Amateur Muaythai Rules
DEFINITION OF TERMS
AMATEUR
The term amateur, as used in these rules, refers to boxers who compete with the use of full protective equipment. Boxers competing in this category may not receive payment for competing.
BOXER
The term boxer, as used in these rules, refers to a Muaythai competitor (Nak Muay).
RULE 1: THE RING
1.1 Requirements: In all competitions, the ring shall conform to the following requirements;
The minimum size shall be 16 feet and the maximum size 20 feet inside the line of the ropes. The ring shall not be more than 1.20 m (4 feet) above the ground.
1.2 Platform and Corner Pads: The platform shall be safely constructed, level and free from any obstructing projections and shall extend for at least 50 cm outside the line of the ropes. It shall be fitted with four corner posts which shall be well padded or otherwise so constructed as to prevent injury to the boxers.
1.3 Floor Covering: The floor shall be covered with felt, rubber or other suitable (approved) material having the same quality of elasticity, not less than 1.5 cm. and not more than 2.00 cm thick over which canvas shall be stretched and secured in place. The felt, from the rubber of other approved material and canvas shall cover the entire platform.
1.4 Rope: There shall be 3 or 4 ropes with a thickness of minimum of 3 cm. and maximum of 5 cm. tightly drawn from the corner posts at 40 cm, 80 cm and 130 cm. height respectively. In case of 4 ropes, the rope shall be 40 cm, 71 cm, 100 cm and 130 cm high respectively. The ropes shall be covered with a soft or smooth material. The rope shall be joined on each side, at equal intervals, by two pieces of closely textured canvas 3 to 4 cm wide.
1.5 Steps: The ring shall be provided with 3 sets of steps – 1 set at each of the opposite corners for the use of contestants and one set in the neutral corner for use by the referees and doctors.
1.6 Additional Rings: 2 or more rings may be used in championships.
RULE 2: GLOVES
2.1 Authorised Gloves: Boxers shall wear the gloves the organiser of the competition has placed at their disposal and have been approved by MTGB. Boxers are not allowed to wear their own gloves.
2.2 Specification: For any head contact bout the gloves shall weigh 10 ounces (284 grams) of which the leather portion shall not weigh more than half of the total weight and the padding not less than half the total weight. The padding of the gloves shall not be displaced or broken. Only clean and serviceable gloves shall be used. All boxers in any one competition must wear exactly the same gloves. Glove weight may be changed depending on the level of athletes competing. Junior gloves must weigh not less than 8 ounces when competing with no head contact.
RULE 3: BANDAGES
3.1 Specifications: A soft surgical bandaging not longer than 2.5 m and whose width does not exceed 5cm or “Vecrow” bandaging not longer than 2.5 m on each hand should be used - no other kind of bandage may be used. The use of any kind of tapes - rubber or adhesive plaster, as bandages, is strictly forbidden, but a single strap of achieve 7.5 cm long and 2.5 wide may used at the upper wrists to secure the bandages.
RULE 4: DRESS CODE
4.1 Authorised Dress: Boxer shall be dressed in accordance with the following;
4.1.1 Clothing: The boxer must wear boxing shorts. A Krueng-Wrang (arm band) with an amulet or charm may be put on around the upper arm, biceps or waist but must be neatly covered.
4.1.2 Gum shields: Gum shields shall be worn. The gum shield should be form-fitted. It is forbidden for a boxer to intentionally remove his mouthpiece during the contest and if he does so, he shall be warned or disqualified. If a boxer has his mouthpiece knocked out, the referee shall take the boxer to his corner – have the mouthpiece washed and return to its proper position. While this is being done, the second is not allowed to talk to his boxer.
4.1.3 Cup protectors: A cup protector shall be worn, a jock – strap may be worn in addition.
4.1.4 Head-guard: The heard-guard is an individual and form fitted item of the boxer’s equipment. The use of the head-guard is mandatory in all head contact bouts, It shall conform to MTGB specifications.The head guard shall be taken off immediately when the bout is over and before the decision is announced.
4.1.5 Bodyguard, Shin guards and Elbow guards: the use of the bodyguard, shin guard and elbow guard is mandatory in all Full Thai rules bouts. Juniors may compete without head guard and elbow pads. It shall conform with MTGB specifications as it is the responsibility of the organising committee to provide bodyguard, shin guards and elbow guards to the boxer. If athletes are competing without elbow strikes to the head elbow guards do not need to be worn.
4.1.6. No other objects may be worn during the competition: the use of grease, Vaseline, rubbing lineament or products likely to be harmful or objectionable to an opponent on the face, arms or any other part of the body is forbidden.
4.1.7 Dress infraction: A referee shall exclude from the bout any boxer who is not wearing the head- guard, groin-guard and gum shield or who is not clean and properly dressed. In the event of the boxer’s glove or dress becoming undone during boxing, a referee shall stop the contest to have it attended to.
