Have you been hankering for some early 2000s nostalgia? Then boy, do I have the story for you. On Friday night, we saw one of the most anticipated celebrity boxing matches of the year. In one corner stood Lamar Odom, the 6-10 former Sixth Man of the Year that won two championships for the Los Angeles Lakers. In the other corner stood Aaron Carter, the artist behind such early-century hits as "I want Candy" and "Aaron's Party."
On paper, the fight looked like a mismatch. The 6-0 Carter is almost a foot shorter than Odom, and the difference in their weight and reach is similar. Both Odom and Carter made their boxing debuts in the match, and that no doubt favored Odom. He has struggled through health issues since retiring, but he's still a professional athlete. He has physical gifts that the rest of us simply don't, and he showed it in knocking Carter out easily in the second round.
Lamar Odom wins against Aaron Carter with a second round KO pic.twitter.com/0o3FcJmPX7
— Elite Media Group (@TheEliteMedia_) June 12, 2021
The outcome will no doubt disappoint Carter's fans. After all, one of his biggest hits was literally entitled "That's How I Beat Shaq." Shaquille O'Neal is a Hall of Famer. If Carter can't beat Odom, there's no way he could stand up to a legend like Shaq.
Odom had previously guaranteed a victory. "Probably, I would say the first minute," he proclaimed to TMZ in May. He lived up to that boast, but it shouldn't surprise anyone. Odom has previously discussed using boxing for training when he played in the NBA, and his raw athletic edge made this one a pretty safe bet even if fellow basketball player Nate Robinson lost his highly-publicized boxing match to Jake Paul. Odom made the NBA world proud with his victory.
