Buakaw Banchamek is competing under kickboxing rules tomorrow night. He faces Nayanesh Ayman at Rajadamnern Stadium but at the pre fight press conference the Thai star declared that his next bout would be under a completely different ruleset.
Earlier this year a press conference was held in Bangkok to publicize a 2024 exhibition boxing match between Buakaw and Manny Pacquiao. Since then it has all gone very quiet with no word on what the date or even the venue might be.
It sounds like Buakaw believes the fight with Pacquiao is going to happen. At the press conference he told fans that he expected to compete in a new sport next,
“I might transition into the other fight style. A style that’s intense because I like a challenge, I like to test my limits.”
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Final fight
This has been billed as Buakaw’s final kickboxing fight in Thailand. In truth he has only competed in this sport a handful of times outside of China and Japan so that is not exactly big news.
The vast majority of Buakaw’s fights have been under Muay Thai rules. It is the style he is synonymous with, despite enjoying tremendous success as a kickboxer, and one he is expected to continue competing in for years to come.
Buakaw has never participated in a boxing match before. It sounds like that is all set to change in 2024 and he told fans that,
“I want to see if I can make it on the world stage.”
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Continuous talks
Pacquiao appears to continuously be in talks with various promotions and opponents. His Rizin debut is no closer to materializing, the fight with Jaber Zayani doesn’t seem to be happening and there is no progress on talks with Amir Khan.
The boxer turned politician’s appearance at the press conference to promote the exhibition fight with Buakaw cannot be taken as firm evidence that the event is actually happening. It was also announced that Pacquiao would be fighting for Rizin in 2023 and there is absolutely no news on that front.
Buakaw clearly wants to face Pacquiao in a boxing match. The 41 year old is ready for the next challenge and after this weekend’s kickboxing match in Bangkok he will be looking to face the multiple time world champion in 2024.
