Rank the following kickboxers based on their greatness of the totality of their career from best to worst. Buakaw Banchamek, Andy Souwer, Giorgio Petrosyan, Masato Kobayashi, Yoshihiro Sato, Nieky Holzken, and Artur Kyshenko. 1. Petrosyan 2. Buakaw 3. Masato 4. Souwer 5. Holzken 6. Kyshenko 7. Sato This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected
This isn't a bad list at all. You can't really deny that Petrosyan came in at the tail end of the golden era in kickboxing and guys like Souwer, Sato and Kyshenko weren't in their primes anymore when he fought them. But they were still good enough for them to very quality wins on his record. Buakaw definitely fought better competition than Petrosyan and he did get robbed in some key fights (one of the Andy Souwer fights and the Kraus fights he lost comes to mind). Wins over Masato, Souwer, Sato (x3), Kehl, Askerov, Parr (x2), Kraus (x2), Holzken (x2), etc, and most of those in their prime is absolutely oustanding. He also beats Petrosyan on longevity, but there's something to be said for Petrosyan's 104-2 record that's just almost unfathomable. I know Buakaw and Petrosyan had an uneventful draw when they fought, but I think Petrosyan just seems better from the eyeball test, too, and I'm a big Buakaw fan, too. Petrosyan's competition wasn't bad, either, it was just wasn't quite up to Buakaw's standards. Kyshenko was insanely talented and fought in the golden era, but he got close but never really reached the pinnacale of the sport like Holzken did. Holzken didn't last long in his prime, but he was considered the pound for pound best fighter in kickboxing for a minute. Between Masato and Souwer, it's very difficult. You could give it to Souwer on much greater longevity, and I know a lot of people feel Masato benefited from some hometown decisions, but I think only one of his wins against Kraus was outrageous enough to really complain about it. I do think he gutted out that Kyshenko win and Kyshenko almost always got the better of Souwer in their fights. But Souwer did beat Masato 2-1 in their trilogy. Souwer also lost to some guys that he never should have while Masato never did. I thought this would make for an interesting discussion because all of these guys were great, and in some cases they're literally separated by a hair. Good list, though. I could easily see myself making that one if I thought about it in a different light on a different day.
Yeah I used to love K1 and K1 Max, One and Glory are good but its just not the same especially the heavyweights. The K1 and K1 Max tournaments were huge events, Kickboxing hasn't recovered since they went down not sure if it ever will. I went for Buakaw at one feel he has the best resume thinking back feel only Sato via ko and Masato second time round beat him how the judges gave it to Souwer twice no idea. Also feel when he did fight Petrsoyan he deserved the nod. Masato and Souwer was close but as you said Souwer has the longevity plus is a legend in Shootboxing. Went with Kyshenko over Holtzken as feel even when Holtzen was Glory Champ thought Artur was better and he has a better resume plus a win over Nieky and maybe deserved the nod over Masato in the K1 final.
Unless you're saying rank the following fighters in order behind Samart Payakaroon, I don't see the validity.
I was just making a thread to rank the great middleweights who fought each other in the golden era of kickboxing. I wasn't ranking the greatest pure strikers of all time. Muay Thai and kickboxing are different sports even if they're very similar and there's a lot of crossover between them. If I make that thread in the future, I'll definitely include Samart and a number of other muay thai fighters and some boxers as well. I agree with you that as amazing as Buakaw and Petrosyan are in kickboxing, Samart's accomplishments as arguably the GOAT in muay thai and a champion in boxing, as well as the unrivaled skills he possessed, puts him in an even higher category than those two as a striker.
