Kickboxing in Burma

Time to introduce you guys to Burmese boxing or lethwei as they call it. The Burmese still fight using the old bare knuckle rules that were used in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. It's not exactly the old style rules but it's the closest to as you can see here. Only handwraps are used. Punching, kicking, knees, elbows, throws and HEADBUTTS are allowed! When a fighter is KOed that is the end of the round. The KOed fighter will be revived and given the chance to continue or not. There are five rounds. There are no judges. The winner must be the only one left standing in the ring. If both fighters are still standing at the end of the match, it is declared a draw.

The older rules were even more hardcore! You were allowed to continue attacking a fallen opponent till the referee stops you. It was common to sweep or throw someone down and follow him to the ground by dropping your knee into the opponent. You were also allowed to kick your opponent in the groin back in the old days. Thank god they've modernise abit huh? It's now in a boxing ring instead of a sandpit.

You can see that the fight is very different in pace and style to a typical Muay Thai fight. WIthout the boxing gloves, punches become even more lethal and you can see that the lethwei fighters tend to punch more than muay thai. Also in lethwei you don't see much of the clinching and knees common in Muay Thai. Being allowed to throw and headbutt changes that aspect of the fight game. Lastly the manner of declaring the winner, ie. last man standing I think is the reason why lethwei fighters tend to be very aggressive and active. It's almost like a street fight!