The Final fight between Chuck Norris and Joe Lewis 1967

10:23:00 AM Tkd kwan 0 Comments


Chuck Norris and Joe Lewis are well known martial artists in the United States, they both came from different styles backgrounds but they met in the same competition.

Joe Lewis trained Shōrin-ryū Karate with Eizo Shimabukuro, John Korab, Chinsaku Kinjo and Seiyu Oyata while stationed in Okinawa between May 21, 1964 and November 29, 1965, earning his black belt in a mere seven months. This period of training should not be sufficient to earn a black belt in martial arts in general, but Joe Lewis was a real martial artist and even Bruce Lee said that he was the best Karate fighter.

On the other hand, Chuck Norris came from Korean martial arts background, He was sent to South Korea in 1958 when he started learning Tang Soo Do but later he cut ties with South Korea (martial arts) and founded his own style called Chun Kuk Do.

Chuck Norris vs Joe Lewis 1967

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCXdAn5h_O0&t=54s

 The two champions Chuck Norris and Joe Lewis met each other in Karate Championships held in 1969, at the time Norris was 29 years old while Joe was 25 years old.

It is said that Joe Lewis was injured in the fight before meeting Chuck, and Joe was the favorite to win this fight, but he was not lucky to be in his best due to his injury. 

The referee of this fight between Joe and Chuck was the Korean Taekwondo grand master Jhoon Rhee, who hold a 10th Dan black belt belt in Korean Taekwondo. At the time Taekwondo was called or known as the Korean Karate.

Three years after this fight, The way of the dragon movie will be directed and produced by Bruce Lee, and Chuck Norris would have an important role in it. This role was  first proposed to Joe Lewis but it seemed that the plan did not work between Bruce Lee and Joe.

Let's watch this small rare footage of the fight between Chuck Norris and Joe Lewis 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEixgkBNCgU


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