Bowe to fight in Muay Thai


GRIM

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Not sure how well Bowe will do but I will say he is going to be one of the largest  Muay Thai fighters  :tup 


 


There's a lot of interest in the likelihood of former world boxing champion Riddick Bowe making his Muay Thai debut, which is scheduled for June 14 in Pattaya.


Bowe is now in Thailand training in full rules Muay Thai to learn grappling and close-combat knee strikes.


He reportedly suffered an ankle injury, which forced the postponement of his fight in Pattaya from this month to next month.


His opponent has yet to be announced but whoever it is will need to tip the scales well over 200 pounds to compete in Bowe's super-heavyweight division.


Bowe isn't the first heavyweight boxer with aspirations to be a Muay Thai fighter. There have been other high-profile boxers who have expressed a willingness to make a transition from boxing with fist combat to the eight-limb Muay Thai weaponry of feet, knees, elbows and hands.


Mike Tyson contemplated switching to Muay Thai after being arrested in September 2007 for possession of narcotics and diving under the influence of alcohol.


After being sentenced to 24 hours in jail and 360 hours of community work, Tyson considered moving to Thailand to become a Muay Thai fighter. But he was lured by a lucrative offer to take part in K1 kickboxing and never wore the Thai mongkon into the ring.


Three-time world boxing champion Jeff Fenech _ who was the first to beat Thailand's great Muay Thai champion Samart Payak-arun for the WBC world boxing title _ trained Tyson for his final professional fight.


Fenech recalls how Tyson was impressed by the nobility of the Thai ring warriors.


"But as much as Mike liked the spirit of Muay Thai he was an instinctive fist fighter. The switch from boxing to Muay Thai takes a long time. It's a whole different fighting art," he said.


Current WBC heavyweight world champion Vitali Klitschko was a kickboxing champion before he turned to boxing and has since become one of the most successful heavyweight boxers.


Klitschko will probably return to kickboxing after he retires as a professional boxer.


"The thing about kickboxing is that it's multiple weapons. You have a lot more choice being able to use your legs and arms. The legs are the biggest limbs on the body and therefore a kick has a lot more power," he told me in 2010.


Klitschko said that, like Tyson and now Bowe, he had also been intrigued the culture of Muay Thai.


"Thai boxing is a cornerstone of martial arts. It's the spirit of the warriors personified in the world today. But when I looked at Muay Thai I realised that it's more than kickboxing _ it's got a whole package of unarmed combat skills," he said.


Whether Bowe can make the transition from being a boxer to a Muay Thai fighter will be determined by his physical conditioning and ability to adapt.


His record stands at 43-1 with 33 knockouts, which is impressive considering that he was the first boxer to knock out Evander Holyfield.


But at 47 years of age, Bowe is long past his prime as an active fighter. And while he'll probably pull a big crowd to watch him fight in Muay Thai his days as a ring warrior are fading fast.


Meanwhile, the great Lumpinee Stadium that's now into its final six months of a stellar half-century history is set to stage one of the year's classic match-ups between grandmaster Saenchai Sor Kingstar and top ranked Sakson A Kwanmuang on Friday.


Saenchai has declined a number of offers to fight abroad to concentrate on fulfilling his duty as Bangkok's star attraction, as Lumpinee prepares for a final closedown in December to reopen at a new location in Bangkok's suburbs.


Saenchai is regarded as the best pound-for-pound Muay Thai fighter in the world today despite his advancing years.


Among his upcoming fights at Lumpinee, Saenchai will be fully tested by the 17-year-old superstar Yodwicha Por Boonsit, who shared this year's prestigious Sports Writers' Association of Thailand's Muay Thai boxer of the year award with 16-year-old Saengmanee Sor Tienpho, the pride of Rajadamnern Stadium.


Saengmanee has won four titles at four different weights inside 10 months and won fighter of the year awards at both Lumpinee and Rajadamnern stadiums.


Yodwicha is Lumpinee's super-featherweight champion and he'll be matching his youthful exuberance and class against Saenchai's sheer brilliance.

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man an elbow or knee to the head could be the end for Bowes normal everyday , he should re-think this

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  • 1 month later...

what a fucking dumb idea, he will be seriously fucked up if he pursues this!

 

Looks like thats exactly how it went down :palm

 

Thailand%20Bowe%20Golovin%20Boxing.JPEG-  Thailand%20Bowe%20Golovin%20Boxing.JPEG-

 

 

 

 

ATTAYA, Thailand — Riddick Bowe now understands why people warned him that Muay Thai is a dangerous sport.
 
