I bet at some point one of your friends has asked “how’s your kickboxing going?” and you’ve got slightly annoyed and corrected them. I’m actually at a stage now where I can’t be bothered and I just accept that they forge the two together.

However, there are huge differences between the two. The obvious ones are the use of clinch, knees and elbows, but when you watch the two styles go against each other you can really see how they differ.

Below is one of the first times that people got to see ‘American style kickboxing’ against Muay Thai.

At the time, kickboxing in America only allowed strikes above the waist, it’s what we’d class as Full Contact kickboxing in the UK (a strange title for a sport which allows limited strikes in my opinion). However, for the first time in America the use of low kicks were permitted in this contest.

Kickboxing has evolved massively over the years due to the introduction of Muay Thai, Dutch Style kickboxing and of course the K-1 promotion.

Rick Roufus is one of the legendary kick boxers of his time, he even holds a first round KO over Rob Kaman.

Changpuek Kiatsongrit was one of the first Thai fighters to go abroad and showcase Muay Thai against foreign opposition.

The video has been made and edited by Lawrence Kenshin and it has an excellent breakdown what is going on during the contest….enjoy

If you want to watch the full fight unedited you can watch it here.