There Will Be Blood

Franz van Buyten vs Frank Merckx

Fourteen years after Paris and his fight against Robert Gastel, Franz van Buyton came out of semi-retirement to battle vicious Frank Merckx in their home country of Belgium. This is called a "pirates fight," and, boy, is it dramatic! The object of the game is to grab a red flag dangling over one of the ring corners. The catch is that the fighters are chained to each other at the wrist, with metal-studded wrist bands on both of both men's forearms.

Well into his forties in 1984, Franz still looks solid in trunks, still gets yanked around by his curly hair, and looks a good bit lighter than Merckx, who is a terror. It all kinda turns into a life-and-death struggle with Franz getting the raw end of the deal for most of the fight. In the match's last half, when both men are bloodied, the ringside crowd is on the verge of rioting. I don't usually do blood matches, but this one nearly busted my zipper.

Be aware, the video quality is poor, with a number of jump cuts that affect the continuity of the match. Still worth watching.