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difference of muay thai and kick boxing?

Unless you are Pornsanae.

Well that's why the whole sitmonchai fighters haven't been consistent and can't beat elite fighters unless they get a KO. When pornsanae fought sam-a for the fifth time (having lost to him 4 times in a row) he trained specifically for body kicks and finally beat him.
 
Yes bodykicks and knees are the bread and butter for most high level thai fighters. But its both ignorant and silly to claim that the lowkicks are not a important part of muay thai.
I think the point is that it's a more important weapon in kickboxing than it is in muay thai.
 
Kickboxers tend to focus more on boxing and are usually better boxers, so there is a lot more footwork, you also don't see many lengthy combinations in Muay Thai. Muay Thai fighters are usually less mobile and have better body kicks and kick defense
 
Muay Thai = Muay Thai

Kickboxing = Any kicking martial arts that aren't Muay Thai , such as Dutch Kickboxing , American Kickboxing , Karate , Taekwondo , Sanda , Kun Khmer etc.
 
Kickboxers tend to focus more on boxing and are usually better boxers, so there is a lot more footwork, you also don't see many lengthy combinations in Muay Thai. Muay Thai fighters are usually less mobile and have better body kicks and kick defense
There have been more succesful boxers that came from a muay thai background than a kickboxing background
 
Muay Thai = Muay Thai

Kickboxing = Any kicking martial arts that aren't Muay Thai , such as Dutch Kickboxing , American Kickboxing , Karate , Taekwondo , Sanda , Kun Khmer etc.
This is much closer to the truth.
 
Any as successful as Vitali Klitschko?
Well no i wasn't talking about heavier weight classes since thailand doesnt even have a competitive heavyweight muay thai scene. If you talk about the competitive divisions then muay thai has made better boxers.
 
I don't really like counting Klitschko as a kickboxing crossover. If that's the case, than Khaosai, Pongsaklek and most champion boxers from Thailand are crossovers.

Yeah, these guys did some kickboxing or Muay Thai, but not really.
 
Any as successful as Vitali Klitschko?
That's a tough comparison. Most people aren't close to 2 metres tall and a 110kg, while there are many more people between 60 and 80kg. Consequently, there's much more competition in these weight classes than in the HW class. So, while Klitschko might be the most successful kickboxer, most muay thai fighters fight in way more competitive weight classes. There's no objective way of comparing that.
 
I don't really like counting Klitschko as a kickboxing crossover. If that's the case, than Khaosai, Pongsaklek and most champion boxers from Thailand are crossovers.

Yeah, these guys did some kickboxing or Muay Thai, but not really.
There still is quite a few stadium title Nak Muay that have also won major Boxing titles tho...
 
There still is quite a few stadium title Nak Muay that have also won major Boxing titles tho...

Right. Those are the kind of fighters I consider real crossovers. Not the fighters who were around for two minutes or didn't really make much of a name.
 
There have been more succesful boxers that came from a muay thai background than a kickboxing background
If you look at the average boxing level of some lumpini fighters it really doesn't look too great, but of course there are exceptions
 
If you look at the average boxing level of some lumpini fighters it really doesn't look too great, but of course there are exceptions
Because they aren't fighting Boxing, they're fighting Muay Thai.

A lot of these guys look way different fighting under Boxing rules.
 
Klitschko was an ISKA champ and kickboxed for 10 years.....Different to Pongsaklek who switched over when was young. Idk bout Khaosai's muay thai background.....
 
Klitschko was an ISKA champ and kickboxed for 10 years.....Different to Pongsaklek who switched over when was young. Idk bout Khaosai's muay thai background.....

If he and his brother didn't go to boxing, about 4 people on the planet would know of Vitali Klitschko the kickboxer.

Pongsaklek fought until 16 or 17 and was winning fights at Lumpini.
 
I get that but what does it matter? It's not like he was an amateur for a couple of years or something. Granted he was a karate kickboxer as opposed to dutch style kickboxer. Didn't know that about Pongsaklek though....
 
Klitschko was an ISKA champ and kickboxed for 10 years.....Different to Pongsaklek who switched over when was young. Idk bout Khaosai's muay thai background.....
ISKA champ doesnt really say much. There have been so many ISKA champs that we dont even consider top level
 
If you look at the average boxing level of some lumpini fighters it really doesn't look too great, but of course there are exceptions
Actually many of these lumpinee fighters have fought in amateur boxing tournaments in the military.
 
That's a tough comparison. Most people aren't close to 2 metres tall and a 110kg, while there are many more people between 60 and 80kg. Consequently, there's much more competition in these weight classes than in the HW class. So, while Klitschko might be the most successful kickboxer, most muay thai fighters fight in way more competitive weight classes. There's no objective way of comparing that.
Ya good point. Are there any kick fighters who have become world boxing champions at the 60-80kg range? I think I do remember a guy like that. I cant remember his name, but I remember watching a rerun of when he won the world title and the announcer was saying things like "fighting here is boxing is a lot different from that kickboxing stuff he is used to!" I'm pretty sure he was a White American, which is really rare in boxing.
 
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