Boston Red Sox icon Roger Clemens knocks out old rival Mike Piazza's $15M boxing challenge with a tongue-in-cheek reply

Roger Clemens and Mike Piazza have a history of rivalry. Back in the day, while the Mets showed signs of resurgence, the Yankees were in the thick of their most recent dynasty. While Piazza was building a solid case for becoming the best offensive catcher of all time across town, Clemens still argued his case as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. That's when their historical rivalry started.

A few weeks ago, Mike Piazza said he would be willing to take on Roger Clemens in a $15 million charity boxing challenge. Later, Clemens replied on the Foul Territory Show and promised to act as his ally.

"It's gotta be a ton of money for me to get in there and try and whoop somebody's a**"

In recent years, the Mets' refusal to trade players with the Yankees has been the closest the crosstown rivals have gone to being adversaries.

The intense rivalry between Roger Clemens and Mike Piazza

Despite not playing in the same league in the 1990s, Mike Piazza and Roger Clemens occasionally faced each other due to interleague play. Piazza had a 5-for-9 record with two home runs in them.

Clemens and Piazza had prior encounters before the 2000 World Series matchup between their teams. Clemens threw a fastball at Piazza during a game in the first part of that regular season, striking him in the head. After receiving a concussion diagnosis, Piazza was forced to miss the 2000 MLB All-Star Game.

The Mets, in any event, were enraged. So was Piazza, who claimed in his 2014 autobiography that he responded bluntly to Clemens' apology call to the Mets clubhouse:

"Tell him to go f--k himself."

Later that year, when the Yankees and Mets met in the World Series, there was still animosity between the two teams. It all came to a head in Game 2 when Clemens hurled one of the bat shards Piazza's way after breaking it on a foul ball.

Even though that event didn't lead to the anticipated heavyweight match, Piazza later said that he had studied some karate techniques in preparation.