Queen of Sports

Mike Tyson Attends Screening Of “One Night In Vegas”

Former boxer Mike Tyson attended the screening of the ESPN 30 for 30 film “One Night In Vegas” which chronicles the night that Tupac Shakur was fatally killed after sitting ringside at Mike’s boxing match at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Mike walked the red carpet while holding his adorable two-year-old daughter Milan. How cute is her pink tutu? We are just lovin’ her outfit and chubby cherub cheeks!

While on the red carpet, Mike commented, “I’m very grateful,” he said. ‘I don’t deserve to have the wife that I have; I don’t deserve the kids that I have, but I do, and I’m very grateful.”

Photo: WENN

Athlete Sighting: Evander Holyfield

Former world heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield was arriving at Nobu restaurant in London, England for dinner on Wednesday night.

Every time we hear about Evander, we automatically think of that great Friends episode where Phoebe found herself attracted to him during her pregnancy. She even had a life size cutout of the boxer. So funny!

Photo: WENN

Athletes On Entourage

HBO’s Entourage has been the show that every celebrity wants to make a cameo on. They have written in everyone from Scarlett Johansson to Bono to Hugh Hefner. Most of the athletes we have encountered love the show so it would make sense that they would be booking cameos also!

Athletes that have appeared on the show include: boxer Vitali Klitschko, NBA player Lamar Odom, boxer Lennox Lewis, UFC champion Chuck Lidell, golfer Phil Mickelson, Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, NFL quarterback Tom Brady and NBA player LeBron James.

The show, now in its 7th season has had a strong sports theme as agent Ari Gold is trying to add a sports division to his agency. Athletes and sports related folks that have been featured this season already include Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, NFL player Adrian Peterson, legendary boxer Mike Tyson, NBA player Chris Bosh, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and NBA player Kevin Love.

Check out a couple clips from this seasons episodes featuring cameos from those listed above.

Jerry Jones:

embedded by Embedded Video

YouTube Direkt

Chris Bosh:

embedded by Embedded Video

YouTube Direkt

Mike Tyson:

embedded by Embedded Video

YouTube Direkt

What athlete do you want to see on Entourage? We’d like to see Charles Barkley, Chad Ochocinco, Derek Jeter and Landon Donovan on the show! Leave your suggestions in the comments section!

Forbes and Sports Illustrated’s Highest Earning Athletes

Forbes has just released their list of the most valuable athletes at the same time Sports Illustrated gives us the top 50 highest-earning athletes. Their figures differ from one another, with Forbes using the SportsMoney 50-50 which factors in salaries, bonuses, prize money, endorsements, appearance fees, and licensing incomes earned over the past 12 months.  Sports Illustrated’s findings  do not factor in bonuses, and licensing incomes. Forbes represents different nationalities in their findings, whereas Sports Illustrated strictly looks at American athletes.

With that said, both sources list Tiger Woods as the highest earning athlete, with an income estimated at between 90 and 105 million. Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the top 10 highest earning athletes:

Forbes
2. Floyd Mayweather Jr.
3. Kobe Bryant
4. Phil Mickelson
5. David Beckham
6. Roger Federer
7. LeBron James
8. Manny Pacquiao
9. Eli Manning
10. Terrell Suggs

Sports Illustrated
2. Phil Mickelson
3. Floyd Mayweather Jr.
4. LeBron James
5. Alex Rodriguez
6. Shaquille O’Neal
7. Kobe Bryant
8. Derek Jeter
9. Peyton Manning
10. Dwyane Wade

Check out the full Forbes list here and the full Sports Illustrated list here.

Athletes On Forbes Celebrity 100, Tiger Tops Athletes At #5

Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey landed the number one spot on Forbes Celebrity 100 list, where they rank the most powerful celebrities.

The only athlete in the top 10 is golfer Tiger Woods who came in at number five, maintaining his ranking from last year. Even though Tiger took a huge hit after infidelities came to light at the end of last year, he remains the world’s highest paid athlete thanks to sponsors like Nike, Electronic Arts and Upper Deck. Nike built their entire golf empire ($650 million) using Tiger.

The second athlete listed on Forbes Celebrity 100 is Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant coming in at 14, falling 4 spots from last years ranking and followed by NBA legend Michael Jordan at 20.

Here are the rest of the athletes rounding out the top 100:

28 LeBron James – he snagged his second consecutive NBA MVP award this season. Will his ranking improve if he signs a deal with a team in a bigger market in Cleveland?

29 Roger Federer – last year was a great year for Roger, reaching the finals in all four Grand Slam tournaments and coming away with wins at the French Open and Wimbledon.

31 Floyd Mayweather – after a 21 month hiatus, Mayweather returned to the ring to big dollars, $25 million for his comeback fight and $40 million for his fight with “Sugar” Shane Mosley.

36 David Beckham – after ripping his Achilles tendon, sidelining him for the 2010 World Cup, he has been lobbying to bring the Cup to London for 2018. He also is working on designing his own underwear line, sexy!

45 Phil Mickelson – Lefty won his third Masters this year and has brought in $59 million worth of prize money over the course of his career, placing him behind Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh.

