Was Buakaw the Best Thai Representative for K-1 Max at that Time?

Odd question considering he became K1 Max champ on his first run. So I guess you can say the proof is in the pudding and it's a resounding yes.

But stylistcally and imagewise absolutely, no question about it. He has an exciting style that doesn't rely on the clinch and is image wise visually the epitome of the steerotypical Thai warrior!

The truth is any top 30 Thai that could make the weight would stand a good chance at the Max title.

Samkor may have been a quality choice at the time. Hie legendary left leg and leathal knees may have cuased some serious K1 mayhem! :yep

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YnTX9fgol4"]www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YnTX9fgol4[/ame]

 

Actually my vote is Yodsengklai if not for Buakaw.

He actually beat Buakaw at Contender Asia.

 

I reckon Samkor would've done pretty well with his left kick nad brutal knees, although he was a tiny tiny bit smaller than Buakaw. Rumour has it he was being lined up for K1 pre Buakaw.

Buakaw has many losses to other Thai fighters, any top 20 Thai fighter @the weight could on his night have a good chance of winning a Max tourny.

 

What? :huh I think you are slightly confused Sugar!

Yod would definatley hold his own in a K1 ring he's done it on a few occasion on undercard K1 fights. But his look wasn't as striking as Buakaw. Like I said Buakaw's look is the sterotypical image of a Thai warrior, dark, muscled and lean. That has alot to do with the international star he's become as well as being a true Thai badass.

But how can anyone's vote go against Buakaw?!:huh The guy came out of nowhere (to international followers) and beat JWP, Kohi and reigning champion Masato to win the biggest prize in Kickboxing on his first attempt and as pure Muay Thai fighter to boot!

Who in the world could top that! :deal

 

Yeah, Yod Fairtex aka "boxing computer".

I sure my knowledge is not mistaken this time Boran.

But then again, correct me if I was wrong, you have the highest IQ in terms of Muay.

 

Sorry Sugar, you got this one wrong. Buakaw waasn't in the contender Asia.

The other Thia on the show was Yod's gym mate Naruepol. They met in the semis and then Yod went on to win it, but as we all know Naruepol threw the fight to help his freind Yod. It's a no no for gym mates to fight each other and they knew if they went full on it'd be a war that would leave both injured so Naruepol did a seriously honurable thing and threw the fight in front of the whole world to let Yod go on uninjured.

nNaruepol Fairtex we slaute your loyalty! :thumbsup

 

this is a very good question but impossible to answer absolutely considering we would have to know who would have adapted better to the K-1 rulest which is very different than the Full Thai Rules.

Buakaw was a lightweight before he fought in k1. He was not the best lightweight in Muaythai at that time. take a look back with me at the Lumpinee rankings here from 2004:

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-Buakaw #3 lightwieght. Namsaknoi champ

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-Buakaw #2 lightweight(according to wiki this was the highest Buakaw was ever ranked at Lumpinee). Namsaknoi champ

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-Buakaw #5. Namsaknoi champ

so judging purely on rankings (which I think is not the way to veiw this) he was not the best representative.

other fighters I think could have done well:

Yodsanklai Fairtex ny #1 choice. Very young at 19 in 2004, could have done great things in k-1 if not for the "one thai rule"

Yoddecha Sityodtong I think he was big enough to compete against the midleweights of k-1.

jomhod would be 34 years old and past his best but might be able to have success considering he is still fighting today and winning.

namsaknoi did fight for k-1 on a few occasions style might not have been right though...

Saiyok maybe?

too bad anuwat was so small he would have been perfect. A vicious puncher and very aggressive. like Mike zambidis, a real crowd favorite. The real problem is size here the deep end of the talent pool is at lightweight and below so most of the best from Thailand are gonna be undersized.

 

I think perhaps is safe to say that he is the most famous thai fighter worldwide.....

 

Buakaw won his comeback fight in Leicester on Friday

 

Then I guess that makes my opinion valid even though my info was wrong.

 

Good post Yaca. :good

All great ATG selections :bowdown that would've given most top K1 fighters their toughest day at the office....ever and could've all had a good crack winning the Max tourney on a good night. Like I said before any stadium fighter from Thailand that can make the weight and gets the invite has a great chance. However, in regard to Buakaw let’s not forget he didn’t just unexpectedly win it first time out by blowing out some huge K1 names, but he also went on to adapt further to the style and had some longevity at the top of the K1 circuit.

