Thailand's 'Muay Thai Saint' competes in boxing for the first time at the age of 42

Buakaw Banchamek recently announced that he will participate in the Japan Martial Arts EXPO martial arts event in Japan on October 19. The 42-year-old boxer will face Kouzi Tanaka (Japan) under boxing rules with 3 rounds of 3 minutes in the 70 kg weight class.

According to Muay Thai Stand , this is the first time in his career that Buakaw Banchamek has competed in boxing. Last year, it was reported that Buakaw Banchamek would participate in a boxing match with Filipino legend, Manny Pacquiao. However, in April this year, Buakaw Banchamek revealed to MMA Mania that his match with Manny Pacquiao was only postponed and not canceled.

Buakaw Banchamek will face Kouzi Tanaka on October 19.

Kouzi Tanaka (35 years old), Buakaw's upcoming opponent, is a famous kickboxer in Japan, who won the ISKA K-1 World Lightweight Championship 2017. During his career, Kouzi Tanaka has won 31 out of 51 kickboxing matches. This boxer also had 1 win and 1 loss when he moved to MMA.

Late last year, Kouzi Tanaka knocked out boxer Kota Miura, son of football legend Kazuyoshi Miura. Interestingly, two years ago, Kota Miura lost to Buakaw Banchamek in an exhibition match in Thailand.

During his career, Buakaw Banchamek participated in Muay, kickboxing, bare-knuckle boxing, shoot boxing matches... Buakaw Banchamek is famous in Japan with 2 K-1 World MAX championships in 2004 and 2006.

In July this year, Buakaw Banchamek participated in the K-1 World MAX 2024 kickboxing tournament but lost to Bulgarian opponent Stoyan Koprivlenski. Despite losing to Stoyan Koprivlenski, Khaosod (Thailand) reported that Buakaw received 10 million baht (274,000 USD) for this match.

In March 2024, Buakaw Banchamek defeated Japanese-born Brazilian boxer Minoru Kimura by knockout in a kickboxing match at the RIZIN Landmark 9 event in the land of the rising sun.

Son Tung

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/thanh-muay-thai-lan-lan-dau-thi-dau-boxing-o-tuoi-42-ar901671.html