When Buakaw Por Pramuk first won the K1 Max championship, his name was cemented into the annals of stand-up combat fame.
Buakaw Por Pramuk could be getting ready to retire.
His popularity amongst the younger Thai generation is that of a pop star and an idol icon for the Thai mastery of the eight limb weapons.
It's understandable, therefore, why his handlers view him as a fighter to protect so that he can stay on a high pedestal for his fans to enjoy and admire. And, of course, make money.
Buakaw is a professional Muay Thai champion who's been fighting all his teenage and adult life.
Like many of the talented Thai boxers from the Northeast, he qualified to fight in the elite Bangkok stadiums through passing with honours in the school of hard knocks.
Less than one in four who get their chance to fight for glory in Bangkok make the cut and survive the rigours of Thailand's fighting elite.
I've witness with a sense of fascination how Buakaw rose up from the ranks of a competent Lumpinee Stadium competitor to beat the world's best in K1 kickboxing without the use of Thai-style grappling and elbow weapons.
Despite the bias of the judges in 2004, Buakaw had a magnificent away triumph in Tokyo beating Japan's legend kickboxing hero Masato in K1 World MAX. He then went on to surprise the world in 2006 when he won the K-1 again against Holland's super-kickboxer Andy Souwer.
After his K-1 triumphs, Buakaw became the prince of Muay Thai clocking up successive victories in full Muay Thai rules in international arenas than resulted in a wave of fan frenzy that peaked with him winning last December's Thai Fight super-welterweight championship against Australian Frankie Giorgi.
Now this may read like some fairytale story of the boy from Burri Ram who overcame the odds to become the greatest Muay Thai fighter of the 21st century. But the real life story is that while the fight business unearths heroes these superstars are only human. And they will crack under intense pressure, as no champions can stay peaked forever.
The once heavyweight boxing champion Ken Norton told me: "Every boxer is born with a finite number of winning fights in him and the wise fighter knows when his winning run is over."
The great Marvin Hagler explained to me that his last magnificent performance in losing the final rematch with his nemesis Sugar Ray Leonard was his last pro fight "because I just knew that I was done with fighting. The time had come for me to move on."
So it came as no surprise to learn that Buakaw "went missing" from his training camp on March 1.
Last Monday he appeared on Thai TV and apologised to his legion of fans stating that he had ongoing "mind" problems at his Por Pramuk Gym.
Buakaw said his actions to remove himself from the camp had nothing to do with his tough training regime, and that any conflict with his handlers was about "mind not body."
As the shining star of Muay Thai, Buakaw, who commands more than one million baht for a single fight, is feeling the effects of the intense daily pressure that surrounds his business, lifestyle and future well-being.
He reportedly cancelled a visit to Japan with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra where he was scheduled to give an exhibition Muay Thai performance.
He also cancelled a super-fight in France scheduled for last night against WBC champion Fabio Pinca _ an event billed as the "battle of the titans".
When I spoke to Buakaw while he was preparing for his Thai Fight triumph last December he told me of being torn between wanting to be a happy traveller of the world and the responsibilities of being the top Thai fighter traveling for another big fight.
He said he was grateful that he was born with the ideal physical weight and form to fight in the K1 MAX and Thai Fight, competitions that gave a lot of western fighters the opportunity to fight the best Thais.
When I last spoke to Buakaw, there was this sense that he was a fighter living on the razor's edge.
"Every fighter in the world dreams of beating Buakaw," he stated. "I have been living my dream but I also know that nothing lasts."
Nearing his 30th birthday, Buakaw is looking to a future life that's outside the heat of ring fury.
Buakaw has been fighting since he was eight years old. When he was 15, he moved to Chachoengsao and since then has been with Por Pramuk Gym.
He has fought more than 400 career contests and is the only fighter to have won the K1 MAX twice.