I'm interested in watching kickboxing. Who are some great fighters, and what are some must-watch fights?
http://www.boxingforum24.com/showthread.php?t=217604 I've been meaning to bump that with a list of upcoming events for a while. :think Seeing as how nobody uses the MMA forum to make actual MMA threads anymore, it might actually stand a chance of staying on the 1st page more than a day or two and getting seen now.
For the longest time, while I was following, it was Giorgio Petrosyan and his rival Buakaw (birth name: Sombat Banchamek) - who fought to a draw in their primes and tragically never had a rematch to get some closure and determine the p4p #1 of the era. ...but seeing as how the latter has retired and the former got KTFO a little over a year ago (by Andy Ristie, who in turn had lost to Andy Souwer, a 2-time Petrosyan victim :blood) things are kind of turned on their ear.
Would you say Petrosyan is past his prime? From what I've heard, Petrosyan is like the SRR of kickboxing.
I always considered him such, but the specter of Buakaw loomed pretty large. (many felt the Muay Thai crossover was screwed in their draw) I'd always hoped they'd rematch so Petrosyan could net a clean W to secure his legacy.
So, Petrosyan-Buakaw II would have been like kickboxing's Mayweather-Pacquiao? I mean by determining who the P4P #1 is.
Correct. IMO anyway. Most people only followed the heavyweights (or rather, that is what big promotions like K1 mostly forced down everybody's throats for a long time) but true diehard fans knew the score. Petrosyan and Buakaw when they were active were leagues beyond any of the heavies - and that is saying a mouthful, because there were actually some very talented heavyweights around then, unlike the pitiful state of the division in boxing.
:conf I don't follow it closely enough anymore to have an informed opinion. I'd like to get back into kickboxing, but I barely have enough free time (with Lil Butt and everything) to be as boxing-obsessed as I am. :!:
Oh man... Souwer, Pinca, Mabel, Kyshenko, Sato, Zambidis, Kraus, Stevelman when he was still decent - some of these guys multiple times. His resume is stacked. The draw with Buakaw doesn't hurt, either. Plus, whenever he faced a lower tier of competition (B- or C+) he dominated them in a manner you don't usually see.
Who were these lower tier fighters? He's fought those names, and only has two losses? That's impressive.
