We are just days away from the final fight of Dave Leduc’s career. In Phnom Penh on Saturday the Canadian is set to face off with Prom Samnang in his retirement match.
Leduc has amassed a huge fan following in Myanmar where he used to compete regularly under lethwei rules before the military coup. Although he has not visited the country for many years the Canadian is still a proud representative of the sport.
Leduc has a passionate following of Burmese fans on social media and he took to Facebook to share his prediction for this weekend’s fight with the 31 year old declaring that,
“There will be blood.”
Different ruleset
Leduc has been an outspoken supporter of head butts which are traditionally used in lethwei. However his retirement fight will be fought under a slightly different ruleset.
The fight will consist of just one nine minute round. Both men will fight gloveless with their hands wrapped in rope. The two men had originally been booked to face off on May 27th in a lethwei fight in Slovakia.
The fight got delayed for six months and the rules will also be different, with no head butts or recovery time outs permitted.
Fight fans around the world, brace yourselves for the main event at #MFC2!
The stage is set for a historic and monumental showdown as Cambodia's triumphant warrior and multiple World Champion, PROM SAMNANG, with an astonishing record of 150 fights, 10 losses, on a current 7… pic.twitter.com/75JnlOUxom
— Marshall AI (@Marshallaisol) April 10, 2023
Outspoken critic
There is very little information available about the actual event which appears to be organized by a Cambodian promotion called Mas Fight that hosts weekly televized cards. It isn’t clear what the venue will be although previous reports have stated that the show will be at a place called Town Arena.
Earlier this year Cambodian prime minister Hun manet expressed an interest in the fight telling Leduc that,
“Thank you for supporting Cambodia and Kun Khmer. I wish you success, and I will meet with you when you visit the Kingdom.”
Leduc has been an outspoken critic of Muay Thai. While that sport has become well established globally Kun Khmer and lethwei are still relatively unknown and people in Cambodia and Myanmar appear genuinely grateful to the Canadian for helping to raise the international profile of their local cultures.
It isn’t clear whether there will be a global broadcast, although the fight will presumably be shown on local TV in Cambodia. Whatever happens this weekend Leduc is ready to guarantee any fans that do find a way to watch that there will be blood.
