Hyderabad: Of late the international media has been avidly following the developments about the proposed cage fight between two men who are among the wealthiest on the planet, namely Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. They are going to take on each other in a cage fight just like the MMA fighters on television. The basic plans of the event are being put in place.
It is learnt that Musk was in favour of staging the fight at the Colosseum in Rome where in ancient times gladiators battled each other to death. But promoters want to hold it at the UFC Apex arena in Nevada where many UFC champions have displayed their brawn.
According to UFC President Dana White both men are very serious about going ahead with their plan.
But why are these two behaving like schoolboys? Both are experts in their own fields and have a certain reputation and image. But suddenly they have decided to fight with each other like professional fighters. They have built up their business empires with their brains and management skills. Not by street fighting. If they had to challenge each other, wouldn’t a game of chess be a more dignified and appropriate contest?
Moreover, neither of them are young. Elon Musk is 52 years old and Mark Zuckerberg is 39. Will these two middle aged men not look foolish by trying to do the things that should be left to highly trained and superbly fit athletes?
As preparation, Zuckerberg has been training with top level fighters and is being photographed with them. He seems to be enjoying the spotlight. It proves that celebrities will stop at nothing to attract public attention.
However this phenomenon is nothing new. In the past too, there were many people who were highly respected and accomplished in their own fields who indulged their whims and fought duels with their rivals.
Duelling with swords or pistols was once considered a gentlemanly way of resolving disputes. Two duellers armed with their weapons and accompanied by their assistants would meet at a designated place to settle the matter once and for all. This was seen more in Cowboy movies of bygone era.
Even the highly respected author and outspoken votary of non-violence, Leo Tolstoy, was guilty of many misdemeanors in his youth. In his essay titled “A Confession” he has written that he challenged men to duels in order to kill them. “Lying, robbery, violence and murder, there was no crime that I did not commit. I look back with loathing at those days of my youth.”
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the former US President Andrew Jackson fought at least one hundred duels and killed some of his rivals. All this happened before he became the President.
What the men could do, the women could do better. The same encyclopedia mentions that in 1792, two aristocratic ladies of London who were good friends met for a cup of tea. But things became nasty when one of the ladies, Elphinstone, made a comment about the age of her friend Lady Braddock. The latter felt insulted and challenged her friend to a pistol duel. Elphinstone fired accurately and wounded Lady Braddock. The two then took up their swords and this time Lady Braddock injured Mrs. Elphinstone. After that they decided to call it quits having scored one point each. Then they went back to sipping their tea as if nothing had happened!
In modern times, Musk and Zuckerberg will not be allowed to shoot at each other or take up swords to fight. But their battle inside a cage will not benefit either of them. Regardless of who wins the contest, it will in no way enhance their prestige or increase their wealth. One fails to understand the point of this foolhardy venture.
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