Who is tougher? Who contains the necessary testicular fortitude to win a head-to-head showdown? We’re not talking about a boxing match in Las Vegas, nor am I implying some karate at the Cobra Kai dojo — rather, a street fight to happen anytime, anywhere.

Think about the possibilities: Chuck Norris vs. Ali; Jackie Chan vs. Holyfield; Bruce Lee vs. Mike Tyson. Imagine if that was a card for a series of just plain fights. Who has the edge here? It is debatable.

Most people would immediately side with the black-belt, and why not? I mean, you see so-and-so whip some serious tail in a movie and you’re immediately convinced that he may be the baddest man on the planet. Trained actors are dropping like flies and Steven Segal or Jean-Claude Van Damme walks through the carnage with a smug look on their faces like it’s just another day’s work.

To achieve the level of a black-belt isn’t easy. You must put in a lot of hours and work your way up through a series of rankings (known as “belts”), as well as degrees within the rankings. In a fight, someone with the classification as a black-belt has aptly demonstrated their command of self-control as well as a sound knowledge of anatomy of the human body, and how to destroy it.

Most top-notch karate experts obtain an uncanny degree of quickness, making them very difficult to follow in a fight. A trained fighter’s hands, too, make for an interesting fight if, of course, the fight stays on foot and doesn’t go to the ground. You can also make a claim for a karate fighter’s precision. Karate is dangerous in regards to the precision involved in every strike. With every move, there is a direct counter, usually resulting in pain for the opposition.

A boxer, on the other hand, is a wrecking-ball. World-class boxers are paid to administer as much punishment on the opposition as humanly possible. They’re fast, they’re lethal, and they can end fights in less than one minute. Though rare, according to an article published by the Johnson Publishing Company, Mike Tyson won a fight in Scotland in July of 2000 in a total of 38 seconds — his third fastest victory. According to the article, “It was Tyson’s third-quickest victory and seventh in less than one minute. He knocked out Marvis Frazier in 30 seconds in 1986 and he beat Robert Colay in 37 seconds in 1985.” Wow. These are trained fighters he’s tuning up.

“He was terrifying,” said Jay Larkin, in charge of boxing for the Showtime cable television network. “It was a terrifying display of power, a display of relentlessness.”

Yikes. But the debate still remains of who would win this showdown of monumental importance. While I reserve my own opinion that a world-class trained boxer would, in fact, defeat one of karate’s finest, it can be argued for the latter — and with great conviction, too. Boxers are trained to endure pain and for 12 rounds. It’s not easy to punch and keep punching — to be prepared to be battered round after round.

Just remember this, folks — Mike Tyson bit a man’s ear off in the ring. There is an individual who is truly destined to do anything it takes to win. Anything. He may not be able to kick through bricks, but he’s perfectly capable of punching you into a coma — especially if he was still in his prime.