By: Benjamin He
Conflict seems to be to humans as water is to plants. We seem to crave it. We haven’t seemed to learn anything from World Wars I or II, and instead we are waging at least three wars as of now. But right now, instead of the Yemeni Civil War or the Syrian War on the news, it’s two billionaires preparing to have a boxing match.
Recently, Elon Musk, who runs Twitter, Tesla, and SpaceX, challenged Mark Zuckerberg to a boxing match. After Mr. Zuckerberg got the message, he texted Dana White, president of the ultimate fighting Championship, to ask if Mr. Musk was serious.
After confirming that he was serious, the internet pounced. Some of the powerful and influential people in the world were going in a cage match together.
Before the tech billionaires do hop in the ring however, let us look at the backgrounds of the fighters.
In the red corner stands Mark Zuckerberg, 39, chief executive of Meta, and has tried to bulk up in the last 18 months. He also trained in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, a form of combat that is used in U.F.C, fighting. He’s also sought out martial arts experts Dave Camarillo, James Terry and Khai Wu.
Mr. Zuckerberg competed in his first public martial arts tournament in May, winning both silver and gold metals in the ensuing battles.
Mr. Zuckerberg is also likely in good shape, due to a reportedly strict training regime, and also made a personal best time last month for the Murph challenge, which involves a series of pull-ups, push-ups, etc. while wearing weighted body armor.
In the blue corner stands Elon Musk, 52, outweighs Mr. Zuckerberg by at least 70 pounds. He has tweeted that he “almost never” works out, and suffered a back injury after participating in an exhibition with a sumo wrestler. He also said that last month he had trained in two forms of Japanese martial arts.
Podcaster Lex Fridman posted photos of himself this week training judo with Mr. Musk, and he has also reportedly trained judo with Mr. Zuckerberg.
Elon Musk disclosed the location of the fight via Twitter: Rome’s Colosseum, Italy.