The Controversial Fight | Emin Boztepe vs William Cheung

So, as you can imagine, as soon as the video became public it was considered a controversial fight. The quality is not the best since it goes back almost 30 years ago. There are so many rumors around this footage.

The controversial fight

Some say that this video isn't even the original and that the copy was modified by Leung Ting's wish, in order to cast shade upon William Cheung's reputation.

This event happened a long time ago, so in order to give you the most complete vision of this story, we present you both versions: Cheung and Boztepe's.

They are, of course, completely different. What we know for sure is that this event happened during one of William's seminars in Koln, Germany in the early 90ties.

We already know what happened next thanks to the video, but what really happened? What's the background of this controversial fight? Let's start with both versions.

William Cheung's version

What we state here is a resume of William Cheung's interview in which he speaks also about this incident. You can find the complete interview here or you can just read the short version down below.

Furthermore, he says that before the seminar some people from Wing Chun Serbia had warned him that Emin was coming to the seminar with other 20 people of his.

However, even if he knew about what was about to happen, he didn't want any fights or big rumors. That's because the german government was very strict with people without a proper working Visa.

As if it wasn't enough, he stated that before the seminar he had a suspicious interview. He was asked to wear a pair of cheap Kung Fu slippers for the photoshoot. William is sure that the interviewer was nothing more than another accomplice of Leung Ting, the mind behind this project as he says.

Highlights on the "Controversial Fight"

First of all, he doesn't refer to the incident as a fight. Cheung remembers that Emin came to his seminar and challenged him to a fight.

William says that he told him to wait till the end of the seminar and that he would accept the challenge as soon as he would have finished the lesson. Emin didn't want to wait till the end and insisted.

William underlines the fact that Emin attacked him from behind while he wasn't looking. Due to the fact that he was wearing those cheap shoes, he almost immediately fall on the floor after he blocked his punch. While William was falling he already did a headlock on Emin so they both fell on the floor.

After they finished on the floor Emin striked at least nine punches to his opponent's face. But William says that none of them actually hit him since he blocked them all.

Some moments later Emin would get up and run away frustrated. Cheung says that due to the fact that he had no scratches on himself, he just got up and continued his seminar.

Cheung underlines how all that happened was just Leung Ting's evil attempt to ruin his reputation. And that's not all. To prove his opponent's unrighteous actions he also reminds of two actions that Leung Ting would have done.

Firstly, he once ended up in prison for having beaten his pregnant girlfriend. Secondly, he also sent some people to beat up Emin after he had a fight with William Cheung.

However, there are many proofs that approve the first violent act, but almost none regarding the second.

Emin Boztepe's version

Unfortunately, from what we know Emin Boztepe didn't publicly express himself on this topic. However, many people and instructors who know Emin personally and professionally have.

They all describe him as a very moral man who would never attack from behind. A very good friend of his did testimony that Emin went there to challenge him prior to William Cheung's press release.

Just after the death of Yip Man and Bruce Lee William would have stated that he was the only Yip Man's student to know the true system.

From there the name of his lineage: Traditional Wing Chun. William Cheung publicly said that Yip Man passed the true system to only one chosen among thousands of students and that that would be him.

Along with this statement, he also added that he was a complete fighter ready to prove wrong to any doubter by accepting any challenge at any time.

Nowadays there are so many proofs that say the contrary and hardly anybody seems to believe that story anymore. If you want some interesting insights into the story, you can check this testimony.

But back to us.
Emin wanted to prove publicly the truth about William Cheung's (lack of) skills, so he would have insisted to fight William immediately.

He didn't accept to fight later after the seminar because he feared that he would go away without fighting.
To exculpate his famous immoral attack from behind, Emin said that that couldn't be further away from the truth.

He states that he would have counted aloud to 10 before attacking him. William C. would have invented that excuse as soon as he would have seen the footage where the first "challenging" part is missing.

So, where lies the truth?

The two versions are so different and there are so many background rumors that everything and nothing could be considered to be the truth.
Many years have passed and actually, both William Cheung nor Leung Ting do not have the best reputation in the Wing Chun world.

There are many background politics that keep remaining hidden. Probably, only those who were present that day at the seminar would be an attentive testimony to this event.