Boxing icon George Foreman believes Bruce Lee would have been a world champion had he pursued a career inside the squared circle.
The legendary Lee is credited with transcending martial arts through many films and his founding of Jeet Kune Do - a philosophy that would greatly aid the development of combat sports.
Fans were used to seeing him fighting on screen but the two-time heavyweight champion Foreman says Lee was the real deal and had the capacity to be a successful boxer if he wanted to.
Paying tribute in a new book called 'Bruce Lee: The Life of a Legend', Foreman said: "Bruce Lee was a good athlete and he could've been a good boxer.
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"He could have been anything. In his weight class, he would have been a boxing champion. I remember I was in Hawaii in 1973 and I went to see the movie Enter The Dragon.
"When I walked out after the movie, on all my back I had chills on me! I was the heavyweight champion of the world, by the way, but all I could think was, 'wow!' I was in shock. He left all the audiences awestruck. Bruce Lee changed everything."
Lee never actually stepped inside the ring but boxing enthusiasts have regularly wondered how a fight between he and Muhammad Ali would have played.
But according to Enter The Dragon director Robert Clouse, Lee believed Ali was the best to ever do it and conceded he had no chance taking on 'the People's champion'.
Writing in the 1987 book The Making of Enter the Dragon, Clouse recalled: "Another time Yeung, aka [Bolo] went to see Bruce at Golden Harvest Studios. Bruce was screening a Cassius Clay [Muhammad Ali] documentary.
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"Ali was world heavyweight champion at the time and Bruce saw him as the greatest fighter of them all.
"The documentary showed Ali in several of his fights. Bruce set up a wide full-length mirror to reflect Ali's image from the screen. Bruce was looking into the mirror, moving along with Ali.
"Bruce's right hand followed Ali's right hand, Ali's left foot followed Bruce's left foot. Bruce was fighting in Ali's shoes.
"'Everybody says I must fight Ali someday.' Bruce said, 'I'm studying every move he makes. I'm getting to know how he thinks and moves.'
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"Bruce knew he could never win a fight against Ali. 'Look at my hand,' he said. 'That's a little Chinese hand. He'd kill me.'"
Ali's son, Ali Jr says a fantasy fight between the two titans of combat sports would have been an incredible bout.
He said: "That would have been a good fight. They were both young, they were both agile and both took it to the limit with their training.
"They both were the best at what they did. He's like the Muhammad Ali of karate. I think it would have been a good fight between my father and Lee."
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Lee passed away in 1973 aged 32 from cerebral edema but his legacy continues to live on.
Topics:Β Boxing News, Boxing, MMA