There once was a boxer who used beautiful footwork and other worldly head movement to evade his opponents. A boxer who used distance as a weapon, leading his competitors into some of the most beautiful knockouts ever caught on film. A boxer who kept his hands dangerously low, but was just too fast for it to matter. That boxer was of course named Samart Payakaroon, and as well as being a champion pro boxer, he also happened to be the greatest Muay Thai fighter of all time.

Competing during the golden age of Muay Thai, Samart was lightyears ahead of his time. He incorporated complex boxing footwork and head movement similar to Muhammad Ali’s into his Muay Thai repertoire. If Samart had used more common moves from boxing, his attempts to blend them with Muay Thai’s staple techniques may have been a totally futile endeavor. But the cross steps, L-Steps, backwards shifts, and pulls used by Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson before him turned out to be perfect additions to Samart’s unique style.

Ali’s footwork pattern was one of the first things ever covered on this channel. It’s a sidestep, then hop or slide, cross step and then return to stance.

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