RULE 5: RING EQUIPMENT
5.1 Required: The following ring equipment shall be available;
5.1.1 Two seats – two seats for boxers’ use during intervals.
5.1.2 Two plastic spray bottles and two small plastic bottles for drinking. No other type of water bottles is permitted at ringside for use by the boxers or seconds.
5.1.3 Table and chairs for officials
5.1.4 Gong (with striker) or bell.
5.1.5 One (preferably two) stop watches.
5.1.6 Pads of scoring paper conforming to the pattern drawn up by MTGB
5.1.7 One First-aid Kit
5.1.8 One microphone connected to the loud speaker system and other back up
5.1.9 Two pairs of uniform gloves of the same manufacture as described in Rule 2
5.1.10 Two head-guards (one in red and one in blue colour).
RULE 6: MEDICAL EXAMINATION WEIGH-IN AND WEIGHT CLASSIFICATION
6.1 Medical Examination
6.1.1 In the time fixed for the weigh-in: A competitor must be passed as fit to compete by the doctor appointed by the executive committee before being weighed in. To ensure a smooth running of the weigh-in, the executive committee may decide to begin the medical examination at an earlier time.
6.2 Weight divisions:
6.3 Weigh in
6.3.1 The contestants at all weights shall be required to be ready to weigh on the first morning of the competition at an hour appointed between 8am and 11am. On the following competition days only those who are drawn to box shall appear at the same time between 8 to 9 am. It shall be in the power of the Executive Committee or other MTGB authorised delegate to relax this condition slightly if unavoidable delay occurs. Boxing shall not commence earlier than three clear hours after the time appointed for the close of the weight-in or such shorter time as the Executive Committee after consulting the Medical Commission shall decide is suitable and not liable to be detrimental to a boxer taking part in the early bouts of the forthcoming boxing session.
6.3.2 Delegates authorised by MTGB shall supervise the weigh-in.
6.3.3 For tournaments the weight registered at the official weigh-in on the first day decides the weight class of the boxer for the whole of the competition but they will still be required to weigh-in each day on which they are due to box to ensure that their actual weight on that day does not exceed the maximum of the weight class. A contestant may only box in the weight for which they have qualified at the official weigh-in.
6.3.4 A competitor will be allowed to present themselves at the official scales only once at the weigh-in each day. The weight recorded on that presentation is final. On the first day, it is permissible, however, for a competitor who has failed to make the weight at the original weight-in to enter for the higher or lower weight for which they are qualified.
RULE 7: TOURNAMENT DRAW (AND BYES)
7.1 The Draw: the draw shall take place after the medical examination and weigh-in. The draw must take place in the presence of official representatives of the teams concerned and must ensure where practical that no competitor shall box twice in the competition before all other competitors have boxed at least once. In special situations, the Executive committee of MTGB has the right to depart from this rule. The draw shall proceed first for the boxers to box in the first series and then for the byes.
7.2. Byes: In competitions where there are more than four competitors, a sufficient number of byes shall be drawn in the first series to reduce the number of competitors in the second series to 4, 8, 16 or 32. Competitors drawing a bye in the first series shall be the first to box in the second series. If there are an odd number of byes, the boxer who draws the last bye will compete in the second series against the winner of the first bout in the first series. Where the number of byes is even, the boxer drawing byes shall box the first bouts in the second series in the order in which they are drawn. No medal shall be awarded to a boxer who has not boxed at least once.
RULE 8: ROUNDS
8.1 Stopping of the contest for warning cautions, putting clothing or equipment into order or for any other reason is not included in the time.
8.2 A full 1 minute of rest shall be given between the rounds. No additional round may be given.
RULE 9: SECONDS
9.1 Rule: Each competitor is entitled to 2 seconds who shall be governed by the following rules;
9.1.1 Only the two seconds shall mount the apron of the ring and only one may enter the ring.
9.1.2 During the boxing, none of the seconds shall remain on the platform of the ring. Before a round begins, they shall remove from the platform of the ring, seats, towels, buckets, etc. The seconds must not touch the ring or steps during the rounds. Failure to adhere to this rule will result in a caution, if the behaviour continues then a boxer may be disqualified. The offending corner would also not be allowed to act as a second for the remaining duration of the tournament.
9.1.3 The second, while officiating in the corner, shall be possession of a towel and sponge for the boxer. A second may give in for a competitor, and may, when they consider their boxer to be in difficulties, throw the sponge or towel into the ring - except when the referee is in the course of counting.
9.1.4 The chairman of the R/J commission at each tournament shall arrange a joint meeting of the R/Js and the seconds who are going to work in each tournament and emphasise that MTGB Rules will be followed and that boxers’ violations of these rules may lose not only points, but the Championship.
9.2 Dress of seconds, second must dress property. No shorts, open-toed shoes, vests or other impolite clothing is allowed. The colours of the National Association are recommended.
