Media So this is what a prime Samart Payakaroon looked like

[StopDucking]

Basically, all of Samart's fights on YouTube belong to one of these 3 categories:
- Almost all of them happened in the late 1980s after Samart went into boxing and came back to muay thai. While he was still a very good fighter, Samart was already past his prime and it showed: loose guard, counter-punching style, good hands but average kicks (except for the teep), mainly defensive clinch.
- Then you have his fight against Dielselnoi from 1984 that was posted recently. Despite being in his prime, Samart had to be on the defensive the whole time because of the overwhelming size difference.
- And then you have THIS fight against Wattana (who was previously ranked #1 in Rajadamnern before moxing to France) that's also from 1984. Samart clearly looks different than in other videos: high guard, constantly moving foward, agressive kicks and clinch, good cardio (which he would tend to lack later on). Also, notice how Samart switched effortlessly from southpaw to orthodox to southpaw to orthodox again.

 

[spacetime]

Did all Muay Thai guys back then only throw those stiff legged roundhouses? When did the modern version come into play?

 

[Deleted member 363827]

There are reasons why Samart is in every single GOAT list by other muay Thai legends.

The best comparison of Samart to MMA fighter is prime BJ Penn, every one who has seen he fight is like this dude is so next level, he can't lose and his only weakness is his laziness. His singing career is him making fun of himself not taking training seriously. When Smart lost his boxing title, he had to go into hiding, because so many Thais lost money betting on him and wanted to shoot him, thinking Samart threw the fight.

 

[spacetime]

There are reasons why Samart is in every single GOAT list by other muay Thai legends.

The best comparison of Samart to MMA fighter is prime BJ Penn, every one who has seen he fight is like this dude is so next level, he can't lose and his only weakness is his laziness. His singing career is him making fun of himself not taking training seriously. When Smart lost his boxing title, he had to go into hiding, because so many Thais lost money betting on him and wanted to shoot him, thinking Samart threw the fight.

His natural boxing skills are out of this world