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[Saba Sports News] Damian Lillard doesn’t mess around when it comes to combat sports.
The Milwaukee Bucks guard is a well-known boxing enthusiast—a fact that probably wasn’t lost on teammate Kyle Kuzma when he jokingly challenged Lillard to a fight.
Kuzma had already teased Giannis Antetokounmpo with mock threats of flying knees and elbows if he ever left Milwaukee. Then, in another playful post, he told Lillard he was “next.”
Lillard responded with a sharp comeback, making it clear he wouldn’t go down easy.
“When I’m healthy… I’m stopping you in the 5th… Long torso = BHop vs. De La Hoya,” Lillard wrote in an Instagram story, referencing the iconic 2004 middleweight bout in which Bernard Hopkins stopped Oscar De La Hoya with a brutal liver shot.
In that fight, De La Hoya was the smaller man moving up in weight, and Hopkins, with his size and experience, capitalized on the mismatch. Lillard seemingly believes he could use a similar strategy to take down Kuzma, despite the fact Kuzma stands 6’9″ and outweighs him by roughly 30 pounds.
While it’s all in good fun, maybe the two Bucks teammates will settle the score with some light sparring—once Lillard is fully recovered from his Achilles injury.