RULE 10: REFEREES AND JUDGES
10.1 Championships: in National Championships and other domestic bouts each contest shall be controlled by an MTGB approved Referee who shall officiate in the ring but shall not mark a scoring paper.
10.2 Judges: each contest shall be marked by three MTGB Judges who shall be seated separately from the public and immediately adjacent to the ring. Each of the three judges shall be seated at the centre of one of the other three sides of the ring.
10.3 Neutrality: to ensure neutrality, the names of the referee and the 3 judges for each contest shall be selected by the commission of refereeing and judging in accordance with the following directives;
10.3.1 That each such official shall be an approved referee/judge.
10.3.2 The referees and judges for the finals shall be approved by the executive committee as a whole as being MTGB authorised persons.
10.3.3 That in the event of it being impossible for the commission of refereeing and judging to apply the above directives in a particular case they shall resolve the difficulty by ensuring as far as it may be possible the neutrality and impartiality of the officials appointed, and shall report the matter as soon as convenient to the Executive committee.
10.3.4 In the event of it being found impossible by the commission of referring and judging in any case to comply with the above directives, the name or names of an official or officials may be drawn by lot by the President of the commission of referring and judging, or someone acting on his behalf, for the contest in question.
10.4 Conflict of interest: anyone acting as referee or judge in any contest or tournament shall not at any time during the same contest or series of contests act as team manager, trainer of second to any boxer or team of boxers taking part in such contest or series of contests.
10.5 Disciplinary Action: the Executive Committee, or its duly authorised representative may, upon the recommendation of the jury, dispense (temporarily or permanently), with the services of any referee who, in its opinion, does not efficiently enforce the rules of the MTGB, or any judge whose marking or scoring of contests it considers not to be satisfactory.
10.6 Replacing the referee during the bout: if a referee is incapacitated in the course of a bout, the timekeeper shall strike the gong to stop the bout and the next available neutral referee on the MTGB list shall be instructed to control the bout and order boxing to be resumed.
RULE 11: INTERNATIONAL LIST OF REFEREES AND JUDGES
11.1 International Referee/Judges and International Judge: the title of “international referee/judge” or “international judge” shall be the highest title for a referee/judge of Amateur Muaythai. A person admitted to the international list shall be given a diploma of “International Muaythai Referee and /or Judge”. He shall also be given a badge of MTGB corresponding to his title and an identity card.
RULE 12: THE JURY
12.1 Appointment: During an amateur bout the Jury shall consist of not less than 3 persons, no more than 5 persons.
12.2 Duties:
12.2.1 Each acting member of the jury shall record his score of each bout witnessed by him and these score shall be available for comparison with those of the Judges functioning in those bouts.
12.2.2 The Jury or acting Jury shall check the scoring papers of the 3 judges to ensure that (a) the points are correctly totalled; (b) the names of the boxers are correctly entered; (c) a winner is nominated and (d) the scoring papers are signed, the Jury has to check the decision as given on the score sheets. The President of the Jury, or acting Jury, shall then make known to the announcer his name of the boxer shown as winner on the majority of the 3 score papers.
12.2.3 The Jury Members acting at each session will meet on the following morning to consider the officiating of Referee and Judges on the previous day, and will make recommendations to the Executive Committee with regard to any referee or judge who they consider did not display the necessary standard on the preceding day. They shall require the attendance of any Referee or Judge whom they wish to interview with regard to his officiating on the previous day.
12.2.4 The Jury Members shall inform the Executive Committee of MTGB in writing, about any Referee or Judge who, in their opinion, does not efficiently enforce the Rules of the MTGB and any Judge who’s scoring of contest they consider unsatisfactory.
12.2.5 The Jury Members shall submit to the Executive Committee of MTGB any amendment to the Panel of Referees and Judge that they consider necessary.
12.2.6 If an official appointed for a contest is absent, the Jury may appoint from the roll of approved officials a suitable member to replace the absent member, reporting this change to the Executive committee as soon as it may be possible.
12.2.7 If circumstances should arise which would mitigate against the holding of a contest under proper conditions and if a Referee should take no efficient action concerning the situation, the Jury may order competition to cease until it may be satisfactory resumed.
12.2.8 The Jury, or acting Jury, may also take any immediate action they consider necessary to deal with circumstances which would mitigate against the proper conduct of competition at any session.
12.2.9 The acting Jury will consult the commission of refereeing and judging with regards to any decisions or recommendations they may be required to take.
12.2.10 Should the boxer commit a serious and deliberate offence that is contrary to the spirit of sportsmanship, the Jury has the right to recommend and the Executive Committee to declare him ineligible for competitions for a specific period of time. The E.C. may deprive him of a medal or prize already won in that competition.
12.3 Overruling the Referee and/or Judges: Decisions of a referee and/or judge may be overruled by the Jury in the following way;
12.3.1 When the referee has given a decision which is clearly against the Articles and Rules of MTGB (when considering such an incident, the Jury may use videotape recorder, DVD, film etc.)
