After a hiatus that was not completely explained, the competition between China's King of San Da athletes and professional Muay Thai fighers from Thailand continued on August 8, 2003 in Bangkok, Thailand. These matches are part of the "championship round" which honestly we're not really sure what it means.

While the first few events were the subject of some controversy, recent events have run smoothly. After the event in Guangzhou in September of last year, the Thailand team stated publicly that they believed the refereeing and judging had been was fair. The Chinese team has also begun securing victories in the purest and most unquestionable form, they have knocked out some of their Thai opponents.

The matches followed the same “China vs. the World” format that the other events had. Kicks, punches, knees, elbows and throws of all kinds were legal. China received concessions in that the elbows would be padded and the clinch limited to 5 seconds. Thailand asked and received a modification allowing kicking to the groin. The center referee was Thai, the judges were a mixture of Thai and Chinese.

China wins this competition by the score of 3 wins to 2 losses.

56 kg: China by 5 RD decision
60 kg: China by 5 RD decision
65 kg: Thailand by 5 RD decision
70 kg: Thailand by TKO (referee stoppage) RD 3
75 kg: China by KO RD 2

The final match at 75 kg was particularly interesting. While some have complained that the Chinese only seek to win based upon points, in this match the action was constant and aggressive. The Thai fighter remained on the canvas even after the count of ten, a rare event indeed. This forced a stretcher to be brought into the ring. We do not know at this time specifics but know the Thai was sent to the hospital. Hopefully he is alright and will fight again soon.