Dave Leduc fought for the final time in Phnom Penh on Sunday. His Kun Khmer fight with Prom Samnang ended in a draw with neither man able to find a finish.
The clash took place under the MAS ruleset. It consisted of a single nine minute round under Kun Khmer rules with no gloves and no judges and was deemed sufficiently important for Leduc to be granted an official audience with the Prime Minister.
Leduc is legendary for his Lethwei exploits but had not competed since 2020. There was no signs of ring rust from the Canadian as he quickly found his rhythm using the teep to establish his range.
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Clean punches
Both men exchanged clean punches with Leduc landing a crisp one-two combination. He soon dropped his man with a monster right hand putting the Cambodian down.
Samnang got back to his feet and was soon cracked with another one-two. Leduc caught him with a big left hook to the chin around the three minute mark but the Cambodian wore it well.
Leduc continued to land harder, cleaner shots and added some vicious uppercuts on the inside. He landed a pair of big knees and a right hand finally put the Cambodian down for the second time.
Samnang rallied in the final minute and landed with an elbow and a stiff jab. Leduc caught him with a big right hand in the dying seconds but the Cambodian countered with an elbow that opened up a cut below the Canadian’s right eye.
Live audience
With no judges involved the fight will go down as a draw. There were thousands of Cambodians in attendance and the Facebook stream on Leduc’s Facebook page has received over 15 million views at the time of writing.
It goes to show what a draw the Canadian has become in countries like Cambodia and Myanmar. Leduc has earned a reputation for being the ‘King of Lethwei’ and has amassed a huge online following.
Leduc has now officially retired although he plans to continue being an ambassador for the sport of Lethwei. Samnuang is actually older than his opponent but having already fought 16 times so far this year it is safe to say the Cambodian has no plans to retire.
