As a 7’1″, 325-pound man, not many would be willing to tango with Shaquille O’Neal n a fight. Charles Oakley is rare the exception.
As he admitted to Shannon Sharpe on “Club Shay Shay” this week, the former Knicks big man is keen to square up against O’Neal in a celebrity boxing match.
Shannon: “Do you think we’ll ever see fights like you guys had in the 80s and 90s? Will they fight like that in today’s NBA?”
Oakley: “The ony way you’ll see a fight like that, back in the 80s and 90s now, you gonna have to google it.”
Shannon: “The new thing now is celebrity fighting, the celebrity boxing matches. If I say ‘okay Oak, I got x amount of dollars for a celebrity boxing match, who you want?”
Oakley: “First one is Shaq. Barkley… them two.
Shannon: “You want a celebrity boxing match with Shaq?”
Oakley: “I know he’s about 75 pounds heavy I’ll take him. I got pretty good hands. I’m gonna be moving though, so. But it’ll be fun, I would definitely do that with the “NBA x” player. I still got the little bobby weave in me.”
It’s pretty crazy that Oakley is describing a boxing match with Shaq as “fun.” He’s a big dude who probably hits pretty hard. But Oakley has never been one to shy away from a challenge, and he has some history with the former Lakers big man.
Back in February, he laid out some of the battles he faced against the Diesel on the court.
“Shaq can’t back me down. … I just like playing against Shaq,” Oakley said. “He’s a big guy, but when you’re a big like that, one thing you don’t want to do is get too close to him. You always want to keep your balance ’cause Shaq wants to feel you and spin. I’ve seen that move so many times – just spin and dunk on everybody. I told him you would never dunk on me,” Oakley said. “I’mma hit you to the fu****g head.”
The NBA has changed a lot over the years. Battles that were fought in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s are not the battles we’d see today. Instead, guys call each other out on social media or in front of the cameras.
Nevertheless, ex-players like Oakley and Shaq still have the same battle spirit they did years ago, and more than fulfill the desire for old-fashioned rivalries.
Seriously, though, Oakley might want to reconsider his willingness to take on Shaq in a ring.
