Harrison responded ... and it's very ominous.

"I know [Julianna] must be on cloud 9 right now and I would just caution her to be careful. You don't say stuff like that to people like me unless you mean it."

The 3x PFL tourney winner later continued ... "[Pena] went out here and she executed a great game plan and she did what she had to do but I'm not the lesser of anything or anyone or anybody. When I come to fight, you're gonna know you're in a fight and be careful what you say."

At the end of the day, Kayla says the women fight in two different weight classes (JP 135, KH 155) ... so unless Pena's willing to meet in the middle, Harrison believes the trash talk is pointless.

"I think it's just dumb too, ya know? She fights at 135. I fight at, right now, 155, so unless you're willing to back it up, then don't say stuff like that. Don't open that can of worms. Don't go there. Honestly, I'd probably have to chop off my arm to make 135."

"I think that it would only take one arm to beat her."

😳😳😳😳

If you missed Pena's original comments, here's what she said about Kayla:

“I think she’s the lesser of the training partners for her and Amanda Nunes,” Pena told MMA Junkie earlier this week.

Julianna later said ... “She’s been fighting the B-leagues. I’ve been fighting in the UFC. I’ve been fighting at the top of the division. I’m fighting in the biggest league of this sport, so I’m not paying too much attention to what she’s doing down there.”

We also talked to Kayla about her feelings watching Nunes lose in person (she's "heartbroken") ... and her free agency.

Of course, Harrison's PFL contract just ended ... after again (seemingly easily) winning the $1 million prize.

The former Judo star has been in communication with the UFC ... and is presumably being courted by all the other major MMA promotions.

Abel Osundairo was proudly rocking a red MAGA hat while celebrating a big moment in his boxing career ... but he says he's not throwing a jab at Jussie Smollett.

Ya gotta see this video TMZ obtained of Abel and brother Ola celebrating Abel becoming the top amateur boxer in his weight class ... they're partying it up at a Chicago club, with some eye-catching hats.

Abel's got a red hat that says MAGA ... which, of course, plays like a reference to Jussie claiming his attackers yelled "this is MAGA country" during the hoax attack.

While some think he was gloating over Jussie, who was just found guilty of lying to Chicago cops, Abel's attorney, Gloria Rodriguez tells TMZ ... the hat is not a shot at Smollett or show of support for Donald Trump.

Instead, Abel's lawyer says he customized the MAGA hat with an outline of Africa as the letter "A" because he wants the hat to be a reflection of his Nigerian heritage. It's more like Make Africa Great Again ... than anything else.

The celebration went down Sunday night at Chicago's Sage nightclub after he won a boxing tournament in Louisiana, vaulting him to the No. 1 amateur boxing ranking in the 189-pound division.

Remember, we've seen Abel show off his boxing prowess before ... so it's no shock he's climbing the ranks.

Ola's got an interesting hat too -- his red lid says, "Free Larry Hoover," which is timely considering Kanye West and Drake just squashed their beef with a benefit concert for the notorious Chicago gangster ... who Ola believes was wrongly imprisoned.

Sonya and Dell Curry's relationship is still clearly fractured, 'cause Steph's parents sat in completely opposite sections for their son's record-breaking night Tuesday.

Dell had a seat near the hardwood at Madison Square Garden in NYC for the Warriors star's big game against the Knicks -- while Sonya sat in a different part of the arena several rows back.

The two never appeared to speak to each other, or even look at each other for that matter, despite Steph breaking Ray Allen's mark for most 3-pointers in a career early in the evening.

To his credit, Steph was able to find both of his parents following the record-setting shot ... handing the game ball to his pops and then going in another direction to share a long embrace with his mom just off the court.

As we previously reported, Sonya filed for divorce from Dell earlier this year ... and court docs showed the two did not have a clean breakup at all.

Both parties accused each other of cheating ... with Dell saying Sonya began dating a former New England Patriots player while they were still together.

And, if their actions toward each other Tuesday were any indication, it's obvious things still haven't been repaired between the two.

The Miz says the wrestler who repeatedly stabbed a ref in the head with an iron spike should NEVER be hired again ... telling TMZ Sports the dude should be perma-banned from the squared circle.

"You don't do that stuff," the WWE superstar told us out at LAX on Tuesday ... "That didn't look like a mistake."

If you missed it ... Devon Nicholson -- aka "Hannibal" -- badly injured a ref during a match at an independent event in Irving, Texas on Saturday.

In footage from the event, you can see Nicholson pounded on the guy's forehead with a stake over and over and over again -- 'causing the man to bleed severely in the ring.

The ref, Lando Deltoro, was eventually hospitalized over the incident ... though, thankfully, he's expected to make a full recovery.

