Black Belt Jones vs Sho Nuff: Who Would Win?

Who would win out of Black Belt Jones and Sho Nuff?

Now if you weren't born in the 60s or 70's, you probably don't know who these fighters are, but if you are a martial arts film fan, you have seen the Last Dragon and Black Belt Jones. If you haven't, let me give you a quick recap of who both of the fighters are. First, we have Black Belt Jones. Black Belt Jones is the main protagonist in the 1974 American martial arts film directed by Robert Clouse and starring Jim Kelly. The film is a spiritual successor to Clouse's previous film Enter the Dragon, in which Kelly had a supporting role. Here, Kelly features in his first starring role as the eponymous character; he is a local hero who fights the Mafia and a local drug dealer threatening his friend's dojo. Next, we have Sho Nuff. Sho Nuff is the main villain from the martial arts film The Last Dragon.

The Last Dragon follows Leroy Green (Taimak), a young martial artist living in New York City who trains tirelessly to attain the same level of mastery as the great Bruce Lee. One night, his life changes forever when he rescues television personality Laura Charles (Vanity) from evil businessman Eddie Arkadian (Chris Murney). Impressed by Leroy's bravery, Laura falls for Leroy -- but to keep her safe, he will have to defeat a gang leader named Sho'nuff (Julius J. Carry III), the self-styled Shogun of Harlem. Now that we have the characters' origins, who would win in a fight between these two? Before we can get to the battle, let's break down how and why they would fight in the first place. Here's the story, Black Belt Jones has just returned from Hong Kong after the events of Black Belt Jones 2. He returns to his dojo in Los Angeles to find a tall man with wild hair waiting at the door. Black belt Jones tells the man that he is not taking any more students and shoos the man away. The man doesn't leave and announces himself as Sho Nuff, The Shogun of Harlem.

Shonuff wants to challenge the legendary Black Belt Jones to a fight to see who is the real master of Kung Fu. Black Belt Jones laughs him off because he has no interest in fighting Sho Nuff. Black Belt Jones knows who Sho Nuff is, but he has more pressing matters. Black Belt Jones discovered an illegal fighting tournament in Hong Kong while on his mission. He was more interested in entering that tournament than proving he was the undisputed Kung Fu Master. Sho Nuff isn't taking no for an answer, so he continues challenging Black Belt Jones to a fight. After some more pushing, Black Belt Jones finally gets upset and agrees to the fight.

The two are interrupted by one of Black Belt Jones's students, who has an important letter for him. Sho Nuff tells Black Belt Jones to handle his business and to meet him at another location to finish what they started. The letter that Black Belt Jones was given is an invitation to the tournament in Hong Kong. The letter is addressed to Williams, Black Belt Jones alias while out of the country. The prize for winning the tournament is huge, and the money could go a long way at the dojo. Black Belt Jone needed to get ready for the tournament, and what better way to test his skill than to fight the best Kung Fu Master in New York? Later that night, Black Belt Jones meets Sho Nuff at the location. The two size each other up, and the fight begins. Sho Nuffs size proves to be a factor because his reach advantage allows him to keep Black Belt Jones away with his kicks. Black Belt Jones has experience on his size and manages to keep the fight competitive, even at times getting the upper hand on Sho Nuff. Black Belt Jones lands a devastating kick that puts Sho Nuff down.

As Black Belt Jones looks down at Sho Nuff, he smirks at the younger fighter and taunts him. Sho Nuff became so enraged that his body began to glow. A red aura came over his entire body. He realizes this is the glow his master had told him about. The glow allowed him to hone his skills and become the master of kung fu. Sho Nuffs glow was triggered by rage, and the thought of defeat to Black Belt Jones activated it. Sho Nuff Jumps up and tells Black Belt Jones to come on. Black Belt Jones had never seen this before and was confused about what to do. He lifted his hands to fight, and Sho Nuff jumped on him before he could land a strike. Sho Nuff was faster, stronger, and had a power that Black Belt Jones couldn't match. Black Belt Jones was overwhelmed by Sho Nuff's assault and eventually lost the fight.

After the loss, he was forced to admit that Sho Nuff was the master. He then invited Sho Nuff to Hong Kong and fight in the tournament. Sho Nuff replies that he had no interest in going to Hong Kong to fight. He then tells Jones to go there, win the tournament, and return for a rematch when ready. Sho Nuff leaves. Black Belt Jones has a new reason to fight as he heads to Hong Kong. He has witnessed a power he has never seen before. This knowledge gives him the edge as he heads to the tournament. Too bad the tournament would end up being his last.

Sho Nuff heard the news of Black Belt Jones's demise, which saddened him. This was the only fighter in the world that could help him activate his glow. So he thought. Soon he would learn about a young fighter in Harlem named Leroy Green.

Sho Nuff now had a new mission. Defeat Leroy Green.