12.3.2 When it is obvious that the judges have made a mistake on their score sheets which results in a wrong verdict.
12.4 Protests: A protest can be lodged by the manager of a team within thirty minutes after the decision has been announced. The protest shall be made in writing and handed to the President of the Jury or head official, along with a protest fee of GBP £100. If the jury agrees to review, necessary action may be taken in the matter. If the protest is upheld, the money will be refunded.
RULE 13: THE REFEREE
13.1 Primary concern: the care of the boxer is the primary concern of the referee.
13.2 Duties: the referee shall officiate in the ring, be dressed in dark blue trousers, light blue shirt and light shoes or boots without raised heels. He may use surgical gloves when officiating. The referee shall;
13.2.1 See that the rules and fair play are strictly observed
13.2.2 Maintain control of the contest al all its stages.
13.2.3 Prevent a weak boxer from receiving undue and unnecessary punishment.
13.2.4 Check the gloves and dress
13.2.5 He shall use 3 worlds of command;
a) “Yoot” (“Stop”) when ordering the boxers to stop fighting
b) “Chok” (“Box”) when ordering them to continue.
c) “Yak” (“Break”) when breaking a clinch, upon which command each boxer shall step back before continuing fighting.
13.2.6 He shall indicate to a boxer by suitable explanatory signs of gestures any infringement of the rules.
13.2.7 At the end of a contest collect and check the papers of the judges where applicable; after checking he shall hand these papers to the Head Judge.
13.2.8 The Referee shall not indicate the winner, by raising a boxer’s hand or otherwise, until the announcement has been made. When the winner of the bout is announced, the referee shall raise the hand of the winning boxer.
13.2.9 When the referee has disqualified a boxer or stopped the bout, he shall first inform the head judge which boxer has been disqualified or the reason for which he has stopped the bout, to enable the HJ to instruct the announcer to make the decision correctly known to the public
13.3 Powers of the referee. The referee is empowered:
13.3.1 To terminate a contest at any stage if he considers it too one-sided.
13.3.2 To terminate a contest at any stage if one of the boxers has received an injury on account of which the referee decides he should not continue.
13.3.3 To terminate a contest at any stage if he considers the contestants are not in earnest. In such case he may disqualify one or both contestants.
13.3.4 To caution a boxer or to stop the fight during a contest and administer a warning to a boxer against fouls or for any other reason in the interests of fair play, or to ensure compliance with the rules.
13.3.5 To disqualify a boxer who fails to comply immediately with his orders, or behaves towards him in an offensive or aggressive manner at any time.
13.3.6 To disqualify a second who has infringed the rules, and the boxer himself if the second does not comply with the referee’s orders
13.3.7 With or without previous warning, to disqualify a contestant for committing a serious foul.
13.3.8 In the event of a knock-down, to suspend a count, if a boxer deliberately fails to retire to a neutral corner or delays to do so.
13.3.9 To interpret the rules insofar as they are applicable or relevant to the actual contest to decide and take action on any circumstance of the contest which is not covered by a rule.
13.4 Warning: if a boxer infringes the rules but does not merit disqualification for such infringement, the referee shall stop the contest and shall issue a warning to the offender. As a preliminary to a warning, the referee shall order the boxers to stop. The warning shall be clearly given and in such a way that the boxer understands the reason and the purpose of the warning. The referee shall signal with his hand to each of the judge that a special warning has been given and shall clearly indicate to them the boxer whom he has warned. After giving the warning, the referee shall order the boxers to “CHOK”. If a boxer is given 3 warnings in a contest, he shall be disqualified.
13.5 Cautions: a referee may caution a boxer. A caution is in the nature of advice or admonition given by the referee to a boxer to check or prevent undesirable practices of the less serious infringements of the rules. To do so he will not necessarily stop the contest but may avail of a suitable safe opportunity during a round to admonish a boxer for an infringement of the rules.
RULE 14: JUDGES
14.1 Dress: the judges shall be dressed the same as the referee. Appropriate jackets may be worn when authorised. Eye glasses can be used if required.
14.2 Duties;
14.2.1 Each Judges shall independently judge the merits of the 2 contestants and shall decide the winner according to the rules
14.2.2 He shall not speck to a contestant or to another Judge, nor to anyone else except the referee during the contest, but may, if necessary, at the end of a round, bring to the notice of the referee any incident which he (the referee) may appear not to have noticed, such as the misconduct of a second, loose ropes etc.
14.2.3 The number of points awarded to each competitor shall be entered by a Judge on his scoring paper immediately after the end of each round.
14.2.4 At the end of the bout a Judge shall total the points, nominate a winner and sign his scoring paper, and his verdict shall be made known to the public.