When we asked The Miz about it all in Los Angeles just three days after the incident ... he said he'd be in favor of a lifetime ban for the wrestler.

"Accidents happen," The Miz said, "but I don't get stabbed with like a knife or whatever the hell the guy had."

For his part, Nicholson says he wasn't aware that he was injuring the ref ... saying Deltoro never gave him any indication that he was being hurt in the show.

As for Deltoro, he claimed he had no way of telling Nicholson to stop ... saying the wrestler was too big and too powerful to get any words out before he eventually slipped out of consciousness.

The woman Henry Ruggs slammed his Corvette into in a fiery car crash last month burned to death ... officials revealed on Tuesday.

According to reps from the Clark County coroner's office in Nevada, Tintor "died from thermal injuries due to a motor vehicle collision."

The officials added other contributing causes to the death included "inhalation of products of combustion, fractures of the nasal bones, right sided ribs, and left forearm, and a left hemothorax."

The officials ruled the death accidental.

As we previously reported, Ruggs is accused of drunkenly causing the accident ... after officials say he was speeding with a .161 BAC before he rammed his sportscar into the back of Tintor's RAV4 at around 3:39 a.m. on Nov. 2 in Las Vegas.

In 911 calls, obtained by TMZ Sports, you can hear witnesses telling dispatchers the fire surrounding Tintor's car following the collision was intense.

"It's almost all gone," a woman said of Tintor's fire-engulfed vehicle ... adding, "and I think someone is in it."

Players and coaches on the Green Bay Packers put their wallets together to make a huge donation this week ... in an effort to help the victims of the Christmas parade tragedy in Waukesha that left several people dead and others injured.

The team announced the gesture Tuesday ... saying 42 players and coaches teamed up to donate $135,525 ... with the Packers Give Back program matching that amount to make it $270,650 for the United for Waukesha Community Fund.

Packers prez Mark Murphy spoke about the efforts in a statement ... saying, "We were all heartbroken after the senseless tragedy in Waukesha and we worked with our players to help determine the best way to have an impact as an organization."

"After receiving pledged donations from our players and coaches, the organization was proud to match their donations. Our thoughts remain with the victims, along with their families and the Waukesha community, as they continue to grieve and heal from this horrific event."

BTW -- more than $3 million dollars has been donated from various individuals and organizations throughout the world.

As we previously reported, Darrell Brooks Jr. has been hit with 6 counts of first-degree intentional homicide after cops say he ran his SUV through a Christmas parade.

62 people -- including some children -- were injured in the incident.

O.J. Simpson's parole has ended early ... and, according to his attorney, he's now "a completely free man."

A spokesperson for the Nevada State Police confirmed to TMZ Sports that Simpson was, in fact, discharged from parole earlier this month.

According to the spokesperson, Simpson -- who had been on parole since Oct. 1, 2017 -- was awarded good behavior credits which made him eligible for ending it early.

His parole was initially set to expire on Feb. 9, 2022.

"Mr. Simpson is a completely free man now," the former NFL star's attorney, Malcolm LaVergne, told the Associated Press following the news.

Of course, 74-year-old Simpson had been on parole after he served nine years behind bars following his conviction in his armed robbery case in 2008.

You'll recall, Simpson had been convicted of leading a group of men -- including several who were armed -- into a Las Vegas hotel room in 2007 to steal memorabilia from people he said had previously stolen from him.

O.J. was originally sentenced to 33 years behind bars for the crime.

Simpson has been living in Las Vegas since his release from jail -- golfing often while commenting on NFL games on his Twitter page.

NBA baller J.R. Smith is a star on the court, on the links AND in the classroom ... 'cause the champ just got his grades back for his first semester of college -- and he got a 4.0!!!

Smith -- who skipped college to go straight to the NBA in 2004 -- decided to revisit the opportunity to get an education and enroll at North Carolina A&T this past summer.

So far, he's been crushing it as a student ... announcing his grades are better than what most people even dream of.

"I can't even describe the feeling," Smith said on Tuesday. "I ain't even gon' lie to you, a lot of hard work went into that s***."

The 36-year-old former Cavs guard had originally enrolled at the prestigious HBCU with the intent of making it on the golf team ... but the sense of achievement he feels from his perfect GPA is deeper than anything he could have hoped.

"I ain't gon hold you, this s*** is a heavy one right here lifted, especially when you always hear about your disabilities and all this s*** that plays a part in why you can't think the way you want to, calculate s***, formulate s*** the way you want to."

Smith said he worked his ass off all day, every day to make it happen ... and all that hard work has paid off big time!!!

He was meme'd throughout his career for silly moments ... but now, he's getting the last laugh.