S-Cup News: Buakaw is IN!

News from Shootboxing this week regarding the upcoming 2010 edition of their marquee S-Cup event.  At their last big press conference they announced that 2 time K-1 MAX champion and #3 ranked Buakaw Por. Pramuk would be fighting at the event in a fight to be determined.  Now they have confirmed some great news - Buakaw will indeed be taking part in the S-Cup tournament.

With the addition of Buakaw, the S-Cup line-up is now complete.  Competing for the title on November 23 will be: Buakaw, Andy Souwer, Bovy Sor Udomson, Takaaki Umeno, Greg Foley, Hiroki Shishido, Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett, and Henri van Opstal.  Really stellar line-up here, and considering this features the #2 and #3 fighters in the world, it's a line-up on par with MAX's offering this weekend. 

First round match-ups and brackets are not yet set, but there are a number of intriguing possibilities I'd love to see happen in the tournament.  Shishido v. Souwer would be a good clash between Shootboxing veterans, while Umeno v. Krazy Horse would be an action packed encounter.  I'd also love to see Buakaw v. Bovy.  It's rare that we get to see Buakaw really pushed to use his full Muay Thai skills, and a showdown with his fellow countryman could provide that opportunity.

The other big match to watch for is the 4th showdown between rivals Souwer and Buakaw.  It seems inevitable this will happen at some point, as it would take a big upset to knock either man out.  Souwer currently leads their series 2-1, and given his Shootboxing experience, I would have to favor him here, though you obviously can't count Buakaw out.  Whoever wins that fight, whenever it happens, has to be the heavy favorite to take him the 2010 title.

In other S-Cup news, Tomohiro Oikawa will face Dream fighter DJ.taiki in non-tournament action, plus Hiroki Suzuki will face an opponent TBA.

Finally, former Shootboxing top star and 2006 S-Cup champion Kenichi Ogata formally announced his retirement.  No surprise here as Ogata has not fought in over a year since his upset loss to Tyler Toner last summer, and has clearly been replaced by Shishido in the Shootboxing ranks.  Ogata will be honored in a retirement ceremony at the S-Cup.