I think your 1st sentence is the key here especially in consideration to Yodsanklai, Yoddecha and Namsaknoi :bowdown as well as the weight issue you mentioned in the last sentence as being paramount to all of them. I won’t go on about it as we’ve mentioned it so many times on ESB, but in Thailand the higher you get above Lightweight the less depth you get in the division and hence the less quality with most of the big Thai names at 69-72kg having had their heydays in lower divisions all before their mid 20s. And I don’t think looking at the Lumpini rankings is that useful when it comes to this hypothetical situation as I think some of those on the list are better equipped for the transition to K1 than others. Putting my blatant Buakaw nuthugging aside and keeping objective about it all I still think the great white lotus was the right man for the job at the right time.

For me I agree with Yaca the most plausible name on the list with the best chance was Yodsanklai as many have said. Yoddecha just too small (smaller than mini Dzabar), Jomhod although I’m a massive fan, well just too old and Buakaw’s 2 round K1 dismantling of him kind of crosses him off the list for me. The god in human form that is Namsaknoi :bowdown, well he would’ve given us some pure excitement in the tourney, but I reckon without his usual vicious elbows and quality clinching combined with his slow start and purely Thai defence he may have come a cropper to the rules and a few well-placed punching combos from naturally bigger men. Saiyok he would’ve held his own as all the guys on this list and in the tourney on the day would have a good chance of winning, but if you watch his K1 rules fight against Petro’s brother which he won, he looks good but very one dimensional like he’s a little lost without the clinch, elbows etc. as with Yoddecha and Namsaknoi you can’t help but figure FMT rules just suit them better.

For me Yod beats Buakaw full MT rules in Thailand, but Buakaw beats Yod K1 rules in Japan. I love both fighters but for me there are three main differences that give Buakaw the advantage in Kickboxing, weight &natural body build, style and most importantly he had the right all round combination of Muay Thai techniques to work with in K1. You wouldn’t say Buakaw is a specialist in any area, but you can’t fault him in any one area either making him very well placed to adapt to most forms of attack minus the clinch, a true MT all rounder. Yes, Yod is a MT god and one of the greatest post the 90s, but he’s not really an all rounder he’s a southy that likes to kick and punch, but his boxing isn’t on the level of a lot of the top K1 guys and he’s a little on the small side.

In K1 you need to be able to deal with knees effectively as they are used alot by K1 fighters think Taishin Kohiruimaki, and as a Thai your boxing skills are probably a bit loose and sub-standard compared to most K1 fighters where boxing is tight and a major weapon so you also need to be able to throw the knee effectively to counter any heavy puncher type fighters think Zambidis or Kraus. For a Thai you'd have thought that'd be pretty easy right? Well not necessarily if you’ve been trained most of your life to deal with knees defensively and offensively in and around in the clinch. It’s not easy to repeatedly throw you knees against relentless boxers without being able to pull them into a clinch and it’s far easier to launch an offensive knee barrage if after the first long straight knee or two you can pull your opponent into the clinch. Yod isn’t really a knee specialist and in K1 max size isn’t on his side (5ft 7 at best) against a powerful knee specialist especially if you consider he’s a southy which tends to leave him open in the mid-section when fighting most orthodox guys.

Now add to these scenarios the fact that the 70kg division is the glamour division of the kickboxing world with the biggest paydays (except for the HWs) you have all sorts of guys cramming themselves in at the weight, guys like Kohiruimaki 5’11, Kyshenko 5’11, guys that probably walk around at super middle or light heavy with big natural physical advantages! Now Buakaw is that little bit bigger and possible stronger than Yod and I believe is very natural to the weight which would help him that little bit against bigger stronger men without using the clinch, he also has good knees to help him counter punches pretty effectively remember Max extreme 2006 against that steam rolling S. African?

Could any on Yaca’s list have exposed Taishin Kohiruimaki as dramatically as this under K1 rules?........ Probably yes, but you gotta admit Buakaw humiliated him in supreme style! (Shades of Samkor with those kicks :yep):

I know I’m a totally “Buakaw ****” and heavily biased, but to me Buakaw was the right age, weight, size and had the right all round combination of Muay Thai techniques to suit K1 rules Kickboxing as well as the right image and look to sell tickets and capture people’s imagination.

The guy’s a living Muay Thai Hero! :bowdown :deal