With over 65 million viewers watching the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight, one announcement caught everyone by surprise. “Me and Gronk are going to put together NBA vs NFL.” Shaquille O’Neal revealed breaking news a week ago regarding plans for NBA players to take on NFL players. He even clarified that retired or active players both can participate.

“Me and Gronk are good friends, and he challenged me to a fight.” The Lakers legend also spoke about how the idea came to his mind. Rob Gronkowski shared his excitement about the fight. “I’m not really your good friend; I’m ready to fight your a–.” The former tight end also shared the idea of being the first main event fight, when the plan is successful and subsequently shared clips of his training. So, now the question remains, who has the advantage?

Will Shaquille O’Neal’s stature be the difference maker?

During his 19-year-long career, Shaq weighed over 300 pounds, sometimes 345, 385, and even 415 pounds. Understandably making it difficult for his opponents to guard, that is why they used the ‘Hack-a-Shaq’ method. The 7-ft-1 phenom also once measured his hands, which were 10.25 inches long and 12 inches wide. Looking at these stats, one could select the Lakers legend as the favorite, but let’s not do that yet.

Because Rob Gronkowski had the height advantage over most of the NFL players. Plus, the 6-ft-6 athlete, due to his reach, holds a Guinness World Record. Yes, as per the NFL news, he earned the record when he caught a pass thrown from a helicopter 600 feet above the ground. Not to forget, he has bench-pressed 225 lbs 23 times at the NFL combine. The 4× Super Bowl champion’s hand size is also impressive, with 10 3/4.

“I actually would fight Shaq in a boxing match.” recently Gronk revealed that the fight against Shaquille O’Neal will only be in a boxing ring. He dismissed any notion of any UFC match, after all, he once revealed about suffering nearly 20 concussions in a 2019 interview. Yet, despite those injuries, he is ready to get in the ring.

“Shaq and Rob, 12 million dollars on an undercard—nothing better.” The former Patriots star revealed the details on the Dudes on Dudes podcast. Interestingly, both Shaquille O’Neal and Rob Gronkowski have already featured in a squared circle, but not against each other.

The Big Aristotle seems to have a distinct advantage

Gronk has the age factor on his side, as the difference between the two is nearly two decades. But in that time, the Lakers legend has appeared and fought against two boxers. For the Shaq Vs. reality television series, the 4x NBA Champion first faced Oscar De La Hoya but lost anyway with a unanimous decision.

Next, he laced on the gloves to challenge Shane Mosley in an exhibition boxing match. Unfortunately, he lost again. However, during the two fights, Shaq did back them to the ropes overwhelmingly. Not to forget, Shaquille O’Neal also appeared in WWE and AEW and even wrestled on multiple occasions. His last appearance came 3 years ago on AEW Dynamite. The episode clocked in 100k more viewers (934,000) than the previous week’s episode.

Yes, even Rob Gronkowski has appeared on WWE TV multiple times and also won the now-discontinued 24/7 Championship once. At the time, he was hosting the historic, two-part WrestleMania 36. So, owing to injuries, it will be hard at first for Gronk to be fully cleared, but already being a champion in WWE would definitely be a solid point for him to trash talk to Shaquille O’Neal. Let’s wait and watch how soon the match unfolds.