When he said that, he's talking about a 1vs1, do you really fucking think that he'll stay here while Luffy is down ? Sanjifan are very stupide
Well, he's the one who boosted about "then they have to get cut" when he heard Luffy's reasoning for being angry!
Why would he run away with first obstacle? Does his words mean nothing? Have no weight?
By the way, I don't blame Zoro really
I blame Oda's writing... this is something would never happen pre-skip! Cause words, promises, oath, and when you say something, and start something you see through it! Things like that always had consistency in pre-skip
Post-timeskip, all characters say they will do somethinh, then they backtrack on the first obstacle they face!
We see that with Sanji saying he will reduce the enemies number against P1
We se that with Zoro telling Luffy he will rally Samurai for him
And here
And in other instancs as well
Pre-skip, words had WEIGHT! Now, they don't mean shit! Groundless, have no weight, the words of Zoro/Sanji/Luffy/Big mom/Kaido/etc mean as much as fodders words in the background