A Man's Got a Right: Larry Holmes vs Gerry Cooney

You lost me when you cited Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee was an actor and has no place in a discussion of actual pressure tested fighters.

 

That was good, thanks.

 

Good stuff. I just recently rewatched the Legendary Nights Episode so this is nice.

Larry was a great champion and was pretty cool to meet in person. Appreciate the write up

 

Haven't read this article but it is a fact that Bruce Lee was a shootfighter who used to go around challenging and fighting the heads of other dojos. One of his most famous fights was in my back yard of Oakland, and I believe you can still see one of his fights on Youtube.

BRUCE LEE WAS LEGIT! As legit as they come.

 

All of his "fights" are stories told by people who were either him, his wife, or his students.
The one video of him actually fighting is him vs one of his students, and it ain't even all that impressive. Not any more intense than a couple kids at a Taekwondo school point sparring.
Zelenoff has more actual documented real fight experience than Bruce Lee.

 

Pure foolishness. A documentary was made about his fight with Wong Jack Man. You are saying that the 20 or so witnesses are all liars? His well-known fight with Yoichi Nakachi didn't happen? George Dillman did not admit to Bruce kicking his ass?

Legitimate competitive martial arts champions who new him, such as Chuck Norris, Joe Lewis, and Mike Stone, attest to the fact that he was legit, some even talking about Bruce besting them in sparring. These men are lying?

He even won a Hong Kong boxing tournament in 1958. Did you know that?

There is a a such thing as being credulous in the wrong direction. His fights aren't well documented because they were not traditional sporting events. It does not mean that they weren't real.

 

Sparring is absolutely meaningless. Bruce Lee was an actor who participated in choreographed fights. There is no record of him doing anything prizefighter related. None.

 

Bruce lee won fight tournaments and these are documented facts so stop posting rubbish

 

Uh, yes, yes there is. That is exactly the point. You are choosing to ignore reality.

No, sparring is not meaningless, when Karate champions admit to kicking their asses.

A final thing that I don't think you understand is that Bruce Lee started fighting because in Hong Kong he was a street fighter. NOT ALL FIGHTING IS A SPORTING EVENT.

 

It's astounding people still hold onto these delusions about Bruce Lee in 2020. Most of these tall tales that made their way into books, magazines, etc over the years came from unsubstantiated claims made by former students Bob Bremer and Tim Tackett. Has anyone here actually read any of Lee's self defense manuals? They're a complete joke. It's like something you would see out of a Frank Dux demonstration. When you think about it, Lee and Dux are about the same really. Only difference is Dux came around at a time when it was easier to fact check and debunk martial art myths.

 

Bruce Lee was way more pressure tested than any of these boxing guys-and I love boxing. I'm just saying. Lee wasn't fighting people for TV with refs and doctors and special rules about three knockdowns and stuff for money. He was fighting for real, not for sports and entertainment. He was beating people without gloves, true MMA, no gloves and those foam thingies you wear on your feet that are like shoe gloves and shin gloves and forearm gloves. He didn't have those rubber dentures that boxers gotta wear that fit around all your teeths. Real fighting where people can die without any help like that guy with fringdibburulator. That aint no acting. That's like saying Tex Cobb was just an actor. lol But he was in street fights and pay sport fights with lots of contact all the time so we know that's just crazy. Then yall like oh only his students and his wife and his this and that say whatever but that's like yeah you mean the people who actually knew him and would know are the ones talking about him? lol Yeah, that sure discredits it. Smart agrewment! They call that a strong man. Because the circus guys thats pozed to be so strong is really all phonies...like Carnera...

 

Legitimate Fighters prove themselves in legitimate competition against fellow legitimate fighters. Don't fall for the myths and nonsense. Bruce Lee was a child actor who studied martial arts and knew how to project an image, but he was always an actor and entertainer first. Jean Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris actually competed and won legitimate competitions in sanctioned events. Bruce Lee cultivated an image and was a student of martial arts, but he never competed in legitimate sanctioned events against other legitimate fighters. If Kimbo Slice never competed in MMA you would be saying he could beat any fighter based on fights in back yards. That Kimbo actually competed in real sanctioned MMA events makes him a legitimate fighter. Bruce Lee? No. A true icon and a wonderful physical actor but please don't say he was a great fighter. That was never proven and never will be. A 160lb Chuck Norris in real competition would beat a 135lb. non competitive (or whatever you call him) fighter every day of the week. In the movies? Of course its a different story and its Bruce Lee's movie, not reality lol. I can't believe people even question this.