I november kommer det tredje mötet att äga rum mellan veteranerna och före detta lätt-tungviktsmätarna Chuck Liddell och Tito Ortiz. Liddell är idag 48 år gammal och Ortiz är 43 år.
Det var många som höjde ögonbrynen eller skakade på huvudet när det stod klart att de två kommer att mötas igen, del för att Liddell har inte gått match sedan 2010 och har varit pensionerad flera år. En majoritet av fans känner att matchen inte ens borde få sanktioneras.
CSAC-representanten Andy Foster berättar här varför man valde att tillåta mötet mellan de två:
He (Liddell) hasn’t fought in a long time. But whether he’s medically fit to fight wasn’t my decision. He’s been medically cleared to fight. … I think that the Tito Ortiz matchup is reasonable. This isn’t the first time they’ve fought, this won’t be the second time they fought. This will be the third time.
“It’s pretty much beyond dispute that there was a time in Chuck Liddell’s life that he was the best 205-pounder in the world. I think that’s beyond dispute. You bring a fighter up the mountain and you bring a fighter down the mountain as a regulator. Chuck Liddell didn’t start his career fighting world championship-level competition. And I wouldn’t approve him to fight a world champion right now or a 205-pound champion at the high levels or a highly ranked fighter like that.
But Tito, on the same token, I think it’s fair to say he’s not in the prime of his career also, but he’s still a good athlete. He still wants to fight. And Chuck wants to fight. Chuck is still a good athlete. How is this not a competitive match? I think it is competitive. It was competitive the first two times. Chuck won. Just because people are coming down the mountain — to use the analogy — doesn’t mean that they should be disqualified from their chance to compete. Fighters like to fight. I think Chuck wants to compete, I think Tito wants to compete. As long as they’re medically cleared to fight, these people have clearly shown they’re good martial artists. I don’t see the problem of letting two older fighters fight each other.
You almost want to treat this as a debut, because of the long layoff. But of course, it’s not a debut. Mr. Liddell is very experienced. He’s not active, but he’s very experienced and he’s still a martial artist.
Mötet äger rum i Inglewood i Kalifornien den 24 november, under boxaren Oscar de La Hoyas Golden Boy Productions.
Vad tycker ni om mötet och kommer ni att se det?
