Kickboxing and Muay Thai legend Buakaw Por. Pramuk has officially announced his retirement.
The two time K-1 MAX champion has been dealing with an increasingly ugly legal situation lately. Earlier this year, he split from his long time team at Por Pramuk gym amidst allegations of the gym forcing Buakaw into fights he did not want and taking the majority of his earnings over the years. Since that split, Buakaw has been training interdependently and fought once under the name Buakaw Banchamek, but has also been dealing with legal action from his former camp. Now, with the two sides unable to come to terms, Buakaw has decided to retire.One of the best K-1 fighters of all time, Buakaw had a decorated Muay Thai career before coming to K-1 in 2004. He won the K-1 MAX Grand Prix in his first year fighting for the organization, and then claimed a 2nd GP crown in 2006. In the 8 years since his K-1 debut, Buakaw has only lost 6 fights, and ends his career on a 16 fight win streak.
There's no doubt his career was winding down, but it's a shame to see it end in such a legal mess, and unfortunate that the great fighter could not receive a proper send-off
He said "If he retires from Muay Thai ,everything will end "
" everything has happened because of the SPLIT""my father ,mymother ,my first muay thai trainers never asked me for money"
"because of the SPLIT ,I retire from Muay Thai to end everything today "
From Banchemek Gym facebook page
31 May 2012. Buakaw announced his retirement from fighting after he was unable to reach an agreement with Mr. Pramuk Rojanathan of Por Pramuk camp over the new contract.
This afternoon, Buakaw met with Mr. Pramuk at the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) for another round of negotiations over his new contract after they failed to reach a conclusion at the previous meeting [on 22 May 2012]. Also present at today's meeting were the Deputy Governor of SAT & the President of the Professional Boxing Association of Thailand.
Before the meeting began, Mr. Dej Jaikla, the Director-General of the Board of Boxing Sport, asked the media to leave the room. However, Mr. Pramuk asked that the media be allowed to stay.
Por Pramuk camp's lawyer said that the camp was willing to drop their lawsuit against Mr. Teerawat Yioyim, Buakaw's sports science trainer, provided that Buakaw accepted the new contract. The new contract specifies that [until 5 November 2018] income from fights will be divided 60:40 (60% to Buakaw, 40% to the camp), & all other income from activities such as (but not limited to) public appearances, advertising & sponsorship will be divided 75:25 (75% to Buakaw, 25% to the camp).**
However, Buakaw's lawyer said that Buakaw should be entitled to 100% of his income from activities outside of the ring, & should not be made to share it with the camp. This is because Buakaw is already 30 years old & has at most a few years left in his career as a boxer.
When an agreement could not be reached, the camp's lawyer said that the camp would be happy to sell Buakaw off to another camp that is interested in buying him. This had been proposed by Major General Intharat Yodbangtoey (the mediator in the dispute between Buakaw & Por Pramuk camp) at the previous meeting on 22 May 2012.
Buakaw then said that since both parties could not agree, & that the outstanding issue now lies with him alone, all problems should come to an end if he retires. His family & his first muaythai teacher had never asked for money, & he has already repaid their kindness in full. Therefore, he would like to retire from boxing from now on. He will not fight again, & will not try to register [as a boxer with the Board of Boxing Sport] again under a different name. On hearing this, Mr. Pramuk & his son Mr. Teeraphat (Au) burst into applause lasting many minutes.
The Deputy Governor of the SAT said that it is most regrettable that an agreement could not be reached, & that things had to end this way. He said that it is bad for Thailand's image that Mr. Pramuk & Mr. Teeraphat had clapped happily when Buakaw said that he would retire & not continue to fight & achieve success for the nation.
Mr. Pramuk retorted that he had clapped for joy not because Buakaw will retire but because all the problems he has had with Buakaw since March will come to an end.
Mr. Pramuk later said that he regrets that Buakaw will not continue to bring fame to Thailand, & claimed that the dispute had to end this way because of a 'third party'. He thinks that this would not have happened if not for issues related to money, & that in the past, the careers of famous boxers have ended because of such problems. In any case, he is relieved that things have come to an end.
Buakaw said that it is regrettable that he has to retire even though he is still able to fight. However, he wanted to end this dispute once & for all. He had thought about it [the decision to retire] beforehand, & confirmed once again that there was no 'third party' behind his decision.
Buakaw also said that he has brought fame to the country all along, & it is better for him to retire when he is at the top, rather than to retire when his career is fading away.
When everything has been settled, Buakaw will not leave the muaythai scene totally, but return to his home in Surin province to train a new generation in muaythai at his Banchamek Gym. Many children have applied to join his gym, including the children of foreigners. When asked if he would consider becoming a promoter, he said that it is too early to think about it now.
Buakaw would like to apologise to all of his fans for his decision to retire, & assures everyone that this is not the last that they have seen of him. He would like to thank everyone & the whole country for their support & encouragement. In addition, he would like young fighters to view his case as an example, & hopes that this will be the last time such a case ever happens in the muaythai scene.
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