Basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal is a huge fan of bare-knuckle fighting, and the all-time great has plans to invest in the combat sport. As per a story from USA Today, Shaq, who sat at ringside during last night’s BKFC event in Florida, told the publication he plans to invest money in the sport. O’Neal goes as far as to say bare-knuckle fighters are “the greatest, toughest athletes in the world.”
And Shaq is looking to invest in BKFC (Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship).
“These are the greatest, toughest athletes in the world,” the basketball superstar said. “The fact that they’re not using gloves makes them the toughest athletes in the world. I think this is the future of fighting.”
BKFC founder Dave Feldman also spoke with USA Today, and he is naturally thrilled that O’Neal is going to invest.
“Now we’ve got one of the most sought-after sports figures in the entire world,” Feldman said. “Who doesn’t know Shaq? And now he’s going to be part of this company.”
There has been increased interest in bare-knuckle fighting as of late, with Paulie Malignaggi trying his hands at it. The entertaining fight the former world champ had with Artem Lobov was a success in attracting huge interest and in generating plenty of money. Bare-knuckle fighting is not for everyone – with a good many people instinctively flinching when the subject comes up, they believe that the sport is brutal and savage – but more and more fans are turning to the sport. O’Neal says bare-knuckle fighting is the way a fight should be fought.
“Because they don’t want to use the gloves, they’re fighting like a fight should be had,” he said. After former boxer Dat Nguyen won the lightweight title during last night’s BKFC card, O’Neal got into the ring and presented Nguyen with the championship belt.
So will Shaq’s involvement, along with his money, serve to give bare-knuckle fighting one massive boost? It certainly can’t hurt, can it?