Editing Ray Mercer (section)

==Kickboxing career==
Continuing to seek a fighting career, Mercer opted to travel to Japan. Taking a brief year of hiatus from boxing, he challenged [[Musashi (kickboxer)|Musashi]] in the kickboxing combat sport [[K-1]] on June 6, 2004. Mercer held a reasonable account of himself, but his age and inability to successfully defend kicks was evident. He threw powerful punches and trapped his opponent in the corner more than once, and managed to adapt as more kicks were thrown, even knocking Musashi down in round two, but he was tacking on more accumulated damage that slowed him down, as he went on to lose the bout via unanimous decision. By round three, he was being ripped into by his opponent and was hardly keeping up. 

On March 19, 2005, he had one more [[K-1]] bout against [[Remy Bonjasky]], to whom he lost via verbal submission. Mercer came out with a failed double jab towards Bonjasky's shoulder and head, but missed, and attempted to throw a right. The first and only strike of the night, a head kick, that connected from them landed square on the head of Mercer, though he attempted to block, and he was shaken by the powerful blow. He voiced his surrender and the bout was stopped at twenty-two seconds and Bonjasky was awarded the TKO victory.

Though he was offered additional opportunities to have a further K-1 career, after the Bonjasky bout in 2005, Mercer, aged but undeterred, returned to boxing and refused another kickboxing fight.