Petchmorakot vs. Tawanchai: Official Scorecards

Poster courtesy of ONE Championship.

In the main event at ONE 161 Featherweight Muay Thai World Champion Petchmorakot Petchyindee defended his title against the number one contender Tawanchai PK.Saenchai.

There’s been a lot of debate on the internet whether it was the right decision to award Tawanchai the win and subsequently the world title.

FIGHT SPORTS has managed to get a hold of the three official scorecards from the three judges. Fans can then make up their own mind and see with their own eyes, how the three respective judges scored the fight.

ONE Championship clearly states all of their rules and regulations on their website:

ONE Championship uses the Global Muay Thai Rule Set. All athletes will wear 4-ounce mixed martial arts gloves for bouts.

Bout Duration

Each bout will be three rounds of three minutes per round, with a one-minute break between rounds. World Championship bouts will be five rounds of three minutes per round, with a one-minute break between rounds.

Ways To Win

A victory can be attained by:

• Knockout via punch, kick, knee, elbow, or legal throw
• Technical knockout due to referee/doctor/corner stoppage
• Technical knockout due to 3 knockdowns in a round/4 knockdowns in a bout
• Athlete verbally requests a stoppage
• Judges’ decision
• Technical decision
• Disqualification

Decision Wins

In the event a bout goes the distance, it will go to a judges’ decision. The three judges will score the bout round-by-round using the “10-Point-Must” system, and victory is awarded by the judges’ majority decision. If the points tally is equal, then the judges shall utilize the ONE Judging Criteria to determine a winner.

ONE Judging Criteria

• Knockdowns
• Damage (internal, accumulated, and superficial)
• Number of clean strikes
• Aggression and cage/ring generalship (superior positioning)

Some sources close to the involved parties also claim that Boat from Petchyindee and Chatri, CEO of ONE Championship have had disagreements for a while, and the decision in the title fights seems to have been the straw that broke the camels back.

This could result in Petchyindee not sending fighters to ONE Championship in the future. This could also cause implications for the announced 52 events at Lumpinee Stadium in 2023, but we will have to wait and see about that.

Video courtesy of P.K. Saenchai Muay Thai Gym.