Four kings of boxing vs kickboxing, can they compare?

[JustOnce]

Four kings of boxing in Leonard, Hagler, Hearns and Duran is very highly regarded in terms of its greatness, skills and legacy.

It could be that boxing has been around a lot longer with a lot more fans, but there doesn't seem to be as much fan fare around four guys who could be considered four kings of kickboxing in Buakaw, Masato, Petrosyan and Souwer from back in k-1 Max days when kickboxing was probably most popular.

Do you think they can compare in terms of their own greatness, skills and legacy in kickboxing?


Leonard

Hagler

Hearns

Duran

vs


Masato

Buakaw

Souwer

Petrosyan

 

[biscuitsbrah]

Leonard = petrosyan?

 

[JustOnce]

Leonard = petrosyan?

Probably?

 

[CFGroup]

That Souwer is terrible fucking stoppage!

The guy's out on his feet after the switch Knee!....

 

[StopDucking]

Leonard = petrosyan?

Sugar Ray Leonard came back 3 years after his retirement to fight at a weight class he'd never competed at before, took on a monster who hadn't lost a fight in 11 years and had 52 knockouts in 62 wins in Marvin Hagler and beat him. Petrosyan has never done anything remotely similar.

This thread is silly anyway. Comparing 2 athletes from 2 different sports already makes no sense but comparing 8 of them at the same time? Just so it can be 4 vs 4? Yeah, this is spacetime-level of nonsense.

 

[Deleted member 580830]

However Petrosayan have the best record in kickboxing, no one have the K1 belt, the Glory belt and the One FC around his waist.

 

[StopDucking]

However Petrosayan have the best record in kickboxing, no one have the K1 belt, the Glory belt and the One FC around his waist.

Still doesn't mean shit compared to what Sugar Ray Leonard accomplished, not to mention kickboxing is for pussies who can't do muay thai.

 

[AndyMaBobs]

The Big 4 of K1 were:

Kraus, Buakaw, Masato, Souwer

Petrosyan is arguably better than all of them, but he came in later as Masato was retiring and Kraus was starting to age

 

[j123]

4 kings of boxing, and no mention of the p4p king Charlie Z? What kind of list is this?

 

[right hand lead]

I kinda feel it should be masato, souwer, buakaw, and Albert kraus. Those guys were all in their primes at the same time.

 

[right hand lead]

Damn andymabobs beat me to it lol

 

[AndyMaBobs]

I kinda feel it should be masato, souwer, buakaw, and Albert kraus. Those guys were all in their primes at the same time.

Damn andymabobs beat me to it lol

Yeah for sure - they were in their prime, competing against each other, across many fights over the course of about 5 years. Petrosyan was emerging at that time, and by the time he fought Souwer, pundits were saying he might be the best kickboxer around - but he was still a newer face.

 

[JustOnce]

The Big 4 of K1 were:

Kraus, Buakaw, Masato, Souwer

Petrosyan is arguably better than all of them, but he came in later as Masato was retiring and Kraus was starting to age

I kinda feel it should be masato, souwer, buakaw, and Albert kraus. Those guys were all in their primes at the same time.

Petro fought Sower and Buakaw near their primes in my opinion. Also fought Kraus. Also, I always felt Souwer, Buakaw, MAsato > Kraus.

 

[AndyMaBobs]

Petro fought Sower and Buakaw near their primes in my opinion. Also fought Kraus. Also, I always felt Souwer, Buakaw, MAsato > Kraus.

Souwer, Buakaw, Masato and Kraus are considered K1 Max's big 4 because the real heydey of K1 Max was from 2002-2008, where all four of those guys (2004 onwards for Buakaw) fought each other multiple times and were always in the finals. Giorgio was there 2009 + 2010, by the end of which all those guys had moved on from K1. Giorgio is a great fighter + did fight them, but if you're going to make a comparison between four kings of boxing vs kickboxing, Giorgio isn't in the conversation. He was part of a different era, he did fight versions of them yes, but if we used that logic, Hector Camacho would be one of the four kings because he beat SRL + Roberto Duran.

