Boxing vs Muay Thai in a street fight

[wildchild88]

Done a bit boxing training in the past and about a year of muay thai training more recently.. (I prefer MT)

My thoughts are generally.. in a street fight with equally trained fighters, the boxer is going to have the advantage.

Gloves in MT / kickboxing give the fighter a bit of a false sense of security in regards to punches. The legs aren't padded and it makes them more dangerous than the hands.. the gloves also give the MT fighter better defense against punches.. they are used to less offensive danger from punches so the MT fighter generally has fairly poor boxing defense as well..

Leg / body kicks are going to have a cumulative effect over the course of the fight (although many boxers can't take barely any leg kicks before they give out)..

The x factor is, the immediate danger of the gloveless hands, namely the hooking punches.. without gloves, a decent hook to the jaw is going to end the fight pretty quickly, street fights generally end pretty quick..

I'm not sure that the MT fighter is going to be able to get the cumulative damage in before the boxer ends the fight with punches on the inside..

MT has many more weapons, but I feel like the gloveless hands are the most dangerous weapon in this contest..

Lastly, it's harder to get kicks off in a cramped / uneven / less predictable terrain..

Keen to hear you're thoughts though fellas..

 

[Woldog]

If you're fighting in an open street against a competent Muay Thai fighter, a few kicks to your legs/knees and you will be having a bad day. That being said I would avoid kicking in a street fight, too many variables that can end with you off balance or falling over. Boxing to me is the only thing you need in a street fight. The more tools you have at your disposal the better. A good Muay Thai fighter in a street fight is likely just going to close the distance and break your face with an elbow.

 

[wildchild88]

If you're fighting in an open street against a competent Muay Thai fighter, a few kicks to your legs/knees and you will be having a bad day. That being said I would avoid kicking in a street fight, too many variables that can end with you off balance or falling over. Boxing to me is the only thing you need in a street fight. The more tools you have at your disposal the better. A good Muay Thai fighter in a street fight is likely just going to close the distance and break your face with an elbow.

Would you say that a competent boxer could take more than two leg kicks from a competent MT fighter of the same size (if the boxer hasn't kicked before) ?

I haven't fought competitively yet..

 

[AlanGregson]

Would you say that a competent boxer could take more than two leg kicks from a competent MT fighter of the same size (if the boxer hasn't kicked before) ?

I haven't fought competitively yet..

If you haven't gotten kicked before you're gonna be in for a shock when you get kicked by someone that understands how to generate power with his legs, pair that with the fact that boxers have a wide stance with all the weight on the front foot and its gonna be even worse, now if you get calf kicked, you're in for a very rough day... a kick doesn't necessarily have to be fight ending, when you get kicked you'll lose the ability to move well and generate power in your strikes effectively

 

[Woldog]

Would you say that a competent boxer could take more than two leg kicks from a competent MT fighter of the same size (if the boxer hasn't kicked before) ?

I haven't fought competitively yet..

Like @AlanGregson said, you're going to be in for a shock. But when I first transitioned from boxing to Muay Thai the first thing I noticed was how heavy my legs felt after a few kicks. There was no more bounce in them. As a boxer you would have to maintain the distance and wait for the chance to move forward, try and bait a kick out. I didn't find the transition incredibly hard, but I struggled for like 6 or 8 months against competent thai fighters who couldn't do fuck all against me in boxing sparring. If the boxer can close the distance and avoid getting elbowed or kneed they should beat the Thai fighter, if the Thai fighter can maintain distance and chop away at their legs or land an elbow when the boxer comes forward they should win. It's a tough one to call because it's not cut and dry.

 

[biscuitsbrah]

Idk man. Teh streets is unpredictable. I rather be a kickboxer with heavy hands than either of your options though

 

[DoctorTaco]

Would you say that a competent boxer could take more than two leg kicks from a competent MT fighter of the same size (if the boxer hasn't kicked before) ?

I haven't fought competitively yet..

A full power low kick from a competent athlete who’s not afraid of being checked is a terrible thing.

you also have forgotten the Thai boxers clinch. Elbows, knees, and sweeps? I’ll take the Muay Thai fighter v a boxer all day.

 

[Monte Moku]

Is anyone really worried about getting in a street fight anymore? Even in bad areas, you're either getting jumped, stabbed or shot. Not a whole lot of 1-on-1 altercations these days, but maybe it's just where I live

 

[aerius]

I'm gonna say Muay Thai. About a year ago some asshole started talking shit and posturing at me like he wanted a fight because I apparently stood too close to him in line at the liquor store. He shut up and left as soon as I went into my MT stance.

 

[aries]

It depends, do they both know each others strengths? In an equal fight where both know what they are dealing with it's got to be the Muay Thai guy. They have more tools and strategies for dealing with strong punchers. Boxing doesn't teach you how to deal with what a good Thai boxer can bring to the table.

