We all saw it coming: Elon Musk is angling to back out of his big fight with Mark Zuckerberg, now asking for a wholly civilised debate to be scheduled in its place.
For all our coverage of burly billionaires bulking up and Mark Zuckerberg getting shredded while Elon spends his days in ketamine-fuelled revelry, it looks as if the long-rumoured cage fight may never come to pass: after a raft of excuses, including long-standing neck problems, Elon has now proposed a debate in place of a physical fight.
Musk’s retreat from the anticipated showdown has been marked by a series of recent excuses, including a conveniently timed need for neck surgery and trying to remodel the event as a charity drive rather than a “proper” fight per se. His latest suggestion marks an even more marked departure from the initial plan.
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Responding to a proposal by TED curator Chris Anderson for a “cage match debate”, Musk tweeted that in response that this “sounds like a good idea”, signalling a shift away from the mano-a-mano throwdown that has been making headlines in recent weeks.
WATCH: When you see Zuckerberg in action, you can understand why Elon’s running scared…
As reported by Futurism, Musk’s tweet also took on a more philosophical tilt as it went on:
“This is really fighting as (I believe) a noble sport. We also hope, with humility, to express our admiration for those who have fought before for noble causes.”
Elon Musk
However, try as Musk might to veil his fear in high-mindedness, many spectators are getting the distinct feeling that Musk is running scared, given the proliferation of schoolboy-style excuses that have cropped up in recent days.
Beginning as nothing more than a joke that gained surprising traction in Silicon Valley, talks of the fight escalated after Zuckerberg threw down the gauntlet, saying on his new platform Threads that he was “ready today”. When Musk took a little too long to respond, Zuckerberg upped the anti by proposing a date: August 26th. Since then, the excuses have only mounted…
That sounds like a good idea too.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 8, 2023
This is really fighting as (I believe) a noble sport. We also hope, with humility, to express our admiration for those who have fought before for noble causes.
Perhaps Musk’s only useful contribution to the discussion was his suggestion of using X, formerly known as Twitter, to livestream the event itself, with any proceeds from the stream going to a veterans charity. In true fighting spirit, however, Zuckerberg took this as an opportunity to double down, calling out the reliability of his competitor’s platform.
Attempting to use their obvious physical differences to his advantage, Musk has also given himself the self-deprecating nickname of ‘The Walrus’, inspired by his signature move of laying on top of his opponent, weighing them down with his rumoured 300-pound bodyweight.
While it seems increasingly unlikely that a cage fight will ever take place, I can’t deny that a war of words and wits might just about suffice… even if it would be a crying shame to see Zuck’s six-pack go to waste.