When reading a lot of threads on various subjects pertaining to how well Bruce Lee could fight, I found that for the most part you can break it down into two groups: Those who say Bruce Lee wasn't a fighter due to x or those who claim that Bruce Lee was the greatest fighter ever. In the process I found that there are flaws in the argument on both sides.
Let me start with the most common question. Did Bruce Lee ever fight in the ring? The answer is yes. Critics like to use that argument of "Where's the video of this fight (or photo)?
In fact here's an example of just this argument "No never, there is no evidence of Bruce Lee ever fighting outside of movies, including in his schools when he was teaching."
Fact: They not only found the individual who set up the boxing match between Gary Elms, but he had photos of them fighting. Why do some of his critics claim there are no evidence of Bruce Lee fighting in the ring, even though there clearly is? The answer has to do with modernization. In 1958 most people probably didn't have cameras, much less video cameras. A lot of individuals that make this argument either fail to realize this or they did not do very good research.
Now that doesn't mean the Bruce Lee fans are 100% correct either. One argument they like to make is that Bruce Lee struggled the first two rounds as he was adapting to the way western boxing was done, but easily knocked Gary Elms out in the 3rd round.
Fact: The fight was a 3 round boxing match. According to the man that sponsored the fight, Bruce Lee did not knock out Gary Elms, but rather it went the full three rounds, also he mentioned that Bruce Lee didn't struggle in the fight, but rather he stated that he doesn't think Gary Elms managed to land a single blow on him.
To be fair though this fight was not a Professional bout, but this does indeed show that Bruce Lee had at least fought in the ring.
The other popular argument for and again Bruce Lee is comments from people that knew Bruce Lee. I'm going to first look at the comments by Joe Lewis and Chuck Norris, as their names come up the most.
Critics like to point out that Joe Lewis stated that Bruce Lee wasn't a fighter.
Fact: True. Joe Lewis has stated that Bruce Lee wasn't a fighter, but thought he was a good teacher. The problem with this criticism of Bruce Lee is that it's a weak argument. For one they normally take what Joe Lewis says out of context. In fact most of the time after making these comments Joe Lewis would also say things like how he only trained with Bruce Lee 3 or 4 times and never saw Bruce Lee fight in the ring. So what is Joe Lewis really saying? Once taken in context it becomes clear that Joe Lewis is saying that he doesn't really know if Bruce Lee could fight since he doesn't have the data necessary to come to that conclusion. In other words he doesn't know.
Then there is the comment by Chuck Norris stating that Bruce Lee is the greatest non-fighter or words to that effect.
Fact: Chuck Norris did indeed make comments similar to this, but again people seem to pick and choose. The leave out the part where Chuck Norris states that Bruce Lee didn't really train to fight in the ring. Do you know what else critics like to leave out? When Chuck Norris made this comment he later on clarified by stating that although Bruce Lee didn't train to fight in the ring he still believed that he had to potential to be among the top 3 fighters in his weight division.
Now fans that doesn't mean that Bruce Lee is the greatest fighter ever. The common theme to this is many of Bruce Lee's friends and colleagues believed that Bruce Lee had the drive, skill-set, and determination to probably compete in the ring, but ultimately no one really knows how well Bruce Lee could have fared in the ring.
Let me start with the most common question. Did Bruce Lee ever fight in the ring? The answer is yes. Critics like to use that argument of "Where's the video of this fight (or photo)?
In fact here's an example of just this argument "No never, there is no evidence of Bruce Lee ever fighting outside of movies, including in his schools when he was teaching."
Fact: They not only found the individual who set up the boxing match between Gary Elms, but he had photos of them fighting. Why do some of his critics claim there are no evidence of Bruce Lee fighting in the ring, even though there clearly is? The answer has to do with modernization. In 1958 most people probably didn't have cameras, much less video cameras. A lot of individuals that make this argument either fail to realize this or they did not do very good research.
Now that doesn't mean the Bruce Lee fans are 100% correct either. One argument they like to make is that Bruce Lee struggled the first two rounds as he was adapting to the way western boxing was done, but easily knocked Gary Elms out in the 3rd round.
Fact: The fight was a 3 round boxing match. According to the man that sponsored the fight, Bruce Lee did not knock out Gary Elms, but rather it went the full three rounds, also he mentioned that Bruce Lee didn't struggle in the fight, but rather he stated that he doesn't think Gary Elms managed to land a single blow on him.
To be fair though this fight was not a Professional bout, but this does indeed show that Bruce Lee had at least fought in the ring.
The other popular argument for and again Bruce Lee is comments from people that knew Bruce Lee. I'm going to first look at the comments by Joe Lewis and Chuck Norris, as their names come up the most.
Critics like to point out that Joe Lewis stated that Bruce Lee wasn't a fighter.
Fact: True. Joe Lewis has stated that Bruce Lee wasn't a fighter, but thought he was a good teacher. The problem with this criticism of Bruce Lee is that it's a weak argument. For one they normally take what Joe Lewis says out of context. In fact most of the time after making these comments Joe Lewis would also say things like how he only trained with Bruce Lee 3 or 4 times and never saw Bruce Lee fight in the ring. So what is Joe Lewis really saying? Once taken in context it becomes clear that Joe Lewis is saying that he doesn't really know if Bruce Lee could fight since he doesn't have the data necessary to come to that conclusion. In other words he doesn't know.
Then there is the comment by Chuck Norris stating that Bruce Lee is the greatest non-fighter or words to that effect.
Fact: Chuck Norris did indeed make comments similar to this, but again people seem to pick and choose. The leave out the part where Chuck Norris states that Bruce Lee didn't really train to fight in the ring. Do you know what else critics like to leave out? When Chuck Norris made this comment he later on clarified by stating that although Bruce Lee didn't train to fight in the ring he still believed that he had to potential to be among the top 3 fighters in his weight division.
Now fans that doesn't mean that Bruce Lee is the greatest fighter ever. The common theme to this is many of Bruce Lee's friends and colleagues believed that Bruce Lee had the drive, skill-set, and determination to probably compete in the ring, but ultimately no one really knows how well Bruce Lee could have fared in the ring.
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