But in a street fight you wouldn't necessarily know who you were up against and that could potentially favour the boxer. If you were a Thai boxer with decent hands then you may engage with your hands first only to find out that you are facing someone with better hands by which point it could be too late. And often with a street fight the first strike counts for a lot and can be a fight finisher. If the fight starts in punching range that negates some of the advantages of the Thai boxer.

 

[SandisLL]

Well, if we are talking about SD or unnoticed steet fight 1 vs 1.
Boxers and wrestlers etc might be very dirty here. Yeah, the same elbows and headbutts and things worse than these. Ofc their elbows or knees not likely will be in MT level and still.
Like dirty wrestler might use against you headbutts, eye pokes, process throat not worse than in TMAs, grab fingers with intent to dislocate or break them etc things.
Boxer, who might deliver some kicks with knee or step on the leg or do hooking and stepping on leg, simple standup grappling etc, even also to grab and " process" your fingers, to do eye pokes etc things.
Ofc MT and KB are very good and usable things.
Ppl just underestimate also dirty boxing and dirty wrestling a lot. Brutality level here is very high.

 

[JonJonesNeedle]

It depends, do they both know each others strengths? In an equal fight where both know what they are dealing with it's got to be the Muay Thai guy. They have more tools and strategies for dealing with strong punchers. Boxing doesn't teach you how to deal with what a good Thai boxer can bring to the table.

But in a street fight you wouldn't necessarily know who you were up against and that could potentially favour the boxer. If you were a Thai boxer with decent hands then you may engage with your hands first only to find out that you are facing someone with better hands by which point it could be too late. And often with a street fight the first strike counts for a lot and can be a fight finisher. If the fight starts in punching range that negates some of the advantages of the Thai boxer.

This is an excellent take.

 

[NoSmilez]

whoever can run away

 

[DoctorTaco]

Is anyone really worried about getting in a street fight anymore? Even in bad areas, you're either getting jumped, stabbed or shot. Not a whole lot of 1-on-1 altercations these days, but maybe it's just where I live

This is also true. Unavoidable Street fights rarely happen

 

[CaptHANDSUP]

Too many external factors, in a messy scrap both in terms of location and how it starts, boxing wins. But the muay thai guy has a much better chance if its a confrontation in an open area where the fight doesnt start when theyre in the pocket.

 

[Nada.]

Boxing for me and my rare occasions of a "street fight" was more than enough every time except once, footwork, closing distance, head movement and being able to actually throw a decent punch and take one, with adrenaline kicking etc is usually more than 95% of young males have on their sides.
The one time it wasn't I woke up with a broken nose, cracked rip and battered leg from the kicks.

 

[Brandon Robinson]

One thing to note is you aren't going into this warmed up which is going to effect kicks a lot more then punches, also the clothes you're wearing can restrict kicking shoes too.

In a few of the boxing vs muay thai freak show events i've watched the boxer gets a early knockdown then as the fight goes on the leg kicks start to take effect, i'm assuming cause of the thai guys being slower starters, now i don't know if what happened in the fights i saw was common or not but if it is then generally a knockdown in a street fight means fight over

 

[Dexter]

Theoretical: MT has a wider range of attacks, erzatz wrestling aka clinch, etc.
Practical: on teh streetz, the simpler the solution, the better. Average boxer trains 3 times a week in footwork, defense, punching. Average MT hobbyist divides his time also in kicking and clinching. Kicking is good for finishing downed opponent, not so good on un-even surfaces, in cold weather conditions, etc. Clinching is not so good because you don't see your opponents hands and what he has in them .

P.S. Imho, if we are talking about typical among men "honor duel" type of a street fight (aka 1-on-1) and not self-defense situation, boxing is preferable. Adding a bit of wrestling won't hurt, tho.

 

[laz0001]

Why is it that most street fights are over in a couple of punches, with one person twitching on the floor, where as professional fights can go for 25/36 minutes? Even BKB, decisions are fairly common.

Because in my view, the biggest distance between someone trained and someone not trained is their composure in taking a punch.

Swing at the normal person at the street and they lose all composure and begin swinging wildly, chin up in the air - KO time. Swing at a professional and they’ll brace and walk through it, cool and calm. Professionals have to wear eachother down, or get the timing on the other person.

So, in a street fight, I do not expect the boxer to get a flash KO over the MT guy, before the MT guy gets a suffocating clinch and begins landing some brutal knees, which is something a boxer has probably never faced before. A good MT clinch is a REALLY unpleasant place to be in.

 

[Enclave]

If you're fighting in an open street against a competent Muay Thai fighter, a few kicks to your legs/knees and you will be having a bad day. That being said I would avoid kicking in a street fight, too many variables that can end with you off balance or falling over. Boxing to me is the only thing you need in a street fight. The more tools you have at your disposal the better. A good Muay Thai fighter in a street fight is likely just going to close the distance and break your face with an elbow.

Depends on who is throwing the kick. There are "sissy" kickers in MT just as there are pillow punchers in boxing. People have different strengths and weaknesses.