There's a lot of interest in the likelihood of former world boxing champion Riddick Bowe making his Muay Thai debut, which is scheduled for June 14 in Pattaya.
Bowe is now in Thailand training in full rules Muay Thai to learn grappling and close-combat knee strikes.
He reportedly suffered an ankle injury, which forced the postponement of his fight in Pattaya from this month to next month.
His opponent has yet to be announced but whoever it is will need to tip the scales well over 200 pounds to compete in Bowe's super-heavyweight division.
Bowe isn't the first heavyweight boxer with aspirations to be a Muay Thai fighter. There have been other high-profile boxers who have expressed a willingness to make a transition from boxing with fist combat to the eight-limb Muay Thai weaponry of feet, knees, elbows and hands.
Mike Tyson contemplated switching to Muay Thai after being arrested in September 2007 for possession of narcotics and diving under the influence of alcohol.
After being sentenced to 24 hours in jail and 360 hours of community work, Tyson considered moving to Thailand to become a Muay Thai fighter. But he was lured by a lucrative offer to take part in K1 kickboxing and never wore the Thai mongkon into the ring.
Three-time world boxing champion Jeff Fenech _ who was the first to beat Thailand's great Muay Thai champion Samart Payak-arun for the WBC world boxing title _ trained Tyson for his final professional fight.
Fenech recalls how Tyson was impressed by the nobility of the Thai ring warriors.
"But as much as Mike liked the spirit of Muay Thai he was an instinctive fist fighter. The switch from boxing to Muay Thai takes a long time. It's a whole different fighting art," he said.
Current WBC heavyweight world champion Vitali Klitschko was a kickboxing champion before he turned to boxing and has since become one of the most successful heavyweight boxers.
Klitschko will probably return to kickboxing after he retires as a professional boxer.
"The thing about kickboxing is that it's multiple weapons. You have a lot more choice being able to use your legs and arms. The legs are the biggest limbs on the body and therefore a kick has a lot more power," he told me in 2010.
Klitschko said that, like Tyson and now Bowe, he had also been intrigued the culture of Muay Thai.
"Thai boxing is a cornerstone of martial arts. It's the spirit of the warriors personified in the world today. But when I looked at Muay Thai I realised that it's more than kickboxing _ it's got a whole package of unarmed combat skills," he said.
Whether Bowe can make the transition from being a boxer to a Muay Thai fighter will be determined by his physical conditioning and ability to adapt.
His record stands at 43-1 with 33 knockouts, which is impressive considering that he was the first boxer to knock out Evander Holyfield.
But at 47 years of age, Bowe is long past his prime as an active fighter. And while he'll probably pull a big crowd to watch him fight in Muay Thai his days as a ring warrior are fading fast.
Meanwhile, the great Lumpinee Stadium that's now into its final six months of a stellar half-century history is set to stage one of the year's classic match-ups between grandmaster Saenchai Sor Kingstar and top ranked Sakson A Kwanmuang on Friday.
Saenchai has declined a number of offers to fight abroad to concentrate on fulfilling his duty as Bangkok's star attraction, as Lumpinee prepares for a final closedown in December to reopen at a new location in Bangkok's suburbs.
Saenchai is regarded as the best pound-for-pound Muay Thai fighter in the world today despite his advancing years.
Among his upcoming fights at Lumpinee, Saenchai will be fully tested by the 17-year-old superstar Yodwicha Por Boonsit, who shared this year's prestigious Sports Writers' Association of Thailand's Muay Thai boxer of the year award with 16-year-old Saengmanee Sor Tienpho, the pride of Rajadamnern Stadium.
Saengmanee has won four titles at four different weights inside 10 months and won fighter of the year awards at both Lumpinee and Rajadamnern stadiums.
Yodwicha is Lumpinee's super-featherweight champion and he'll be matching his youthful exuberance and class against Saenchai's sheer brilliance.