ONE Championship boss Chatri thinks Rodtang ‘won two rounds’ vs Superlek as scorecards stir more debate
- Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong scores the first and third rounds for Rodtang – but judges saw it differently in Bangkok
- All three officials awarded fight 29-27 to Superlek, with identical scores for each round, as ONE boss admits ‘it was super close’
The fierce debate continued to rage on Saturday as the scorecards were released for Superlek Kiatmookao’s victory over Rodtang Jitmuangnon.
But plenty of fans were left upset, insisting that a crucial second-round knockdown for Superlek was actually just a slip from “The Iron Man”.
There was no second guessing from the judges, though, with all three awarding the fight 29-27 to Superlek, with identical scores for each round, as seen in a scorecard given to the Post by ONE officials.
Rodtang got the nod from all three judges for the first round, after opening a nasty cut on his opponent’s forehead which saw the ringside doctor pause the fight to inspect it, and which later required a plethora of stitches to close.
But Superlek then picked up 10-8 scores across the board following the second round, when the referee gave a surprised Rodtang a standing count after he went over in the corner by the ropes.
The champion protested his innocence and came out firing in the third round, with many feeling he did enough to take it – but the judges again all scored it for Superlek.
“I thought Rodtang won the first and third rounds, but the fight was super close,” Chatri told the Post via text message on Saturday.
“It was so close, but I could see either winning, depending on how you saw the first and the third.”
Fans of the hugely popular Rodtang vented their anger on social media.
“Not a knock down, he [Rodtang] got pushed out of balance, and then he successfully dodged the elbow (while already being out of balance) and clearly rolled his ankle while doing this,” one fan wrote in a reply to a post on SCMP Martial Arts’ Instagram page.
“Yes he got kicked in the face, but he was clearly already down, hanging in the ropes, that prevented him from laying on the ground. That kick should not be counted into the scoring any more as Rodtang fell, so no knockdown.”
Many fighters, however, thought the outcome of the fight was not controversial at all.
“Superlek’s elbow landed clean on the chin and he went down,” former bantamweight Muay Thai title challenger Liam Harrison, who was a ringside guest at the event, told the Post.
“He rolled his ankle yes, but it was definitely a knockdown,” flyweight Jacob Smith, who lost a decision to Rodtang in 2022, wrote on Instagram. “Was he hurt, no. But it’s 100 per cent a knockdown. Great fight though, one of the very best I have ever seen.”
Superlek had missed weight by 5lbs at Thursday’s official checks in Bangkok, causing the fight to be stripped back to a three-round affair with Rodtang’s belt no longer up for grabs.
