Thai kickboxing vs. boxing

[rsl]

For some of you who have had the opportunity to involve themselves in both sports, which one do you prefer to participate in and like to watch and why?

[tino]

i trained and fought in both , as you may know thai kickboxing is popular in france.

i prefer boxing to participate and watch , the events are bigger , the intensity is higher as you can t rest by using your front leg to keep the guy away.

and i think a good boxer owns a thai kickboxer easy , the way you put your foot in thai boxing doesnt allow you to seat well on your punches.

[rsl]

I myself have done both. I like watching Thai kickboxing more so than boxing, 'cause it involves kicks and its pleasing to the eye watching people gracefully execute kicks and punches combined. However I'd much rather participate in boxing than kickboxing, cause I've found more success as an amateur boxer. I'm quick handed, but my footwork isn't quite as nifty as M.C. Hammer's. I also like the concept of mix-martial arts however the talent is still much to be desired. I mean the top MMA guys are probably just as "talented" as the current crop of heavyweights in boxing, but all juiced up.

[tino]

you almost never see any high kicks as youre allowed to catch your opponent leg and throw him in the canvas.

in french kickboxing youre not allowed to grab the opponent's leg , so yes it s gracefull , like a deadly dance.

what i love to watch and use in thai kckboxing is knees. the headlock followed by a knee bash is a masterpiece.

i prefer boxing still. beside ramon dekkers maybe, there is no superstars or big events in thaiboxing. nothin compares to a TITO fight in MSG.

[mr. bojangles]

I'm into muay thai but i prefer boxing to participate, why? 'coz you get hurt a lot more in muay thai. Kicks, knees, elbows and of course the punches. But I love to watch both, muay thai is all-out action, esp. in this parts Rajdamnern, Lumpinee. Boxing can be so boring to watch sometimes, esp. like those I watched last Saturday Ruiz-Golota!

I'd have to agree with Tino there that a boxer "owns" a kickboxer in a boxing match. Why? A muay thai fighter anticipates kicks (the most damaging blow), hence, the extended high guard of the arms to block them, that's open for hooks and uppercuts in a boxing match. It's a bad habit that has to be corrected. Former muay thai fighters who turns professional boxers normally undergoes rigid training again to orient themselves to the basics of boxing.

[rsl]

i trained and fought in both , as you may know thai kickboxing is popular in france.

i prefer boxing to participate and watch , the events are bigger , the intensity is higher as you can t rest by using your front leg to keep the guy away.

and i think a good boxer owns a thai kickboxer easy , the way you put your foot in thai boxing doesnt allow you to seat well on your punches.

You are right as far as the stance that Thai kickboxers use doesn't really bode well if you wanna have some leverage on throwing hooks and uppercuts, however if you were to put a fight between a top notch kickboxer and top notch boxer of equal talent, I'd have to disagree with ya, as far as the outcome of the fight, I think the opposite, first of it's freakin' 4 weapons(knees, elbows, punches, and kicks) against one for the boxer. Now lets eliminate the knees and elbows from the Thai kickboxer I would still pick the kicker, cause if you are familiar and have trained in Thai kickboxing(like you had stated), then you already know that there's really not much need for punching because kickboxers almost always fight at kicking distance, 90% of what they do is by kicking and that is just too much of a space for a boxer to cover if he wants to get inside, and how in the world will a boxer defend those kicks to the head, he'll most likely block it ,like it was a hookpunch and you know that a roundhouse kick using the shin will penetrate right through that block, and how is the boxer gonna deal with the brutal kicks to the thighs. Kickboxer by a brutal early round k.o. or the boxer will just give up cause of the pain. A perfect example of fights between these two arts have actually already taken place in K-1 JAPAN, remember Francois Botha, well he got ktfo in 1 or 2 rds by a roundhouse kick to the head, and Vince Phillips who was a highly respected fighter and the only man to beat the best 140 pounder in Kostya Tszyu, also fought in K-1 but loss in the 1st round after receiving the first and only roundhouse kick to his thighs.

[mr. bojangles]

rsl, those brutal kicks to the thighs and legs normally seen in K-1 are considered "cheap shots" here in Thailand. Have you ever seen a quick kick to the left rib-front abdomen combo? that's meaner and more difficult to execute than those easy but hurtful kicks to the thighs and lower leg. We don't get to see those combos i guess because of size, fighters here are flyweights to featherweights and some lightweights compared to the bigger and heavier guys in K-1.

[rsl]

you almost never see any high kicks as youre allowed to catch your opponent leg and throw him in the canvas.

in french kickboxing youre not allowed to grab the opponent's leg , so yes it s gracefull , like a deadly dance.

what i love to watch and use in thai kckboxing is knees. the headlock followed by a knee bash is a masterpiece.

i prefer boxing still. beside ramon dekkers maybe, there is no superstars or big events in thaiboxing. nothin compares to a TITO fight in MSG.

Yeah I'm aware that it's pretty popular in France, my exposure to the current Thai kickboxing scene is none at all, the only time I got to watch some good ones was when I was competing, the gym I use to train at the Kru would always pop a Thai kickboxing fight into the VHS while we warm up. That's funny you mention Ramon Dekkers he was one of my favorite kickboxers, I have no idea what his age is but is he still an active fighter?

[rsl]

rsl, those brutal kicks to the thighs and legs normally seen in K-1 are considered "cheap shots" here in Thailand. Have you ever seen a quick kick to the left rib-front abdomen combo? that's meaner and more difficult to execute than those easy but hurtful kicks to the thighs and lower leg. We don't get to see those combos i guess because of size, fighters here are flyweights to featherweights and some lightweights compared to the bigger and heavier guys in K-1.

Not to be rude, but I don't get what your point is, it doesn't make sense to me. A fighter no matter what size should be able to execute the same combo, unless that person is just uncoordinated as hell. Plus so what if they are considered "cheap shots" it's still not against the rules and plus I've seen a whole lot of Thai kickboxing fights brought over by my former kru straight from Thailand and they throw kicks to the thighs with each other as often as Shaquille O' Neal dunks on everybody else. I don't know I love them kicks to the thighs though, especially for guys in the streets who have no clue what I'm about to deliver them ; )

[jack_the_rippuh]

I remember I was watching one kick-boxing clip where they were fighting in a ring and one guy kicked the other guy so hard in the leg that he broke his own leg. I guess the guy he was kicking positioned his leg in a way not to get hurt, but they guy who did the kick was messed up...his leg was all flimsy and ****...I think it was only the skin holding it in one piece..