Huh....... Funny you say that, most of Buakaw's losses came at the hands of superior boxers, Souwer and Kraus (who started as a boxer). Truth is, traditional MT fighters have trouble competing in European Rules or K1 rules kickboxing because they consistently get outboxed! Same is true in MMA, superior boxers and superior boxing wins fights on the feet more often than any other striking technique. Boxers beat MT fighters far more often than the otherwise in all aspects of ring-sports, the exception being traditional MT (Lumpini rules) competition, which i dont imagine many boxers have ever competed in........
As for the bobbing and weaving and "gay shoulder rolling", explain to James Toney, Floyd Mayweather, Bernard Hopkins, Mike Tyson and a whole host of Hall of Fame Fighters that it is ineffective....... Or explain the same to Anderson Silva, Cain V, Bj Penn, Rampage, Rashad Evans, etc.... who all use the bob n weave and shoulder roll and it seems rather effective....... eh? There is this other guy who uses the bob n weave pretty well, Fedor!
here ya go.
Noguiera = Shoulder roll, counter KTFO! (there are about 4 different clips that show him shoulder roll and counter)
I agree with alot of what you have to say- slipping, shoulder rolling, and to some extent bobbing + weaving can be used in MMA, but not the same as it is in straight boxing. Special consideration has to be given to knees, kicks, elbows, & takedowns, lest you eat a knee/ kick.
HOWEVER. Saying that straight boxers do better in K-1 & MMA rules is a harsh over- generalization.
Of course Thai's have to adapt to rulesets like that of K-1, where the clinch striking is severely limited, and theres much more emphasis on range striking. Buakaw has improved his hands since debuting, but that didn't stop him from dominating with his kicks & brutal clinch knees when he first hit the K1 MAX scene.
Now, if you're hypothesizing that boxers do better in K1 than Thais, you would be making a statement that isn't supported by empirical data. Francois Botha is probably the best boxer, most reasonably within his athletic prime to ever do decently well in K-1, and his only real quality win was over JLB, who has always been best with his hands. Anyone who could really kick worth a damn beat Francois, Aerts not withstanding.
As for your assertion that Boxers do better than Nak Muays in combat sports in general, again, empirical evidence disagrees. Show me a fight where a boxer type striker outstrikes a MT type striker, and i'll show you 5 where the opposite result happens. Cantwell/ Stann 2, Aldo vs. Brown/ Gamburyan, Edgar/ Penn 2, Feijao/ Mo, etc etc ad nauseam.
K-1 style rules emphasize kicks and punches (as well as knees from a distance/ a 1 handed clinch, I guess...); in MMA, the hands do receive a bit more emphasis because of takedowns and the smaller gloves, but if you're not prepared to at least defend kicks/ knees/ elbows (as straight
BOXING will not prepare you for the 8 points of Muay Thai.