14.2.5 He shall not leave his seat until the verdict has been announced to the public.
RULE 15: TIMEKEEPER AND ANNOUNCER
15.1 Duties of Timekeeper;
15.1.1 The main duty of timekeeper is to regulate the number and duration of the rounds, the intervals between rounds. The intervals between rounds shall be of a full (1) minute duration
15.1.2 He shall commence and end each round by striking the gong or bell
15.1.3 Indicate or give a signal of 5 seconds to clear the ring before the commencement of each round.
15.1.4 He shall take off time for temporary stoppages or when instructed to do so by the referee
15.1.5 He shall regulate all periods of time and counts by a watch or clock
15.1.6 If, at the end of a round, a boxer is “down” and the referee is in the course of counting, the gong indicating the end of the round will not be sounded. The gong will be sounded only when the referee gives the command “CHOCK” indicating the continuation of the match.
15.2 Duties of Announcer;
15.2.1 Announce the name, club or country, weight and corner of both boxers to the public whenever they appear in the ring
15.2.2 5 seconds before commencing of each round he shall clear the ring by ordering “clear the ring” or “second out”
15.2.3 Announce for the starting and ending of each round
15.2.4 Announce the result of the competition and name of the winner
15.3 Position: they shall be seated directly at the ringside.
RULE 16: DECISIONS
16.1 Types: decisions shall be as follows;
16.1.1 Win on points: at the end of a contest, the boxer who has been awarded the decision by a majority of the judges shall be declared the winner. If both boxers are injured, or are knocked-out simultaneously, and cannot continue the contest, the Judges shall record the points gained by each boxer up to its termination, the contest, shall be declared the winner.
16.1.2 Win by Retirement: if a boxer retires immediately after the rest between rounds, his opponent shall be declared the winner.
16.1.3 Win by Referee Stopping Contest;
16.1.3.1 Outclassed: RSC is term used to stop a bout when a boxer is outclassed or is unfit to continue. If a boxer, in the opinion of the referee is being outclassed or is receiving excessive punishment, the bout shall be stopped and his opponent declared the winner.
16.1.3.2 Injury;
16.1.3.2.1 If a boxer, in the opinion of the referee, is unfit to continue because of injury sustained from correct hits or other action or is incapacitated for any other physical reasons, the bout shall be stopped and his opponent declared the winner. The right to make this decision rests with the referee, who may consult the Doctor. Having consulted the doctor, the referee must follow his advice. It is recommended that the referee checks the other boxer for injury also before he makes this decision.
16.1.3.2.2 When a referee calls a doctor into the ring to examine a boxer, only these 2 officials should be present. No seconds should be allowed into the ring or on the apron.
16.1.3.3 RSCH: after having received hard head blows or hits to the head making him defenceless and incapable of continuing the contest. The term RSCH is not to be used when a boxer is simply outclassed and is receiving too many scoring hits without scoring himself.
16.1.3.4 RSCB: after having received a hard hit to any part of the body except the head making him defenceless and incapable of continuing the contest.
16.1.4 Win by Disqualification: If a boxer is disqualified, his opponent shall be declared the winner. If both boxers are disqualified, the decision shall be announced accordingly. A disqualified boxer shall not be entitled to any prize, medal, trophy, honourable award or grading, relating to any stage of the competition in which he has been disqualified, provided that in exceptional cases, it shall be open to the Executive Committee (or in their absence, the jury or acting Jury, and where there shall be no Jury, to the person or persons responsible for the conduct of the event in which the disqualification occurs), to rule otherwise. But, all such decisions, where not made by the Executive Committee, shall be subject to review and confirmation by it on receiving such report of the incident as it may require.
16.1.5 Win by Knock-out: if a boxer is “down’ and fails to resume boxing within 10 seconds, his opponent shall be declared the winner by a knock-out.
16.1.6 No Contest: a bout may be terminated by the referee inside the scheduled distance owing to a material happening outside the responsibility of the boxers, or the control of the referee, such as the ring becoming damaged, the failure of the lighting supply, exceptional weather conditions, etc. In such circumstances, the bout shall be declared “no contest” and in the case of Championships, the Jury shall decide the necessary further action.
16.1.7 Win by Walk-over: where a boxer presents himself in the ring fully attired for boxing and his opponent fails to appear after his name has been called out by the public address system, the bell sounded and a maximum period of 2 minutes has elapsed, the referee shall declare the first boxer to be the winner by a “Walk-over”. He shall first inform the judges to mark their papers accordingly, collect them and then summon the boxer to the centre of the ring and after the decision is announced, raise his hand as winner.
16.1.8 A draw: When the majority of the Judges scored the competition equally.
16.1.9 Incidents in the ring outside the control of the referee;
16.1.9.1 If something happens that does not allow the bout to continue within 1 minute after the bell has rung for the beginning of the first or second round (e.g. power failure), the bout shall be stopped and the boxers will box again in the last bout of the same session.
16.1.9.2 If the incident occurs in the third round of a bout, the contest shall be terminated and the judges are asked to give a decision as to the winner of the bout.
