Dana White, President of the UFC, indulged with the famous British journalist Piers Morgan, in 2023, in an interesting debate about the greatest fighter in combat sport’s history. While White went with UFC heavyweight, Jon Jones, Piers decided to side with boxing legend Mike Tyson. While there was no clear winner, the Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal recently gave his insights on the debate. Howsoever strange it may sound that Shaq is afraid of someone, he confessed to being intimidated on just three occasions.
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Possessing a 7’1″ frame, Shaq stated that there are only two people on planet Earth he wouldn’t “step to”, Jones and Tyson. With UFC legends Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman, on the ‘Pound for Pound’ podcast, Shaq revealed how, despite their sociable nature, both Jones and Tyson inspire a “different” kind of fear in him,
“It’s only two times people, three times people ever touched me, and I don’t want to use the word ‘scare’, but when you turn around and see their face, you turn it off.”
The first instance was when Shaq met Jon ‘Bones’ Jones during a Giants Super Bowl game. The Big Fella recalls suppressing his anger when Jones hit the NBA legend on his back, resulting in Shaq turning around and greeting the UFC champion. The second time it happened, was when Shaq met former Heavyweight champion, Mike Tyson. Recalling his interaction with Tyson, O’Neal said,
“Tyson was the same thing. One time I was in the club in LA, and Motherf*ker hit me right at the top of my neck with a fist, I was like, ‘Motherf*ker, Oh what up, Mike.”
It’s hilarious that O’Neal was afraid of Tyson because Shaq is a whole foot and a few hundred pounds heavier than “Kid Dynamite”. His cautious attitude isn’t only reserved for top-level combatants either, as the Big Fella believes that even the average Joe is now dangerous due to the wide availability of combat training. The Big Aristotle admitted to not liking MMA athletes for the same reason, holding them responsible for empowering the ‘little man’ to stand up to giants like Shaq.
Shaquille O’Neal once got into a Bentley war with Mike Tyson
Los Angeles in the 1990s and early 2000s was the hub for all things sports. While the Lakers were the main attraction in town, boxing legend, Mike Tyson was another sporting celebrity that held the capacity to sell out stadiums with his peek-a-boo style of boxing. While Lakers big man Shaquille O’Neal was admittedly a big fan of the heavyweight champion, he wouldn’t let that fact stop him from competing against his boxing idol.
In his 2011 book, Shaq revealed that during his LA days, he actually got a chance to compete with Tyson, but the competition had nothing to do with boxing or basketball, but with Bentleys instead. Recalling the story in his book “Shaq Uncut”, the Diesel revealed that he once spent $600,000 on buying Bentleys, in an attempt to outshine a clueless Tyson,
“While I’m standing there, I hear this kind of squeaky voice that sounds familiar, and there he is—Mike Tyson, the boxer. He’s looking at Bentley’s, too. The next thing I know, Tyson has picked out two. He’s buying two of these cars, so you know what I’ve got to do. I’ve got to buy three!.”
While the happiness of beating out the Brooklyn-based boxer was surely something else, the financial fallout from O’Neal’s decision was heavy. Not only did Shaq spend a fortune to make the cars drivable, but he also ended up selling them all for a heavy loss, a decision he regrets.
