{"id":108023,"date":"2024-11-20T14:21:42","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T19:21:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=108023"},"modified":"2024-11-20T14:21:42","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20T19:21:42","slug":"dwight-howard-challenges-shaq-to-boxing-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/20\/dwight-howard-challenges-shaq-to-boxing-match\/","title":{"rendered":"Former NBA Star Challenges Shaq to Boxing Match"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/howardw01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dwight Howard<\/a> has officially <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/entertainment\/shaq-rejects-dwight-howards-boxing-082254563.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">challenged<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/o\/onealsh01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shaquille O\u2019Neal<\/a> to a boxing match. The Dwight Howard vs Shaq beef has gone on for quite a long time, and it continued the other day when Howard reached out to Shaq about a boxing match. Their relationship has been the subject of a lot of off-the-court NBA drama, as everyone is intrigued by why these two legends can\u2019t seem to get along. Despite Howard\u2019s attempts to mend fences, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/05\/shaq-calls-timberwolves-star-worst-nba-player-of-all-time\/\" target=\"_self\">Shaq seems content<\/a> to keep the Shaq-Dwight rivalry alive.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Former NBA Star Dwight Howard Challenges Shaq To Boxing Match<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>The Start of the Dwight Howard vs Shaq Beef<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Shaq-Dwight rivalry began in 2008 during the NBA Slam Dunk Contest when Dwight Howard, then a star for the Orlando Magic, performed a dunk wearing a Superman cape. <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/espn\/page2\/index\/_\/id\/7506437\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This bothered Shaq<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, who had long been nicknamed \u201cSuperman\u201d (among dozens of other nicknames).\u00a0 Shaq viewed Howard\u2019s move as an affront to his legacy. From there, their rivalry snowballed. Shaq consistently criticized Howard\u2019s performance and personality. Shaq often accused Howard of lacking the dominance and competitive fire that Shaq had during his Hall of Fame career.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">SUPERMAN<\/p>\n<p>Dwight Howard putting on a show at the dunk contest\ud83d\udd25<a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/P0Z0SUgPRd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/P0Z0SUgPRd<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Ballislife\/status\/1266459619230015488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 29, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Howard always expressed confusion and disappointment over Shaq&#8217;s animosity. He has repeatedly stated that he admires O\u2019Neal\u2019s achievements and sees no reason for ongoing conflict. In recent years, Howard even reached out publicly and privately to squash the beef. Shaq hasn\u2019t budged, keeping his fighting fists up.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>The Dwight Howard vs Shaq Boxing Challenge<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The beef continued recently when Dwight Howard challenged Shaq to a boxing match. The proposal came after discussions about a hypothetical NBA vs. NFL celebrity boxing event started during the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight<\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/onsi\/ball-around\/news\/shaquille-o-neal-throws-shade-at-dwight-howard-continuing-longtime-beef-01jd03kydwk2\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Shaq denied Howard\u2019s challenge<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with a dig, saying, <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cGotta have more than one ring to get in the ring with me.\u201d <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He went on to suggest that Howard could box an NFL player first and, only after proving himself and earning a Hall of Fame induction, would Shaq maybe fight him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Howard\u2019s response was playful, suggesting Shaq was ducking the challenge. The exchange reignited their rivalry, with fans taking to social media to debate whether the two should face off in the ring. While the idea of an NBA vs. NFL boxing event has the potential to attract massive viewership, the prospect of Shaq and Howard settling their differences physically seems unlikely.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Inside the NBA Discussion<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The conversation about a Dwight Howard vs Shaq fight continued on <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/17\/inside-the-nba-switching-networks\/\" target=\"_self\">Inside the NBA<\/a> when Shaq\u2019s coworkers egged him on. They asked Shaq why he wasn\u2019t going to fight Dwight, to which he responded, \u201cI only fight people in the Top 75.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Shaq: &#8220;I only fight people that&#8217;s in the top 75, Ernie&#8221; <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IoIcjBqwtA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/IoIcjBqwtA<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/LmX3pvjp3b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/LmX3pvjp3b<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 CJ Fogler \ud83e\udee1 (@cjzero) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cjzero\/status\/1859112597783547925?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 20, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is another dig at Howard. Many believe he was snubbed from the Top 75 NBA Players of All Time list. Shaq\u2019s co-hosts mentioned this on the segment, saying that they believed he should be on the list.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/barklch01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Charles Barkley<\/a> also joined in on the fun. He repeatedly told Shaq that Dwight would \u201cwhoop\u201d him in a boxing match. The producers of the show even played along, making a \u201ctale of the tape\u201d for the two rivals. The Shaq Dwight rivalry may never be resolved with a boxing match, but hopefully, the two can make up and respect each other\u2019s greatness. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dwight Howard has officially challenged Shaquille O\u2019Neal to a boxing match. The Dwight Howard vs Shaq beef has gone on for quite a long time, and it continued the other day when Howard reached out to Shaq about a boxing match. Their relationship has been the subject of a lot of off-the-court NBA drama, as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5284,"featured_media":108104,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1608,26,62,17],"tags":[2280,205,746,261],"class_list":["post-108023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","category-magic","tag-charles-barkely","tag-dwight-howard","tag-nba-dunk-contest","tag-shaquille-oneal"],"modified_by":"Eamon Cassels, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5284"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}