Secret Wars on Infinite Earths: The Comic Book Fight Club

COLOSSUS versus CHAMPION OF THE UNIVERSE

And They Shall Call Him... Champion! (Marvel)
Where: Marvel Two-In-One Annual #7 When: 1982
Why: Tom DeFalco How: Ron Wilson

The Story So Far...
The Fantastic Four's Thing has earned a reputation as one of the universe's greatest fighters, having battled some of the most powerful beings of multiple galaxies! Enter: Proja - Promoter Supreme!

Charged with signing worthy opponents to challenge The Champion of the Universe; Proja sees big box office potential in a main event match between Thing and his client!

Madison Square Garden is the only arena in the world that could stage the once in a lifetime title bout, but you can't have a main event without an undercard! The Champ welcomes the challenge of some of Earth's most powerful defenders, but his pugilistic code swiftly eliminates Thor and Hulk from defending their planet.

Sasquatch did his best to test The Champ's ring awareness with brains and brawn, but with the Alpha Flight strongman knocked out it's now time for Colossus to test the mettle of the alien boxer!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Champion 7 (Omnipotent)
Intelligence: Draw 2 (Average)
Speed: Draw 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Champion 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Draw 2 (Average)
Fighting: Champion 7 (Living Weapon)
Energy: Draw 1 (None)
Total: Champion of the Universe 29 (Metahuman)

Champion of the Universe seemed evasive in the opening bouts, disqualifying Thor and dodging Hulk with a pair of technicalities, but finally established some much needed credibility when he knocked out Sasquatch!

This time The Champ welcomes the challenge of one of Sasquatch's old sparring partners -- Colossus: the mighty mutant with skin of organic steel!

Like other opponents Colossus poses a simple question of strength, stamina, and tenacity. The spirit is almost certainly willing, but despite his status as an X-Men powerhouse, he has a bit of a patchy record against other heavyweights.

Colossus famously came off second best in the barroom brawl with Juggernaut in Uncanny X-Men #183, got kayoed by a precision blast from Nimrod in Uncanny #194, and met a similar fate fighting a tech-assisted Apocalypse in #295.

He's still considered a relatively young man, finding his way in the world at the time of this battle, which takes place in the same year he was turned against his teammates to unsuccessfully fight Dracula in X-Men Annual #6, and dumped down the side of a butte by DC's Deathstroke during the Teen Titans crossover!

Despite all this, Colossus is not without his triumphs. In X-Men #113 he defied the magnetic influence of Magneto with hard hitting results, and years later will crush Breakworld warrior Ord in Astonishing X-Men #5.

This bout also takes place after his well known stand against Shi'ar Imperial Praetor Gladiator, who also outclassed him in strength and durability. Could that have been the perfect preparation to cause an intergalactic upset? Let's find out!

The Tape: Champion of the Universe Ranking: Champion of the Universe (#118)

What Went Down...

While opportunistic men attempt to capitalize on shrinking odds against the planet Earth -- one of its youngest bright sparks has already stepped into the ring!

The Champion welcomes the gleaming Colossus to the bright lights of Madison Square Garden with a haymaking left that sends him flying across the ring!

The metal mutant is only stopped when he slams into an adjacent turnbuckle!

Trapped in the corner, he has nowhere to go as The Champion closes in to deliver an unrelenting barrage of high-impact body blows!

Spittle escaping his mouth is the only sign of the agony radiating through his body as Colossus stoically absorbs every punch with stubborn determination!

Despite his valiant refusal to succumb to the pain, Colossus has no response for the merciless sequence of blows that rock his body!

The referee has little choice but to call for the bell.

Colossus drops silently to his knees as The Champions' punches cease. His slumped body unable to carry itself from the ring, he awaits a stretcher as the remaining challengers watch-on, impressed with his steely resolve.

The Hammer...

Any doubt about Champion of the Universe's legitimacy melts away as he annihilates Colossus in a single page of pulse pounding action!

It was a particularly brutal bout, leaving little opportunity for Colossus to strike. Was there something in particular about the young mutant that set The Champ off, or did his prior bout with Sasquatch simply remind him not to take Earth's mightiest mortals lightly?

If this were an X-Men Annual, perhaps it would be Colossus who made the final stand, but we're in the pages of Marvel Two-In-One, where The Thing will inevitably be the star to face the final challenge, and make the bravest challenge.

It's a suitable distinction between the two characters and their similar arcs, paid homage by Thing as Colossus is stretchered out after the match, and he remarks to the only other remaining competitor: "The kid did 'imself proud! Lasted almost a full round! Hope he ain't hurt too bad!"

We tend to think of Colossus as the unbreakable X-Man always there to face down the strongest obstacles, but in those early days he was still a young man, mildly unsure of himself, and coming in to his powers.

DeFalco's script makes a note of the "armored youth", emphasizing the distinction, and providing something of a companion piece to the similarly overwhelming odds of his ill fated showdown with the cosmic Gladiator during the Dark Phoenix saga. A legendary battle that's been on my To Do list for too long!

Colossus is an interesting study and I'm eager to look at more of his combat history, but we're also building up our casefile for The Champion, who now enters the Top 100 ranks with today's win!

It's a result that's beginning to reflect his status within the cosmic pugilistic ranks of the Marvel Universe -- but I wonder how far he will go. His next opponent is the suddenly topical Avenger standing with Thing [above] - Wonder Man. Then we'll move on to the main event that made this issue famous!

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Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has always been free and features more than 650 battles and has ranked over 1,000 characters! You can find them all by diving into the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights ordered by publisher, series, and issue number.

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Winner: Champion of the Universe
#72 (+46) Champion of the Universe
#437 (-2) Colossus