MEMPHIS, TN - Professional fighters say Morgan Turner picked the wrong security guard to mess with when a fight broke out in the middle of a Downtown Memphis street.
MATA says the fight started after the guard received complaints that Turner was harassing women outside the bus terminal on Main Street.
But when video of the fight, captured exclusively by abc24 News, was shown to local MMA fighters, they recognized the perfect technique of the guard.
Brian "The Law" Hall says the guard had good blocks, good footwork and clearly knew what he was doing. That wasn't the only thing Hall and other fighters in the boxing gym recognized. Fighter Ladarius Miller says he's trained with the guard, known as "Karate" to his buddies. He was shocked by the video.
"The fight ain't his fault," says Miller. "It ain't surprising in how he fights, but I'm surprised it's him."
Watching the Pro-Tech security guard go blow to blow outside the bus station caught every fighter's attention. Hall showed the video to a friend.
"Watch it," he says. "Inside leg kick. Check out the hook. You see the hook? You see the hook? Look at the upper cut."
Hall says right away he could tell the guard was well-trained.
"The suspect had his hands down and the guard had his hands up," says Hall, "and that right there should have told him, I don't want to mess with this guy."
Miller says Turner picked a fight with the wrong guard.
"He didn't know who he was fighting with," he says. "No, he didn't know who he was fighting with."
Even bruised and beaten, a confident Turner says it was no big deal.
"Dude said let's fight and I said what's up? I ain't got nothing to do with it," Turner recalls. "And I whooped his b**ch a**."
But from the play by play, the professional opinion, even the amateur opinion, it's "Karate" who had the right kicks, knees, jabs, hooks and upper cuts, and was the clear winner of this round, despite how Turner sees it.
No charges were filed against Turner or the guard, who visited the doctor the next day. Neither man was seriously injured in the brawl.
A spokesperson with the guard's employer, Pro-tech, says they believe the fight was a case of self-defense. "Karate" is still on the job, but has been reassigned from the downtown location.
