Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal Thrown Down in Epic “Shirt-Off” Battle On Inside The NBA [Video]

On Tuesday night, after the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers played the first game of their series, former NBA superstars Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal made good on their promise to compete in TNT’s first ever “Shirt-Off” competition.

The hilarious battle, which was essentially Chuck and Shaq taking their shirts off on live TV to determine who had the better body, gave viewers — who stayed up till 1AM — the chance to check out two NBA vets crack on each other while addressing the country’s growing obesity epidemic.

While Barkley, who signed a deal with weight watchers last year, visibly had shed more than a few pounds and seemed to be in decent shape, Shaq looked downright shredded. That is, until the cameras zoomed in for a closer glance at his contoured mid-section.

“Hey man!!” Barkley shouted after O’Neal ripped off his undershirt to reveal a 300esque six-pack that makeup artists had drawn on his stomach. “… There’s some stuff going on over here.”

Shaq’s defense to the” faux” abs accusations?

“I just got my tattoos covered up.”

After the laughter died down, Barkley made the pitch to the American public about joining him and O’Neal in the fight against obesity.

“I want to thank Shaq for keeping me motivated,” Barkley explained. “Being fat is no joke. I know we’re having fun tonight, but we’ve got an obesity problem in this country. There are too many fat a***s out there. We should do this once a year.”

Check out Charles Barkley and Shaq in TNT’s first ever Shirt off competition in the video below (skip to the 5 minute mark to watch the big fellas shed their tops):