RULE 17: AWARDING OF POINTS
17.1 Awarding of points: Points are awarded whenever the boxer hits the opponent by punching, kicking, kneeing or elbowing with force, lands on target, no infringement without being blocked or guarded against.
17.2 End of each round: 10 points shall be awarded for each round. No fraction of points may be given. At the end of each round, the better (more skilful in Muaythai) boxer shall receive 10 points the opponent proportionately less. When boxers are equal in merit, each shall receive 10 points
17.3 Steps for awarding points;
17.3.1 A boxer wins the round when hitting more with Muay Thai skills than the opponent
17.3.2 A boxer wins the round when using a forceful Muay Thai skill than the opponent
17.3.3 A boxer wins the round when showing less exhaustion or less bruising
17.3.4 A boxer wins the round when showing more aggression
17.3.5 A boxer wins the round showing better Muay Thai skills
17.3.6 A boxer wins the round when having less infringement of the rules
17.4 Non awarding of points
17.4.1 Hitting with non Muaythai skills
17.4.2 Hits which are blocked by the opponent’s arms or legs.
17.4.3 Hitting with no force even it landed on target.
17.4.4 Throwing the opponent without hitting
17.4.5 Hitting while infringing any of the rules.
Target for Muaythai means any part of the body except the groin.
17.5 Scoring system;
17.5.1 10 points will be awarded to the boxer who wins the round, and the opponent proportionately less (9-8-7 respectively)
17.5.2 10 points will be awarded to each boxer if they are even in the round.
17.5.3 The boxer who wins the round by a small margin will receive 10 points, the opponent will receive 9 points
17.5.4 The boxer who wins the round by a big margin will receive 10 points; the opponent will receive 8 point or 7 points respectively.
17.5.5 The boxer will lose 1 point if he received 1 warning. That warning point may be awarded to the opponent if the judges are agreed.
17.6 Concerning Fouls;
17.6.1 Referee warning: if the referee warns one of the boxers, the Judges may award a point to the other competitor. When a Judge decides to award a point to a boxer for a foul committed by his opponent for whom the latter has been warned by the referee, he shall place a “W” in the appropriate column against the point of the warned competitor to show that he has done so. If he decided not to award a point, he shall in the appropriate column, place the letter “x” against the points allotted for that round to the warned boxer indicating the reason he has done so.
17.6.2 Other: during each round a judge shall assess the seriousness of and shall impose an appropriate scoring penalty for any foul witnessed by him whether or not the referee has observed such foul. If a Judge observes a foul apparently unnoticed by the referee, and imposes an appropriate penalty on the offending boxer, he shall indicate that he has done so by placing in the appropriate column the letter “J” against the points of the offending boxer, and indicating the reasons why he has done so.
17.7 End of Tournament Contest: if, at the end of a contest having marked each round in accordance with directives, a judge finds that the boxers are equal in points, he shall award the decision to the boxer:
17.7.1 Who showed the most aggression or who has shown the better style of Muaythai or if equal in that respect;
17.7.2 Who has shown the better defence (blocking, parrying, side-stepping, etc.) by which the opponent’s attacks have been made to miss.
17.7.3 A winner must be nominated in all Tournaments. In straight matched bouts, a draw decision may be awarded.
RULE 18: FOULS
18.1 Cautions, Warning, and Disqualifications: the boxer who does not obey the instructions of the referee, acts against the competition rules, boxes in any unsportsmanlike manner, or commits fouls, can at the discretion of the referee, be cautioned, warned or disqualified without warning.
18.1.1 A referee may, without stopping a contest, caution a boxer at some safe opportunity. If he intends to warn a boxer, he shall stop the contest, and will demonstrate the infringement. He will then point to the boxer and to each of the judges.
18.1.2 A referee having once administered a warning for a particular foul cannot issue a caution for the same type of offence.
18.1.3 Three (3) cautions of the same type of foul will mandatory require a warning to be issued.
18.1.4 Only 3 warnings may be given to the same boxer in one contest.
18.1.5 The third warning brings automatic disqualification.
18.2 Types of fouls. If the boxer intentionally commit the following fouls;
18.2.1 Biting, head-butting, spitting at an opponent, pressing on opponent’s eyes with the thumb
18.2.2 Intentionally spitting out gum shield
18.2.3 Throwing, bending the back of opponent with Judo or Wresting techniques.
18.2.4 Attacking the opponent who is down or who is in the act of rising
18.2.5 Attacking while holding the ropes or making any unfair use of the ropes
18.2.6 Locking of the opponent’s arm or head
18.2.7 Completely passive defence by means of double cover and intentionally falling to avoid a hit
18.2.8 Useless, aggressive, or offensive utterance during the round
18.2.9 Not stepping back when ordered to “Yak”
18.2.10 Attempting to hit the opponent immediately after the referee has ordered “Yak” and before taking a step back.
18.2.11 Assaulting or behaving in aggressive manner towards the referee at any time
18.2.12 Kneeing at groin of the opponent, if the boxer is unintentionally hit by Muaythai skill and unable to continue the fight, the referee will pause the fight for 5 minutes to allow the hit boxer to take a rest. If boxer refuses to resume the fight after 5 minutes rest he (she) will be declared as “loser:
18.2.13 Holding the opponent’s leg and pushing forward more than 2 steps without attacking with any one of Muaythai skills.
