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BOXING
Muay thai legend Buakaw breaks silence on walkout
Kitinan Sanguansak


Buakaw Banchamek explains his absence from the K-1 fight.

K-1 fighter suggests rule changes overshadowed his title fight

BANGKOK: -- Controversial fighter Buakaw Banchamek yesterday defended his decision to walk out of his title fight on Saturday, saying he preferred to let the audience decide the bout's outcome rather than the judges.

The 32-year-old's latest antics stunned viewers when he abruptly left the ring after the regulation three-round bout against Germany's Enriko Kehl for the K-1 under-70kg championship ended in a draw.

As a result of his vanishing act, the German was handed the title, to the bewilderment of the crowd at the Indoor Athletic Gymnasium in Pattaya.

On Monday, organisers K-1 Global Holdings told a press conference that they were hoping to hold talks to clear the air with the two-time champion, before deciding whether or not to sue the Thai for breach of contract.

Buakaw, no stranger to controversy, publicly commented on the incident for the first time yesterday when he met the media at his Banchamek gym, stressing several times that he did not want the judges to rule on the outcome of the controversial bout.

"I don't want the [judges'] verdict on the bout. I wanted the audience to decide it for themselves. I prefer not to let the officials judge me.

"It was my own decision [not to continue the fight]. My manager and my team knew nothing about it. I did what I believed my fans and supporters would understand," said Buakaw.

The Surin native, who made his debut in the muay thai K-1 code a decade ago, insisted he had no intention of breaching his contract and was grateful to a sport that had catapulted him to fame.

Deliberately breaching the contract "never crossed my mind. I'm fully committed to the contract. They had my respect because people knew me from K-1."

The Thai boxer hinted at feeling unease with a change of rules prior to Saturday's fight, saying he had no choice but to abide by it.

"I accepted the rules set by the K-1 committee. They spoke in English but I'm not sure whether my translation was correct or not.

"Since I began fighting in K-1 in 2004, they have banned the use of the elbow but allowed the fighters to use the knee. I knocked out a Japanese opponent with my knee before I went on to win the championship in my first year in sport.

"Then they changed the rules, placing restrictions on the use of the knee. They let a boxer hold his opponent before landing the knee just once per fight. More than that could result in disqualification.

"I knew there was a management change in the K-1 organisation. I'm not sure whether that had something to do with the sudden change in the rules or not.

"I have no idea whether the rule changes were made in order to improve the standard or for a different purpose. Officials asked me during the pre-fight briefing whether I had any questions. I just waved my hands to signal 'no'. I was looking to box as usual."

Buakaw did open the door for talks with K-1 officials to find a solution to the walkout. He said he would look at whether he still had a contract with K-1 before starting any talks.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/sports/Muay-thai-legend-Buakaw-breaks-silence-on-walkout-30245504.html


-- The Nation 2014-10-15

[ggt]

Not a very smart move by the veteran fighter...his future may not shine so brightly anymore...

[bangon04]

""I don't want the [judges'] verdict on the bout. I wanted the audience to decide it for themselves. I prefer not to let the officials judge me."

reading between the lines.. the foreign judges cannot be fair if they just apply the rules which are in English, so the predominantly Thai audience should be allowed to decide because they love me and they love Thailand...

[smedly]

So interpretation of what he is saying

He wanted the majority Thai audience to decide who won and not the expert judges - ahem

[amse]

I watched the fight on video and he clearly was the better fighter than the German guy, and by the end of the 3rd round he was the winner, the judges were prejudice. Did the judges have big bets on the fight?

[galilee]

The fight was close, very close, the german fighter landed goods punches and knees(which score a lot in k1 style fighting), the thai looked more powerful but thrown him on the ground many times which is negatively scored in kick boxing(it s not muay thai).

So the draw was not outrageous for my part in the contrary the thai s reaction was.

"let decide the audience(mostly thai) on itself" who doesnt know s...t about k1 rules, was the kind of excuses he should have kept for him.

Too many controversies this days, are hurting buakaw's superstar status, he should act like a champion not like a hollywood movies superstar.

He is a great champion or was and has the responsability to promote thai boxing around the world maybe it s too much pressure for him.

