Buakaw Por. Pramuk has had a difficult year so far but it looks like his troubles may now be over.
Having fled the Por. Pramuk camp in (month) and gone into hiding after levelling claims of maltreatment and financial impropriety, the kickboxing superstar was hit with a lawsuit from the team.
The Por. Pramuk gym sued Buakaw and the Thai Fight promotion for his participation in an event without their approval. The team also pushed for a court order to entitle them to a percentage of Buakaw’s earnings even if he left the camp and trained elsewhere.
But then the Thai Fight promoters countered with a suit of their own against the Por. Pramuk camp and now all sides have apparently reached a resolution and have agreed to drop their lawsuits. According to Thai news, the parties met yesterday at the Civil Court at Ratchadapisek for arbitration.
Buakaw apparently still has to keep the name Por. Pramuk but is free to engage in Muay Thai and kickboxing fights without prior approval from the team. He still splits a percentage of his fight earnings with the Por. Pramuk camp – 60/40 in his favour – and public appearance money will be split 75/25 his way.
However, this is only for activities arranged by the Por. Pramuk management. For activities arranged via Buakaw himself, no split is required.
The deal is not perfect from his point of view and there are potential pitfalls which will have to be resolved – such as Por. Pramuk gym potentially booking him for a fight on the same day he has booked himself something else – but at least Buakaw can come out of his short-lived retirement and get back to earning.
His profile in Thailand is increasing daily thanks to his participation in Thai Fight and an increased public awareness of his overseas exploits while carrying the Thai flag. He made his name in the K-1 organisation but as that is now all but defunct, it seems likely he will end up in the ranks of the GLORY organisation instead.
That promotion is the world’s new number one kickboxing league since buying out the rival Its Showtime organisation last week and absorbing its roster of fighters. The vast majority of the sport’s top fighters are now with GLORY, making it the kickboxing equivalent of the UFC.