18.2.14 Intentionally falling down to avoid being hit while his leg is held by the opponent.
18.2.15 When both boxers fall out of the ring, it is a foul if one boxer tries to obstruct the other getting back into the ring.
18.2.16 Using any kind of forbidden substance acknowledged by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
18.3 Seconds: each boxer can be held responsible for his seconds’ actions.
18.4 Referee consults Judges: if a referee has any reason to believe that a foul has been committed which he himself has not seen, he may consult the judges.
RULE 19: KNOCK-DOWN
19.1 Definition: A boxer is considered “down”:
19.1.1 If he touches the floor with any part of his body other than his feet as the result of a hit or series of hits, or
19.1.2 If he hangs helplessly on the ropes as the result of a hit or series of hits, or
19.1.3 If he is outside or partly outside the ropes as the result of a hit or series of hits, or
19.1.4 If following a hard hit he has not fallen and is not lying on the ropes, but is in a semi- conscious state and cannot, in the opinion of the referee, continue the round.
19.2 The Count: in the case of a knock-down, the referee shall immediately begin to count the seconds. When a boxer is “down” the referee shall count aloud from one (1) to ten (10).
19.2.1 He shall have intervals of a second between the numbers, and shall indicate each second with his hand in such a manner that the boxer who has been knocked down may be aware of the count. Before the number one is counted, an interval of one second must have elapsed from the time when the boxer has fallen to the floor, and the time of announcing one.
19.2.2 If the opponent should not go to the neutral corner on the command of the referee, the referee shall stop counting until the opponent has done so. The counting shall be then continued where it has been interrupted. The judge shall enter on his scoring paper “KD” when the referee had given a count to any of the 2 boxers. When the boxer is considered “down” due to a hit to the head, the judge shall then enter “KD+H” on his scoring paper.
19.3 Opponent’s responsibilities: if a boxer is down, his opponent must at once go to the neutral corner as designated by the referee. He may only continue against the opponent who is knocked down after the latter has gotten up and on the command “CHOCK” or “BOX”.
19.4 Mandatory 8 counts: when a boxer is “down” as the result of being hit, the bout shall not be continued until the referee has reached the count of eight (8), even if the boxer is ready to continue before then.
19.5 The Knock-out: after the referee has counted to ten (10) the bout ends and shall be decided as a “knock-out”
19.6 Boxer down at end of round: in the event of a boxer being “down” at the end of a round, the referee shall continue to count. Should the referee count up to 10, such boxer shall be deemed to have lost the bout by a “knock-out” if the boxer is fit to resume boxing before the count of 10 is reached, the referee shall immediately use the command “CHOCK” or “BOX”.
19.7 Second time boxer down without a fresh hit: if a boxer is “down” as the result of a hit and the bout is continued after the count of eight (8) has been reached, but the boxer falls again without having received a fresh hit, the referee shall continue the counting from the count of eight (8) at which he has stopped.
19.8 Both boxers down: if both boxers go down at the same time, counting will be continued as long as one of them is still down. If both boxers remain down until ten (10) the bout will be stopped and the decision given in accordance with the points awarded up to the time of the knock-down.
19.9 Boxer fails to resume: a boxer who fails to resume boxing immediately after the termination of the rest interval, or who when knocked down by a hit, fails to resume within 10 seconds, shall lose the contest.
19.10 Compulsory Count Limit (CCL) The Referee stops the contest when a prescribed limit of counts has been reached, depending on the division of competition. the referee shall stop the contest (R.S.C or R.S.C.C.L).
Senior and U23: 3 counts in the same round or 4 counts in the whole contest;
Youth 16-17: 2 counts in the same round or 3 counts in the whole contest;
Youth 10-11, 12-13, and 14-15: 2 counts in the whole contest.
RULE 20: MEDICAL DOCTOR AND R.S.C.H PROCEDURES
20.1 A doctor for Muaythai should be a well-trained doctor in this sport. He shall sit close to the ring at a provided place and stay on till the end of the last bout of the session.
20.1.1 The duties of the doctor are as follow;
20.1.1.1 Check the health of boxer and certify that the boxer is fit to fight before the weigh- in
20.1.1.2 Give instruction to the referee upon his request.
20.1.1.3 Medical Attention: a boxer who has been knocked out as a result of a head hit in a contest or wherein the referee has stopped the contest due to the boxer having received hard hits to the head making him defenceless or incapable of continuing, shall be examined by a doctor immediately afterwards. The ringside doctor shall call a neurologist as soon as possible and within 24 hours, who will decide on the further treatment of the boxer and will keep him under observation for a period of 4 weeks;
20.2 Probation Periods;
20.2.1 One knock-out or R.S.C.H: a boxer who has been knocked out as a result of a head hit during a contest or wherein the referee has stopped the contest due to the boxer having received hard hits to the head making him defenceless or incapable of continuing, shall not be permitted to take part in competition of Muaythai or sparring for a period of at least 30 days after he has been knocked out.
20.2.2 2 knock-outs or R.S.C.H: a boxer who has been knocked out as result of head hits or wherein the referee has stopped the contest due to a boxer having continuing twice in a period of 3 months from the second knock out or R.S.C.H
20.2.3 3 knock-out or R.S.C.H: a boxer who has been knocked out as a result of head hits or wherein the referee has stopped the contest due to the boxer having received hard hits to the head making him defenceless or incapable of continuing 3 times in a period of 12 months, shall not be allowed to take part in Muaythai competition or sparing for a period of 1 year from the third knock-out or R.S.C.H
20.2.4 Each knock-out suffered as a result of head hits and each R.S.C.H must be recorded.
20.3 Medical Certification Following Probation Period: before resuming boxing after any of the periods of rest prescribed in the 3 preceding paragraphs, a boxer must be certified by a neurologist as fit to take part in Muaythai competition following, if possible, a special examination, EEG and , if necessary, CCT. The results of that examination must be submitted to the executive committee.
20.4 R.S.C.H: the referee will indicate to the Jury and Judges to annotate the scorecard “R.S.C.H” when he has stopped the contest as a result of a boxer being unable to continue as a result of hits to the head. RSCH is a term to be used only when a boxer is being saved from a knockout after having received hard hits making him defenceless and incapable of continuing (the term RSCH is not to be used when a boxer is simply outclassed and is receiving too many scoring hits without scoring himself).
20.5 Protective Measures: any boxer having lost a hard bout with many hits to the head or having been knocked down several times in some consecutive contests, may not be permitted to take part in Muaythai competition or training for a period of at least 30 days after the last contest on the advice of the Medical Officer should he decide that it would be necessary. All protective measures should also apply if a knock-out occurs during training.
RULE 21: SHAKING OF HANDS
21.1 Purpose: before beginning and after a bout, boxers shall shake hands in a proper manner, as a sign of a purely sporting and friendly rivalry in accordance with the boxing rules.
21.2 Authorised Times: the shaking of hands takes place before beginning the first round and after the announcing of the results. Any further shaking of hands between the rounds is prohibited.
RULE 22: ADMINISTRATION OF DRUGS
22.1 Doping: the administration to a boxer of drugs or chemical substances not forming part of the usual diet of a boxer is prohibited. The doping regulations of IOC shall be applied.
22.2 Penalties: any boxer or official violating this prohibition shall be liable to disqualification or suspension by MTGB
22.3 Local Anaesthetics: the use of local anaesthetics is permitted according to the discretion of a doctor of the Medical Commission.
22.4 Prohibited Drugs: the IOC list of banned substances shall constitute MTGB list of banned substances. Any boxer taking such substances or any official administering such substances shall be subject to the penalties. MTGB may ban additional substances upon the recommendation of the MTGB Medical Commission.
RULE 23: MEDICAL APTITUDE
23.1 Prohibited Conditions: the prohibited conditions are referred to in the medical handbook
23.2 Cut and Abrasions: no boxer shall be allowed to take part in any contest if he wears a dressing on a cut, wound, abrasion, laceration or blood swelling on his scalp or face including the nose and ears. A boxer is allowed to box if an abrasion is covered with collision or steri-strip. The decision should be made by the doctor examining the boxer on the day of his competition.
RULE 24: ATTENDANCE OF MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS
24.1 Required Attendances: Qualified paramedics, so approved, shall be in attendance throughout the competition and should not leave the place where it is held before the end of the last bout and until he has seen the 2 boxers who participated in such bout.
24.2 Seating Arrangements: the officiating paramedic should be seated next to ring.
RULE 25: MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM AGE LIMIT FOR BOXERS
25.1 The athletes age shall be determined as of the day of the competitions first weigh in
RULE 26: RESTRICTED STRIKES BY DIVISION
26.1 Use of a restricted Muay Thai skill in a given division is considered a foul
26.2 In certain cases and with prior notice given by MTGB Executive Committee Boxers deemed as “elite level” may fight at a higher class before reaching the minimum age, the final decision will be made by the referee of the match.
RULE 27: REPORTS BY OFFICIALS
27.1 Reports to the Media: Executive members, members of the Medical Jury, MTGB Commission members, and Referees/Judges acting as officials shall not make reports to the press, or make statements on Television or Radio, on matters relating to the boxing or officiating at those events. Only the President or any person authorised by him shall be entitled to speak to the media.