If Charles Barkley and Peyton Manning's pre-golf tournament trash talk is any indication of how Friday's The Match III is going to go down ... we're in store for a whole lot of the above!!

Chuck, Manning, Phil Mickelson and Steph Curry all logged on for a Zoom call to preview their big tourney -- which will air on TNT this week -- and there was plenty of joking banter between the four.

But, the best heckling was between Manning and Charles ... with Peyton hitting Chuck with a hilarious tubby joke!

Here's how it went down ... Charles claimed he's been working on his game tirelessly to prepare for the event -- even saying he's hit the Stone Canyon course in Oro Valley, AZ a few times.

Then, he took a shot at Peyton's alma mater ... saying, "You know, Peyton, I just got to make sure he got my phone number. He texts me all the time, but, since Tennessee hasn't won a game, it's been a few weeks since he texted me!"

That's when Manning went into full-on roast mode -- hitting Chuck with this hilarious zinger ...

"That's kind of news to me that Charles has been to Stone Canyon three times. He hasn't played golf. He's just gone there to eat three times. They have great lunch and dinner service. So, this will be his first time playing the course in the actual match on Friday."

SHEEEEESSSHHHH!!!

There was a whole lot more from the guys' interview ... Barkley made fun of Manning and Curry's Hall of Fame chances; and everyone generally cracked on Charles for having a horrific golf swing.

Good times!!!

By the way, the event is all going down for a good cause ... the foursome is playing to raise money for HBCUs across the country.