ONE Championship: Petchtanong ‘surprised’ by split win over Hiroki Akimoto as fans question judge’s score
- Petchtanong put forth an impressive performance to swipe bantamweight kickboxing belt at ONE 163 in Singapore
- However, one judge scored fight in Akimoto’s favour – ‘one of the worst scorecards of the year in any combat sport’, according to a fan
Thailand’s Petchtanong Petchfergus was understandably surprised by the scorecards for his recent ONE Championship bantamweight kickboxing title win over Hiroki Akimoto.
The Thai veteran challenged Japan’s Akimoto for the title in the main event of last Saturday’s ONE 163 event in Singapore, and used a clever game plan based on counter knees and kicks to control the vast majority of the contest – and paint the champion’s midsection purple in the process.
By the time the fight’s five round rounds were over, it was quite clear he had done enough to win the title for himself.
But one of three Circle-side judges, Francis Ng, scored the fight in Akimoto’s favour – meaning the Thai only walked away with a split decision.
“I’m sure that everybody was surprised by the split decision, but I was confident that I was going to win, and I’m sure that everybody knows that I was the winner,” the 37-year-old told the Post.
While many fans were left scratching their heads on social media over the scorecard, which gave four of five rounds to the Japanese fighter, and felt Petchtanong’s victory was more decisive than the split-decision implied, Petchtanong himself was the picture of class when discussing the win.
He even opened the door to a rematch with Akimoto if ONE deems it necessary.