I love the old 70s Karate Kid stuff, where they stopped in the middle of fights to explain exactly which future-judo move he was gonna use to whale on somebody, so I think he can take anyone.
Plus this fight is weak as hell. It's not just the storytelling in the art, it's the damn dumb dialogue and the nut punch. Seriously, Karate Kid is used to fighting aliens who have no objective but to attack the most vulnerable point on a human, which is that. Terrible.
Batman's tough enough to survive in the JLA with no powers. Karate Kid's tough enough to survive in the Legion. The Legion is probably the best fighting force ever assembled in comics (at least four Superman-powered people, Braniac 5, and Element Lad, plus eighty of their closest friends and Bouncing Boy....)