The promotional poster for the July 18 Clash of Legends, featuring Michael Nunn and Pat Miletich.
It began as a joke, a flippant comment tossed out without any thought that it might become reality.
Nine months later, it has evolved into what promoter Monte Cox describes as a "once-in-a-lifetime" event.
The two greatest fighting icons ever to come out of the Quad-Cities are going to square off in the ring Saturday night when Michael Nunn takes on Pat Miletich in the main event of the Clash of Legends at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds in Davenport.
The 57-year-old Nunn was a two-time world boxing champion in the 1980s and 1990s, regarded by some as pound-for-pound the best fighter in the world in his era. Miletich, 52, was a pioneer in the sport of mixed martial arts, a former UFC welterweight champion and a coach and mentor to some of the best MMA fighters in the world.
Both men are members of the Quad-City Sports Hall of Fame. Both still have large local followings despite the fact that their glory years are in the distant past.
And although they are friends, both are fierce competitors who figure to give it their all in a bout that will use kick-boxing rules.
"It’s going to be great. It really is," said Nunn, who has not had a competitive fight in more than 18 years.
"I’m really looking forward to it, and I know Pat is really looking forward to it, too."
Miletich sees it as something that could be a welcome respite for fans who have had their worlds turned upside down for the past four months by a global pandemic.
"I’m not doing this because I want to punch Michael in the head, and I certainly don’t want him to punch me in the head," he said. "But I think it’s going to be something that’s beneficial to the community overall, to try to get people back to some semblance of normalcy."
It may be the biggest fighting event in the Quad-Cities in at least two decades, arguably the most compelling thing since Nunn fought James "Lights Out" Toney for the IBF world middleweight championship here in 1991.
Other events since then have drawn larger crowds — including a few MMA cards promoted by Cox and a 1997 battle between Nunn and Lonnie Horn at The Mark of the Quad-Cities — but few have generated as much buzz.
Cox said this event would draw a larger crowd if not for restrictions prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of that, he isn’t sure the temporary venue set up in the southwest corner of the fairgrounds will seat much more than 3,000 spectators, but he’s fairly certain it will be a sellout.
He even is considering the idea of having an area where additional fans could watch the pay-per-view broadcast of the fights on a large screen for a reduced admission price.
The matchup was set in motion last fall during a phone call between Cox and local businessman Joe Van Hecke. Nunn and Miletich were with Van Hecke at the time, and Nunn, less than a year removed from spending 16½ years in prison on federal drug charges, said something about wanting a fight.
"I said ‘If you want to do a fight, how about you fight each other? That I can sell,’" Cox joked.
Nunn and Miletich looked at one another and agreed it was something worth considering.
"I said ‘Don’t mess with me,'" Cox said. "That’s a big fight."
Shortly after that, Nunn, Miletich and Van Hecke went to Jefferson, Iowa, to watch an Oct. 19 kick-boxing show that Cox promoted, and things developed from there.
Finally, after months of wrangling with two state athletic commissions, multiple delays and grappling with how to do this in the midst of a pandemic, the moment is at hand.
The battle originally was scheduled to be held indoors in Illinois in the middle of April and it now will be held outdoors in Iowa in the heat of July.
But it is going to happen in spite of all the obstacles and postponements.
"It’s just been very awkward for as long as we’ve had to do this stuff, back and forth, delays, delays, delays, and not knowing if it was even going to happen," Miletich said.
Cox, a former Quad-City Times sports editor who has promoted events around the world, said he probably has worked harder to make this event a reality than anything he’s ever done. There have been mountains of paperwork and all sorts of logistical problems to be solved, not the least of which are complications related to COVID-19.
Cox is taking several precautions. The tables and seats will be spread further apart than usual to accommodate social distancing. Everyone working at the event will wear a mask, and it is recommended that anyone in close proximity to the ring also wear one. Masks will be sold for $1 apiece.
Cox has received some backlash from people questioning how he can host an event like this while COVID-19 numbers are spiking in some areas, but he said no one is being forced to be part of it.
“If you’re afraid to come and you don’t want to risk it, don’t come,’’ he said.
Some also have questioned the idea of staging a fight between two men old enough to be AARP members. But these aren’t your typical 50-somethings. Both were once world-class athletes and still are in very good shape.
"The main thing is that nobody gets hurt," Cox said. "You’ve got two guys in their 50s. We don’t want to see anybody get hurt."
The Nunn-Miletich battle is one of 12 fights on the schedule.
The undercard, assembled with the help of local promoter Brandon Bea, includes boxers from almost every local gym plus the pro boxing debuts of several mixed martial arts veterans.
That includes 44-year-old Jeremy Horn, who compiled an MMA record of 91-22-5 but has not fought since 2015. Horn was trained for many years by Miletich, and that influenced his decision to climb back into the ring.
"He and I fought on a lot of cards together and I think he thought ‘If Pat’s doing this, I might as well,’" Miletich said.
Davenport’s Junior Hernandez, another Miletich protégé, also will make his boxing debut against Clinton-based MMA stalwart Jeremy Castro.
Davenport heavyweight Donovan Dennis will fight in his hometown for the first time in seven years, taking on Anthony Williams of Whitesville, W.V.
The co-main event matches two Davenport boxers, Steven Edwards and Fred Thomas, who represent rival gyms and who have made it clear in recent social media posts that they don’t care for one another.
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July 17, 2020 at 03:01AM
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Once a joke, Clash of Legends is on for Saturday - Quad City Times
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