Thanks Kevin.

James, I realise that if you do not have a really clear understanding of scoring in Muay Thai it is possible to consider that Jamal won the fight. Nevertheless, while you may disagree on this decision, I am sure you and the judges would agree on the decisions of many fights (perhaps even most fights). However, particular fights, such as this one between Daitan and Jamal, tend to require more specialised judging knowledge or knowledge of Muay Thai gained from watching many fights in Thailand (as some of the people posting above have done and continue to do).

It is true that Jamal looked more aggressive during many periods in the fight and he did advance far more than Daitan, but neither of these things are used in scoring as such. Equally the term effect’, like other terms such as ‘aggression’, are subjective and when used in a general sense can mean a number of things. However, effect has a particular meaning in Muay Thai judging, one that is far easier to show using examples of than to describe in words. Just reading the wording of rules and associated scoring criteria it is not always possible to determine how the criteria are actually applied in practice.

While not used by judges as such, if you want a very loose guide to the relative weighting of techniques the one used by a top stadium fighter is a useful general rule of thumb. Duwao Kongudom suggested that all things being equal, he considers punches to be 1 point, low kicks 1 point, body kicks 3 points, and knee 3 points (with round knee 2 points).

As suggested in posts above, both a Thai judge and a number of Thai trainers have looked at the fight and all are of the opinion that the decision awarded by the judges was correct one. That is just the way the sport is scored. That said, I do applaud anyone tries to make sense of decisions, wants to understand why they were given and wishes to learn more about the sport. Nevertheless, when doing this it is worth bearing in mind that Muay Thai is not a generic fighting sport attempting to please martial artists from different disciplines, it is an art and sport with its own unique scoring criteria which has shaped by the culture in which it evolved. If you are confused by the scoring in the sport but are genuinely interested in how it is scored, I would recommend that you attend a Muay Thai judging course. Alternatively, take a look at:

http://muaythaijudging.com/

While still under construction, the site has some video footage of a judging seminar and a couple of example fights that make an attempt at explaining how fights are scored.