This is a petitio principii fallacy as it assumes Zoro and Sanji's rivalry is only a gag.
Sanji is a member of the monster trio, the number threes he defeats on a regular basis are indeed depicted as very troublesome powerhouses and his superhuman strength has been highlighted in a serious manner since day one. Pretty much in every instance where Zoro and Sanji rivals were shown not only were they bickering but explicit hints at their more or less close strength were given, whether it's Kuroobi being Arlong's arguably strongest subordinate instead of Hatchan, Mr. 2 fighting Mr. 1 and making him protect from his kick, Jabra having such a close doriki to Kaku's or both King and Queen being close in bounty and significantly above Jack plus hard paths to the rooftop; and nothing of this was a gag.
Of course Oda likes to joke around with Zoro and Sanji because they're childish about their animosity, but you are deluding yourself if you think Sanji isn't closer in strength to Zoro than any of the characters involved in these gag fights certain fandom likes to bring up from time to time.
Sanji is a member of the monster trio, the number threes he defeats on a regular basis are indeed depicted as very troublesome powerhouses and his superhuman strength has been highlighted in a serious manner since day one. Pretty much in every instance where Zoro and Sanji rivals were shown not only were they bickering but explicit hints at their more or less close strength were given, whether it's Kuroobi being Arlong's arguably strongest subordinate instead of Hatchan, Mr. 2 fighting Mr. 1 and making him protect from his kick, Jabra having such a close doriki to Kaku's or both King and Queen being close in bounty and significantly above Jack plus hard paths to the rooftop; and nothing of this was a gag.
Of course Oda likes to joke around with Zoro and Sanji because they're childish about their animosity, but you are deluding yourself if you think Sanji isn't closer in strength to Zoro than any of the characters involved in these gag fights certain fandom likes to bring up from time to time.