“I would have to say, they have a valid point,” said Bowe, after his debut in Thai kickboxing ended with a thud in the second round. “It’s much harder than boxing.”
 
The former world heavyweight boxing champion had hoped to prove his critics wrong and show that he could comeback from retirement into an entirely new sport and revive some of his past glory.
 
But Bowe is now 45 and weighs 300 pounds, and he looked it Friday in his first fight since 2008.
 
Slow and out of shape, the fighter known as “Big Daddy” took a big beating from his 30-year-old unheralded Russian opponent Levgen Golovin, who attacked with repeated kicks to the shins that knocked Bowe off his feet five times. The bout ended with a technical knockout after his last fall when Bowe sat on the ground clutching his legs, wincing in pain.
 
“You can recover from a head shot or a body shot, but when you get kicked in the leg it lasts a long time,” Bowe said, as his trainer iced his left shin. “My leg is still hurting. I don’t know how long it’s been — 15 minutes?”
 
Not once during the brief fight, which ended 2 minutes into the second round, did Bowe land a punch or a kick. But he was happy to trade barbs with reporters afterward showing the wit that made him one of boxing’s charismatic personalities during his brief reign as champion two decades ago.
 
“This ain’t a setback it’s a getback,” Bowe said, referring to his comeback. “I had a lot of fun. I’m going to do it again. Next time it’s going to be different.”
 
Like so many boxers, Bowe lost the struggle to stay out of the ring. He had his reasons: He’s bored with retirement; his millions are gone and he needs the money; he misses the adoration of fans; he loves to fight — and knows little else.
 
Bowe said he was inspired by the comeback of George Foreman, who won a heavyweight title at age 45. But the comebacks of aging champions don’t always go so well. Think of Muhammad Ali, at 38 and two years after retirement, taking punishment round after round from Larry Holmes. There was onetime heavyweight champion Greg Page coming back and nearly losing his life for a few thousand dollars. Heavyweight great Joe Louis paid dearly for his attempt to come back at an advanced age.
 
Bowe escaped without serious injury and made $150,000 for his Muay Thai debut, organized by Thai promoters trying to increase the international appeal of Thailand’s national sport. The money is a far cry from the millions he earned by beating Evander Holyfield in 1992 to become the undisputed heavyweight champion.
 
In his heyday, Bowe fought on boxing’s grandest stages in Las Vegas and New York.
 
His return to fighting took place at an outdoor ring set up beside the beach in Pattaya, a Thai town best known for its sprawling seaside red-light district.
 
Surveying the scene before the fight started, Bowe shook his head sadly.
 
“I should be moving up, but I’m moving backwards here,” he said.
 
His fight was one of a dozen at the venue, which had the atmosphere of a village fairground with loud music and amusement park rides nearby. Promoters had said they hoped to draw about 20,000 people, but a crowd closer to 1,000 turned up even though admission was free.
 
On a sweltering night, Bowe sat and sweated for hours as he waited his turn to fight. The venue had no changing rooms, so Bowe and other fighters stripped down and changed in open air tents beside the stage.
 
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Bowe said, his spirits lifted by fans who came up to ask for autographs and wish him luck.
 
One American fan stared in awe at Bowe.
 
“He was such an underrated and great champion,” said Jerry Mathison, a former fighter turned songwriter who lives in Thailand. “I can’t believe he’s here, in Pattaya.”
 
In some ways, Friday’s fight is the latest bizarre episode for Bowe, whose life in and out of the ring was marked by drama.
 
One of his three fights against Holyfield was interrupted by a parachutist who landed beside the ring. A fight against Andrew Golota in 1996 set off a riot in the ring at Madison Square Garden. Bowe left boxing later in 1996 at 29 for a career in the U.S. Marines, but that lasted only a few days. He then served 17 months in prison for interstate domestic violence after going to North Carolina to haul his now-former wife and their five children back home to Maryland.
 
Despite his loss, Bowe was optimistic before limping away into a car.
 
“Hey, we’re going to do this again. I’ll be back soon,” he said. “I’m not a quitter. I want to do it until I get it right.”
 
Bowe’s opponent shook his head in disbelief when told the aging boxer plans to return to Muay Thai.
 
“It would be a big mistake. It’s not for him,” said Golovin, a trim and fit 220 pounds. “He’s too slow and a bit too old.”
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No shit it's s a tougher sport, did he think taking an elbow to the forehead or heavy kicks to the leg was going to be easier than just taking a punch :pms

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