Boxing has played host to some bizarre match ups, but couple much more-so than Oscar De La Hoya vs Shaquille O’Neal.
We have noticed social media stars go at it and crossover bouts concerning MMA fighters and boxers, this kind of as Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor, or Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou, which will choose place on Saturday night time in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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But, even these look to make additional perception than when Basketball legend O’Neal and former six-body weight world champion De La Hoya clashed in the ring.
O’Neal, 7ft 1in, stands around a foot taller than De La Hoya, 5ft 10in, who could scarcely access his opponent’s head through the contest and this translated to a considerable excess weight advantage for the basketball player on struggle night time.
The pair went head-to-head as element of a ‘Shaq vs’ series in 2009 that also observed the American fight a few-weight entire world winner Shane Mosley a calendar year afterwards.
In the course of the fight, De La Hoya darted around the ring, landing brief mixtures and then immediately obtaining out the way of his gigantic opponent.
With that getting mentioned, O’Neal – an avid follower of overcome sporting activities who trains in MMA fitness centers – looked astonishingly relaxed in the boxing ring, relocating about effectively and he even did a very little little bit of showboating at moments.
To add to the chaos, as the combat came to a near, former undisputed middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins hopped into the ring and jokingly jumped on O’Neal’s back, but even that was not ample to acquire the enormous person down.
At the conclusion of the bout, it was announced that De La Hoya experienced gained the battle on details.
While O’Neal later on admitted in an interview he held back again versus De La Hoya simply because he considers him a pal.
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But, there will never be any keeping back on Saturday night as boxing’s latest strange chapter unfolds involving Fury and Ngannou, who has been schooling with Mike Tyson.
‘The Gypsy King’ has promised a knockout in just the to start with 6 rounds, whilst Ngannou has insisted he is coming to result in an upset.
Not many give the former UFC champion a hope, but he will know that the energy he possesses in his fists could count for anything.