Video: Lamar Odom TKOs Aaron Carter in horrible circus celebrity bout

This was the worst of recent celebrity boxing events, even by combat sports’ freakshow standards.

Celebrity boxing has been a growing trend lately, and Aaron Carter vs Lamar Odom might be the worst of those to jump in that bandwagon.

The 41-year-old retired NBA player took on the 33-year-old former pop star in a circus show mismatch. Odom is certainly no boxing savant, but he is a 6-foot-10 professional athlete taking on a much smaller, out of shape opponent, who clearly has no idea how to box.

Guest referee Chuck Liddell also allowed the bout to progress way too long despite the clear mismatch, with Carter stumbling all over the ring and taking some extended punishment. He eventually tried to quit multiple times after the third knockdown, but Liddell just decided to continue counting before calling it off in the second round.

While the craziness it brought can make viewers think it’s funny and entertaining, both men’s long history of serious physical and mental health issues, drug abuse and addiction really made this boxing match feel very exploitative.

They’re past their prime and there’s obviously such a massive size difference, but as we wrote about earlier, there were way more serious issues booking these two to a fight. This was also more concerning for Carter, who was always going to be the one taking majority of the head trauma in this mismatch.

Both have had very serious health conditions stemming from drug abuse and addiction in the past, and stepping into a ring for added brain trauma just doesn’t seem like something that should happen at all.

Odom nearly died in a brothel in 2015 because of a drug overdose. He was in a coma after suffering kidney failure, several heart attacks and 12 strokes. Doctors didn’t think he would make it, let alone fully recover, but Odom somehow battled back and got well enough to play competitive basketball again in 2019.

Carter, who grew to fame as a child pop star in the early 2000’s, also dealt with substance abuse and drug-related arrests in the years after his fame. He also battled severe weight loss, reportedly going as low as 115 lbs in 2017. He’s also been involved in numerous controversies and legal issues through the years, along with filing for bankruptcy in 2013.

While having a reason to get in shape could be good for them, there seems to be much safer and healthier ways to make money than signing up to get punched in the head.