Chuck Norris shares truth about epic fight with Bruce Lee who compared him to 'a child'

Chuck Norris set the record straight about his epic fight with Bruce Lee at the end of Way of the Dragon.

The rise to fame of the Hollywood martial arts legend, who turns 83 today (March 10), began only after his unforgettable collaboration with Lee on the 1972 action-comedy hit.

Talking about his battle with the Hong Kong star, who once said facing him would be like ‘fighting a child’, Norris discussed the impact the scene had on some viewers.

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In long lost footage, he told what really happened in the battle, debunking one theory.

The Way of the Dragon saw Lee and Norris, two of the greatest martial artists ever, each with an almost unparalleled screen presence, fight to the death in Rome’s Coliseum, in the movie’s climatic finale.

Lee starred as Tang Lung, a young martial arts expert sent to help out a woman and her uncle after local criminals target them.

Norris, in his debut screen role as Colt, was a skilled martial artist recruited by the criminal organisation to eliminate the enormous threat posed by Tang Lung.

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There were no special effects or chairs as weapons – it was hand to hand, or foot in several cases, combat, with Norris ultimately meeting his maker.

After seeing the pair battle it out, many believed after there was a real rivalry.

This couldn’t have been further from the truth, however, as the two had sparred on multiple occasions, with Norris, who has black belts in seven martial arts, admitting he always in awe of Lee’s speed and power.

In one interview, the Hong Kong star even claimed that beating figures such as Joe Lewis, Mike Stone and Chuck Norris would be easy, as if he was fighting children.

But Norris, in the old footage, only had good things to say about their collaboration.

He commented: “I enjoyed working with Bruce Lee in the film, it was a lot of fun. The fight scene is considered the classic martial arts fight scene of all time. So it’s nice to be involved in a fight scene that everyone [loves].”

Norris, who was the winner of the Fighter of the Year award by Black Belt magazine in 1969, then revealed the truth behind a long held misconception by some of the film’s viewers

“There’s a scene where I throw Bruce to the ground and he grabs the hair on my chest and he pulls it out,” Norris recalled.

“I get a letter from this man and he says he and his son had seen [The Way of the Dragon ] 26 times… He says, ‘Did Bruce really pull the hair out of your chest? If he did, you’re really a stud.’”

Norris then admitted that no hair was lost in that shot.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk