Worldwide rule on Muaythai

In general competitions, the ring will be as follows:

• The ring will be 6.10 x 6.10 meters for small size and 7.30 x 7.30 meters for larger size.
• The ring floor must be placed at least 1.20 meters from the ground, but not more than 1.50 meters.
• The ring installation is to position the red corner on the left hand side of the Chairman of the ring official’s table, the blue corner opposite to the red corner and the other two shall be neutral (normally whith) corners.

The glove sizes for competitions are as follows:

• The boxers between the Mini Flyweight division and the Featherweight division must use the gloves of six (6) ounces (132 grams).
• The boxers between the Super Featherweight division and the Welterweight division must use the gloves of eight (8) ounces (227 grams).
• The boxers between the Super Welterweight division and over must use the gloves of ten (10) ounces (284 grams).

Boxers must wrap their hands with soft hand bandages no longer than six (6) meters and no wider than five (5) centimeters for each hand 4.2. Boxers may use plaster or rubber-glue tape, no longer than one (1) meter and no more than two and a half (2.50) centimeters wide for each hand. Boxers must use exclusively bandages provided by the stadium manager. It is absolutely prohibited to use personal hand bandages. Hand wrapping must be inspected and stamped by an authorized official before the boxers are allowed to put on gloves.

Boxers must wear shorts neatly at half-thigh length, without shirt or shoes. The red corner boxer may wear shorts in red, pink, maroon, or white. The blue corner boxer may wear shorts in blue, navy blue, or black.

Boxers must be at least 15 years old to compete under such rules and regulations. Boxers must weigh at least 100 pounds / 45.35Kg and over to compete under such rules and regulations.

Boxers competing against each other must not be more than five (5) pounds / 2.26 Kg weight difference. The boxers must weigh-in without clothes on the contest day between 08:00-10:00 o’clock.

Is a ritual performed by the participants before the fight. Wai Kru is a traditional Thai greeting with dance elements, showing respect for the teacher.

A bout consists of five (5) rounds of three (3) minutes each with two (2) minutes resting interval between rounds. The time shall be stopped in case of interruptions for cautioning, warning, correction of the boxers’ attire, or other similar causes, and shall be excluded from the competing time of that round.

In general competitions, each boxer may have two (2) seconds. The referee must be informed about the chief second and his assistant before the bout. For championship bouts, each boxer may have up to three (3) seconds, but only two (2) seconds are allowed into the ring during round intervals.

A score shall be awarded when boxers use fists, feet, knees, and elbows as Muaythai fighting weapons to hit his opponent powerfully, accurately, unprotected, and according to the rules.

Scoring advantage is awarded to:

• The boxer who goes on target with Muaythai weapons the most.
• The boxer with heavier, more powerful, and the most accurate hits on target, using muaythai weapons.
• The boxer who can cause more physical exhaustion to his opponent by use of Muaythai weapons.
• The boxer who shows better style of aggressive attacks.
• The boxer who shows better defense of muaythai art and techniques.
• The boxer who violates the rules the least.

Scoring advantage is not awarded to:

• The boxer who violates any rule when using his muaythai weapons.
• Muaythai weapons strike on the opponent’s arm(s) or leg(s) as his self-defense techniques.
• The hit is light, without power or body weight behind it.
• The boxer kicks on target, his kicking leg is caught by his opponent, and he is thrown on the ring floor. The kicker however scores a point, if his leg is caught by the opponent, and he pretends to fall on the ring floor (violation of rules).
• Throwing the opponent on the floor without using any muaythai weapon.

Scoring points system:

• Full ten (10) points are given to the winner of the round and his opponent may be given 9 – 8 – 7 points in proportion. Points are not given in fraction.
• For an even round, both boxers score full ten (10) points (10:10).
• The winner of a round scores ten (10) points and the loser scores nine (9) points (10:9),
• The clear winner of a round scores ten (10) points and the loser scores eight (8) points (10:8).
• The winner of a round with his opponent having been counted once in that round scores ten (10) points and the loser scores eight (8) points (10:8).
• The clear winner of a round with his opponent having been counted once in that round scores ten (10) points and the loser scores seven (7) points (10:7).
• The winner of a round with his opponent having been counted twice that round scores ten (10) points and the loser scores seven (7) points (10:7).
• Boxers who have been warned must lose one point in that round.

The boxer who intentionally behaves in any of the following mode is considered foul:

• Biting, eye poking, spitting on the opponent, sticking out tongue to make faces, head butting, striking, or any similar action.
• Throwing, back breaking, locking the opponent’s arms, using Judo and wrestling techniques.
• Falling over or going after a fallen opponent or opponent who is getting up. Rope grabbing to fight or for other purposes.
• Using provocative manners during contest.
• Disobeying the referee’s command.
• Knee striking at the groin area (e.g. holding for knee striking at the groin and straight knee striking at the groin area). For such violations, the referee has the right to allow a resting time-out, not more than five (5) minutes long. If the knee-struck boxer refuses to continue, the referee shall declare him as the loser or “no decision”.
• Catching the opponent’s leg and pushing forwards more than two (2) steps without using any weapons. The referee shall order the boxer to stop and shall give him caution. After two cautions, the referee shall warn him.
• If a boxer pretends to fall on the ring floor after his kicking leg is caught. This is considered to be taking advantage over his opponent and the referee shall give him a caution. If the boxer repeats the action and the referee has given him two cautions, he shall receive a warning.
• When both boxers fall out of the ring and either boxer tries to delay getting back into the ring.
• Violating any of the rules.

A boxer is considered to be down whenever he is in any of the following states:

• Any part of his body, except feet, touches the floor.
• He stands, leans, or sits on the ring ropes.
• Any part of his body, or the whole body, is out of the ropes.
• 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.
• In case the knocked down boxer manages to stand up and is ready to continue the fight before the referee has counted to eight (8). In such case, the referee must continue counting until before he orders “fight”.
• If the knocked down boxer is ready to continue before the count of ten (10), but he falls down again without any additional blow. In such case, the referee shall continue to count from the number he was interrupted at.
• In case the referee has counted out of ten (10), the bout shall be considered finished. In such case, the referee shall declare the knocked down boxer to have lost the bout by “knockout.”
• In case both boxers fall on the ring floor simultaneously, the referee shall proceed on counting and shall keep on counting as long as there is one boxer on the ring floor. If both boxers cannot manage to stand up until they are counted out of ten (10), the referee shall declare a “draw.” In case the boxers are trying to stand up, but have their arms or legs tangled, or one boxer is on top of the other, the referee must stop the count and separate them. He shall then continue his count in case one of the boxers is still on the ring floor.In case of a knockdown, the referee must wait for one (1) second before he begins counting loudly from one to ten with one-second interval. Along with his counting action, the referee must show a hand signal for each second in order to notify the boxer of the number of counts.
• In case a boxer is not ready to continue the bout following a resting interval between rounds, the referee must count, unless it is due to improper dressing.