 

[JustOnce]

Souwer, Buakaw, Masato and Kraus are considered K1 Max's big 4 because the real heydey of K1 Max was from 2002-2008, where all four of those guys (2004 onwards for Buakaw) fought each other multiple times and were always in the finals. Giorgio was there 2009 + 2010, by the end of which all those guys had moved on from K1. Giorgio is a great fighter + did fight them, but if you're going to make a comparison between four kings of boxing vs kickboxing, Giorgio isn't in the conversation. He was part of a different era, he did fight versions of them yes, but if we used that logic, Hector Camacho would be one of the four kings because he beat SRL + Roberto Duran.

Yeah but SRL + Duran >> Camacho

 

[II Muchetto II]

Souwer, Buakaw, Masato and Kraus are considered K1 Max's big 4 because the real heydey of K1 Max was from 2002-2008, where all four of those guys (2004 onwards for Buakaw) fought each other multiple times and were always in the finals. Giorgio was there 2009 + 2010, by the end of which all those guys had moved on from K1. Giorgio is a great fighter + did fight them, but if you're going to make a comparison between four kings of boxing vs kickboxing, Giorgio isn't in the conversation. He was part of a different era, he did fight versions of them yes, but if we used that logic, Hector Camacho would be one of the four kings because he beat SRL + Roberto Duran.

So 2009 4 Kings became 1? I'm sure all of 4 of those guys were still in their primes in 2009 (age wise). Buts your right, in that they were the big 4 before Giorgio joined in. Its a shame we never got to see petrosyan vs masato, or a Buakaw rematch.

 

[Deleted member 580830]

Kickboxing never reached the competitiveness that boxing had and still have today.

 

[AndyMaBobs]

So 2009 4 Kings became 1? I'm sure all of 4 of those guys were still in their primes in 2009 (age wise). Buts your right, in that they were the big 4 before Giorgio joined in. Its a shame we never got to see petrosyan vs masato, or a Buakaw rematch.

Andy Souwer arguably was, but Albert Kraus definitely wasn't, but yeah point remains. K1 always bigged up Kraus/Buakaw/Masato/Souwer as their big four. Giorgio's pretty interesting because I don't think he is really associated with any one kickboxing organisation. The big four were always synonymous with the golden age of K1. Giorgio is just sort of himself. He's fought in a lot of organisations but I don't think we really tend to call him a K1 legend, even though he won K1 max twice. He wasn't in Glory for very long - I think he's more known for his overall record, than the titles he's won. I don't think that's true for the big four, who were synonymous with K1 as a brand.

Agree - it would have been nice to see Giorgio vs Masato/Buakaw -I think he probably would have won vs both of them, but there's no way of knowing now

 

[StopDucking]

So 2009 4 Kings became 1? I'm sure all of 4 of those guys were still in their primes in 2009 (age wise). Buts your right, in that they were the big 4 before Giorgio joined in. Its a shame we never got to see petrosyan vs masato, or a Buakaw rematch.

There is no objective prime "age-wise". You're either in your prime or you're not and different people age at different speed. Mike Tyson was already past his prime in 1989 and he was only 23. Buakaw's prime was 2002-2006 (I'd even argue it was only 2002-2004), which is understandable since he started fighting at 8 years old and had almost 200 muay thai fights before joining K1. Kraus never got into the K1 finals ever again after getting knocked out by Masato in 2003 so it's hard to argue he was still in his prime 6 years later.

 

[AndyMaBobs]

There is no objective prime "age-wise". You're either in your prime or you're not and different people age at different speed. Mike Tyson was already past his prime in 1989 and he was only 23. Buakaw's prime was 2002-2006 (I'd even argue it was only 2002-2004), which is understandable since he started fighting at 8 years old and had almost 200 muay thai fights before joining K1. Kraus never got into the K1 finals ever again after getting knocked out by Masato in 2003 so it's hard to argue he was still in his prime 6 years later.

I also think it's hard to judge how good Buakaw was post K1 because he didn't fight that high a level of competition again. Youssef Boughanem is probably the best fighter Buakaw ever fought, but Buakaw faced him 3 years into his career - rather than when he was Simultaneous Lumpinee/Raja champion. Buakaw fought a Khel or Yi Long here or there since but outside of that upset vs Khayal, we haven't really seen him against top tier fighters for a long time (even then Khayal kinda disappeared)