Hun Sen can think what he wants. He can say what he wants. But he should refrain from judging a sport about which he knows so little? They take boxing seriously in Asia. We know about the Philippines. Japan is in the mix. China is starting to make waves. But we shouldn?t neglect Cambodia, not while Hun Sen is prime minister.
Hun Sen watched Saturday?s fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. He was rooting for Manny and scored the rounds assiduously. When it was over, Hun Sen tabulated his scorecard. He had given every round to the loser.
When the judges? scorecards were read aloud, Hun forgot that boxing is subjective.
Instead, he smelled a rat.
?Mayweather only won the fight because it was staged on U.S. soil and scored by U.S. judges,? Hun told the Cambodia Daily. ?I didn?t expect that American judges would be so weak. I just know America clearly now. Judges made a unanimous decision to make a winner become a loser?fighting on their land, they would not allow us to win unless Floyd was beaten to death.?
Floyd wasn?t beaten to death. He hardly broke a sweat.
Hun Sen is not blaming Manny (an oversight given the post-fight postmortem). He?s not blaming Floyd (who runs better than Floyd Bannister). He blames American judges for scoring the fight for the man who clearly won.
The prime minister can think what he wants. He can say what he wants. But he should refrain from judging a sport about which he knows so very little.
