Do you believe that the swarming/brawling boxers would transition much better to Kickboxing than boxers who relied more on movement and/or athletic ability? For example here's 5 guys I believe could of done very good in K1 in their primes due to their ability to get up close or just willingness to march through the storm to land their own shots: Mike Tyson Joe Frazier Rocky Marciano David Tua George Foreman Now these five guys would of had a big advantage in the boxing department as several K1 fighters did have sloppy boxing such as Peter Aerts, Remy Bonjasky, Francisco Filho, Ernesto Hoost etc Could those guys have been able to keep guys like Tyson, Marciano, Frazier etc At bay with with their kicks and much poorer boxing skills? Guys like Mike Bernardo, Mark Hunt, Ray Sefo and Jerome Le Banner were considered the best boxers in K1 and I feel that the boxers I listed could of done very well against them potentially due to their willingness to rely on boxing more than kicks. Jerome Le Banner lost to Francois Botha who was past his prime because he played Botha at his own game while guys like Remy Bonjasky relied on his kicks due to lack of boxing ability yet while he was able to get the win he struggled a lot against Botha. I believe kickboxers like Semmy Schilt and Rico Verhoeven would fare best against guys like a prime Tyson, Foreman, Frazier, Marciano etc Than a guy like Peter Aerts for example who while he was an absolute warrior I feel he would most likely get caught. Also I'd be 50/50 on Hoost and Bonjasky as they could definitely wins these fights but they could be potentially be overwhelmed, especially Hoost who did get knocked out a few times brutally.
By the way I didn't include guys like Vitali Klitschko, Dillian Whyte, Jarrell Miller, Matt Skelton, James Warring etc as they had Kickboxing backgrounds before they boxed or Shannon Briggs who had one fight in K1. Also for anyone who hasn't seen here is some of Botha's Kickboxing fights that are worth checking out as they were very exciting and I feel he did better than many boxers would even in losing: This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected Botha's ability to take leg kicks is of course something that would be interesting to see if some of the boxers I listed would of been are to take them like he could.
Tyson was not a brawler he was a highly skilled counter/pressure fighter, Frazier was highly skilled too.
I don't consider Tyson a brawler, my point was more people who would be more willing to brawl and trade per say. Like Frazier and Tyson would be more willing to pressure a kickboxer than would guys like an Ali or a Holmes.
I don't think those guys would have done particularly well. Short stocky guys often have a problem with longer limbed guys in kickboxing due to the extra range long levers giver you. Somebody like Wilder or Helenius would probably be better off.
Hmm that's another good way of looking at it, four of the guys I listed where anywhere from 5'10-5'11 other than Foreman who was 6'3. I do believe all those boxers I listed would of most likely lost to kickboxers who were 6'3+ like Schilt, Verhoeven, Bonjasky, Overeem, Hari and Hoost who rely on a healthy mix of kicks/punches and can use range/size compared to some other kickboxers. Helenius is a good shout out, I don't know about Wilder though, he definitely has the power but he can look lost in boxing when he can't land his right hand and in kickboxing you can't be as relaxed and lose rounds as there's only 3-5, I couldn't imagine his legs taking kicks. Two guys that came to mind was Lamon Brewster and Derek Chisora.
ALi, if he learned the kicking and blocking aspect, his foot work is very tkd and savate like. I can see him fighting on his toes throwing straight side kicks . Imagine him throwing a 1-2 and then a spinning heel kick. Lomachenko , he knows kicks, but his stance switching works well for setting up kicks.