46 Cristiano Ronaldo – last year Real Madrid paid a record $132 million dollar transfer fee to Manchester United for his rights. He is also sneaking up on David Beckham as the most marketable soccer player.

49 Alex Rodriguez – he will make $33 million dollars playing for the Yankees this year. He helped the organization win their 27th World Series title last fall.

52 Shaquille O’Neal – earned $20 million dollars with the Cleveland Cavaliers last season and will be hard pressed to find that type of deal for the 2010 – 2011 season. Shaq still remains an active pitchman and is working on a couple TV projects.

55 Manny Pacquiao – he is regarded as the best boxer in the sport right now and was elected a member of Congress in the Philippines in May, he spent a reported $7 million on his campaign.

61 Serena Williams – finished the year ranked at number one and earned two Grand Slam titles. She and her sister Venus became minority owners of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins in August.

64 Derek Jeter – is in the last year of his 10-year deal with the Yankees. Everyone excepts the short stop to re-sign with the club but it will be interesting to see the terms of his new deal. Derek remains the baseball’s top endorser earning $9 million annually off the field through endorsements with Ford Motor, Gatorade, Gillette, Nike and others.

65 Lance Armstrong – returned to competitive cycling last year after a three-and-a-half year hiatus where he placed 3rd in the Tour de France, which he has won a record seven times.

81 Maria Sharapova – makes $22 million in endorsement dollars annually with deals with top companies Canon, Prince, Tiffany, Tag Heuer, Land Rover and Nike. She re-signed with Nike in January and will now earn royalties from her own tennis line.

83 Venus Williams – ranked number two right behind her sister, Venus has continued to pursue passions off the court. She co-authored a book, Come to Win that will be released next month. She interviewed people who played sports in their youth who went on to have successful non-sports careers including Meg Whitman, Vera Wang and Jack Welch.

96 Danica Patrick – one of NASCAR’s biggest stars, her licensed merchandise was one of Nascar’s top sellers at the start of the year despite her best finish being 30th.

One interesting thing we noticed, no NFL players on this list!

Chris Henry Was Suffering From Brain Damage Prior To His Death

There is some new information about Cincinnati Bengals player Chris Henry, who we reported earlier this month donated his organs following a car accident which left him dead, and it does not make the NFL look good. Or any contact sports, really.

Research concluded that Henry had CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which is a form of degenerative brain damage that occurs as a result of being hit in the head too many times. Research on the health issue shows that it is associated with impulsive behavior, which could explain a lot about Chris Henry’s behavior leading up to his death. CTE is not diagnosable until a death occurs, and therefore the only research which can be done is thanks to donations.

While a few cases of CTE have existed previously of NFL players who’s ultimate cause of death was fueled by impulsive behavior and depression, there are currently no statistics on MMA fighters and CTE. MMA, being the highest contact sport, is still new but incidents such as the one we reported earlier today make us wonder. Is it safe? What can be done to increase safety? Is it just another gamble we take with our health and safety that shouldn’t be such an issue?

George St-Pierre And Captain Morgan

We told you yesterday that UFC fighter George St-Pierre attended Spike TV’s 2010 Guys Choice Awards on Saturday night. Well, we received a great photo of the fighter on the red carpet with alcohol icon, Captain Morgan! Nice pose!

St-Pierre was up against Manny Pacquaio for the Most Dangerous Man award. Watch the Guys Choice Awards on Spike TV on Saturday, June 20th to find out who wins!

Thanks to Kellie Cunningham for the tip.

Photo: Casey Rodgers / AP Images for Captain Morgan

Brooklyn Decker And Athlete’s Attend Spike TV’s 4th Annual Guy’s Choice Awards

On Saturday night several athletes attended the taping of Spike TV’s 4th Annual Guy’s Choice Awards at Sony Studios in Los Angeles.

Boxer Mike Tyson who recently lost 100 pounds was there with his wife, Lakiha Spicer as well as Olympic gold medalist Shaun White, MMA fighter turned actor Rampage Jackson. MMA fighter George St-Pierre walked the red carpet and was spotted in the audience.

Andy Roddick’s beautiful model/actress wife, Brooklyn Decker (pictured above on the red carpet) walked away with the Hotter Than Hell Trophy.What do you think about Brooklyn’s dress? We’re on the fence but LOVE the shoes!

The award show is set to air on June 20th on Spike TV.

Photo: WENN

Mike Tyson To Appear On Entourage

Legendary boxer Mike Tyson is set to appear on the upcoming season of Entourage.

The show has featured some high profile athletes in season pasts including New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash and MMA fighter Chuck Liddell.

No word yet on how Tyson is integrated into the shows storyline but one thing we do know is that Ari is on a quest to be the “biggest agent in the world” which leads him to a potential deal with the NFL. Runor has it Ari meets with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in one episode.

Season 7 of Entourage premieres on June 27th on HBO.

Athlete Sighting: Darryl Strawberry

Former major league baseball player and contestant on the Celebrity Apprentice Darryl Strawberry was seen taking in the Miguel Cotto and Yrui Foreman boxing match at Yankee Stadium on Saturday night.

Cotto knocked out Foreman in the ninth round. Cotto will get a guaranteed $2 million for the fight, but his shoes are headed to the baseball Hall of Fame. Foreman was guaranteed $750,000.