[fabianfred]

Wherever there is money there is also corruption.

Even temples spend too much energy trying to get people to give money, and when they have it they have to dream up projects to use/abuse it....buiulding more and more statues and things.

[draftvader]

This young lad had an opportunity to show how wrong the judges were by simply stepping back into the ring for the extra round. Both fighters were in the same position and his ego stuck 2 fingers up at the people who had paid money to watch, the promoters, the K-1 organisation and his opponent. Not particularly sporting or wise. My only thought is that he may well have thought that he couldn't better the German in the extra round.

If I were the German I'd be making a public announcement about how I would dearly love to fight again. That would certainly get him every last bit of the popular vote no matter what the outcome. Employers like that kind of thing.

[Time Traveller]

This is sad as he is one of the best Thai fighters of the current generation and his name will now forever be marred with gambling and rigged bouts. Unfortunately, boxing/muay thai in Thailand is totally fixed that the fights have become non-sensical. It's more like "feel good" patriotic theatre for Thais than it is any kind of sporting contest.

The highly marketed events like K1 usually feature 2 mismatched fighters - one foreign and one thai - so it's quite obvious who the winner is going to be (clue: it's the Thai), but manage to keep the attention of the audience's thirst for blood. In fact, these fights are so farcical I even watched one where the foreign fighter went down at the very beginning of the 1st round - and stayed down for the count - without even being hit with a punch or kick!

The rumors surrounding this fight, was that betting syndicates had bet very heavily that Buakow would win within 3 rounds. With the German still standing after the 3rd round they stood to lose a lot even with Buakow the winner. By walking out he was disqualified and the bets voided.....Regardless of whether this is true or not, his actions were extremely disgraceful (not to mention unprofessional) and he should be banned from the sport for a considerable time.

Unfortunately, this is Thailand and mafias control everything and everyone. A Sad Fckg place.

Edited October 15, 2014 by Time Traveller

[pacovl46]

I haven't seen the fight, but if he tells the truth then this isn't the first time he was ripped off.

[Alwyn]

I watched the fight on video and he clearly was the better fighter than the German guy, and by the end of the 3rd round he was the winner, the judges were prejudice. Did the judges have big bets on the fight?

I agree, he was a mile in front. It was an insult to call a draw and like you, I believe the reason had to do with gambling.

[jdlancaster]

Shouldn't walking out be counted the same as throwing in the towel.... it's refusing to fight.... id think itd count as a tko....but I don't know. .. it shouldn't matter the excuse for not answering the bell.

[IsaanUSA]

Not a very smart move by the veteran fighter...his future may not shine so brightly anymore...

I have respect for Buakaw, so in my opinion, K1's future may not shine so brightly anymore if it has new management that doesn't know what to do

[pegman]

I was 40 feet from ringside. We left after the 3rd round to get a jump on traffic because Buakaw clearly won. The thing is that that fight cannot be looked at in isolation. There was a bigger fraud earlier. A Russian & a Thai fought in the 3rd K1 match. The Thai clearly won and was awarded the victory. While he was celebrating the K1 "Global Director Operations" Ned Kuruc, got up from his ringside seat and approached the ring announcer and judges. The Thai left the ring with his trophy but the Russian for some reason lingered around. Then the ring announcer got back in the ring and overturned the decision saying it was a scoring mistake. It was obvious to all that attended that although the fighting was top notch corporate K1 is rigged.

[mataleo]

I heard there were scam bets web site going on and promoted by k1. And outcome was fix.

[ultimate weapon]

I was 40 feet from ringside. We left after the 3rd round to get a jump on traffic because Buakaw clearly won. The thing is that that fight cannot be looked at in isolation. There was a bigger fraud earlier. A Russian & a Thai fought in the 3rd K1 match. The Thai clearly won and was awarded the victory. While he was celebrating the K1 "Global Director Operations" Ned Kuruc, got up from his ringside seat and approached the ring announcer and judges. The Thai left the ring with his trophy but the Russian for some reason lingered around. Then the ring announcer got back in the ring and overturned the decision saying it was a scoring mistake. It was obvious to all that attended that although the fighting was top notch corporate K1 is rigged.

so the russians are corrupted too.