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Oh boy, I just found this thread, it is very interesting. I'm neither a Boztepe nor a Cheung fan, don't know much about either but I am a martial artist having both traditional and sport fighting experices. I analyzed the clip over and over and I read Cheungs interview on this fight posted here.
It is to me by any means all clear that Cheung was beaten in this fight, no question about it. Boztepe had most of the control during the majority of the fight. Cheung did pretty well till he grabbed Boztepe's neck giving him the advantage (I wonder about this move, far as I know WT doesn't have any neck grab techniques and this is where Cheung lost control for the rest of the fight). Boztepe reacted with a classical wrestling move: tilted Cheung forward then right away flipped him backwards while lifting him off the ground (actually from my gound work experiences at this point I was very impressed the way Boztepe held Cheung back from slamming his head on the ground). Cheung didn't even attempted to put his hands down to absorb the impact and to protect his head and body - as one should. This is the point a wrestler knocks one out by slamming the head to the ground while transferring the entire body weight to the impact.
Once on the ground, Cheung showed very little ground skills and while in the interview he is mentioning he punched and elbowed back, there is very little of that seen there; he was more trying to push himself away rather than trying to block or fight back, it is obvious in the video. His legs swinging all over the place instead of securing a stable posture on the ground for guarding which again reveals no ground experiences and giving Boztepe the control till the end of the fight. Cheung also says in his interview that he was a foreigner thus holding his skills back, not wanting to get into trouble, well Boztepe was too a foreigner: a wrestler from Turkey.
Sorry guys, as a traditional martial artist I tried to look at the clip from Cheung's side over and over because my first expression instantly favored Boztepe, but I only see a complete failure of applying any WT skill in this fight. If I had been a judge on this event, I'd give a clear win to Boztepe.
Now the etiquette part: it was probably not the most professional way from Boztepe to have this challenge answered in the middle of a seminar but Cheung shouldn't say something publicly in a magazine 'anytime, anyplace' if he can't live up to it and later uses such excuses as 'I had my slippery kung fu shoes on and the floor was slipper' and 'it happened in the middle of the seminar'. 'Any time, any place' does include a seminar with slippery floors and shoes too.
This is I say a classical example of how an honest and true fight shouldn't be conducted, a professional fighter never just walks up on someone and a true martial artist never says 'anytime, anywhere'.
I think - and hope - that both learned their own lessons, they certainly got what they bargained for, Boztepe an infamous name for not being professional about chosing the time and place in replying to a challenge and Cheung a life time dent in his name for declaring challenges publicly before really considering it's full consiquences.
Just my 2 cents
TP
It is to me by any means all clear that Cheung was beaten in this fight, no question about it. Boztepe had most of the control during the majority of the fight. Cheung did pretty well till he grabbed Boztepe's neck giving him the advantage (I wonder about this move, far as I know WT doesn't have any neck grab techniques and this is where Cheung lost control for the rest of the fight). Boztepe reacted with a classical wrestling move: tilted Cheung forward then right away flipped him backwards while lifting him off the ground (actually from my gound work experiences at this point I was very impressed the way Boztepe held Cheung back from slamming his head on the ground). Cheung didn't even attempted to put his hands down to absorb the impact and to protect his head and body - as one should. This is the point a wrestler knocks one out by slamming the head to the ground while transferring the entire body weight to the impact.
Once on the ground, Cheung showed very little ground skills and while in the interview he is mentioning he punched and elbowed back, there is very little of that seen there; he was more trying to push himself away rather than trying to block or fight back, it is obvious in the video. His legs swinging all over the place instead of securing a stable posture on the ground for guarding which again reveals no ground experiences and giving Boztepe the control till the end of the fight. Cheung also says in his interview that he was a foreigner thus holding his skills back, not wanting to get into trouble, well Boztepe was too a foreigner: a wrestler from Turkey.
Sorry guys, as a traditional martial artist I tried to look at the clip from Cheung's side over and over because my first expression instantly favored Boztepe, but I only see a complete failure of applying any WT skill in this fight. If I had been a judge on this event, I'd give a clear win to Boztepe.
Now the etiquette part: it was probably not the most professional way from Boztepe to have this challenge answered in the middle of a seminar but Cheung shouldn't say something publicly in a magazine 'anytime, anyplace' if he can't live up to it and later uses such excuses as 'I had my slippery kung fu shoes on and the floor was slipper' and 'it happened in the middle of the seminar'. 'Any time, any place' does include a seminar with slippery floors and shoes too.
This is I say a classical example of how an honest and true fight shouldn't be conducted, a professional fighter never just walks up on someone and a true martial artist never says 'anytime, anywhere'.
I think - and hope - that both learned their own lessons, they certainly got what they bargained for, Boztepe an infamous name for not being professional about chosing the time and place in replying to a challenge and Cheung a life time dent in his name for declaring challenges publicly before really considering it's full consiquences.
Just my 2 cents
TP
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