Canadian wing chun master Pierre Flores wants to strike a blow for martial arts against Xu Xiaodong
- ‘The way he does it is wrong. It is not right to assume all martial arts are fake,’ says Pierre-Francois Flores, who wins latest bout in less than a minute
- The 43-year-old Flores caused stir in 2017 when he challenged Vietnamese kung fu ‘fraud’ Huynh Tan Kiet
Outspoken Chinese MMA fighter Xu Xiaodong has been challenged by yet another wing chun master who says he is looking to defend the honour of traditional martial arts – but this one is Canadian and actually won a few fights.
Pierre-Francois Flores was in Hanoi last week and beat amateur fighter Luu Cuong under kick-boxing rules – though he was reportedly 12kg heavier than his opponent.
The 43-year-old caused a stir in 2017 when he competed in a full-contact bout with a local karate practitioner. The unsanctioned fight at a secret location was “in the spirit of friendship and martial arts”, according to his opponent, Doan Bao Chau, whom Flores dropped twice.
Flores had originally planned to travel to Vietnam to challenge Huynh Tan Kiet, the founder and “grandmaster” of Nam Huynh Dao. Flores believes Kiet is a fraud for claiming he can channel electricity through his body to perform martial arts – so in that regard he has something in common with Xu.
Xu has also made it his mission to expose “fake” kung fu – but Flores said Xu has made him angry and he wants to get revenge for wing chun.
Flores, who likes to promote respect between fighters, said he also wants to prove that the old traditional martial arts still have some values.
“I was the first to accept a match with him, and I made it clear in the press,” Flores told Vietnamese media. “There is nothing complicated here.
“Xu Xiaodong may not have known who I was two years ago when I ‘knocked on his door’. Now it all depends on whether he wants to open the door or not.
“The way he does it is wrong. It is not right to assume that all martial arts are fake,” Flores added. “That is the mistake of Xu Xiaodong. There are good and bad things, but you can’t equate them all.”
Flores’ latest win took less than a minute. It was determined Luu was unable to continue after a spinning back elbow.
“Thank you Luu Cuong for this exchange! It was really nice to exchange with you,” Flores wrote on Facebook.
Flores has also called for a fight with professional Vietnamese boxer Truong Dinh Hoang, who turned down the challenge because he is preparing for the Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines later this year.
“If anyone wants to organise my match with Flores and my entire ticket sales and remuneration, I will devote everything to charity,” Truong said. “Then everyone would be allowed to watch it properly. It benefits all people and society.
“Why do I talk about organising a decent match with ticket sales? Because there are so many people who want to see me and Flores fight. Why not have a good match, and still do many useful things for society?
“I’ve never tried to escape before. I am a boxer and my job is to fight.”
