Seconds out...

A look at the ring and last night's boxing match at Olympic Stadium

Last night I joined a healthy crowd in the Olympic Stadium indoor arena for the first of the new TV3 televised boxing promotions. Sophoin had a couple of free tickets so we thought we'd pop along and suss out the action. We had a seat high in the stalls with a good view of proceedings though it was breezeless and humid and the wooden benches uncomfortable to sit on for too long - next time I'll take a cushion. As for the action below, it was a combination of kick-boxing and regular boxing on the bill, together with a couple of appearances in the ring of two of the country's favourite pop stars, Meas Soksophea and Khemarak Sereymun, though singing not fighting! The first three matches were kick-boxing fights, two of which pitched Khmer fighters against foreigners. There was no match really as the Khmers were much better in their ring-craft and dominated from start to finish. One of the fighters was Nuon Soriya, one of the crowd favourites though Sophoin has a different take on it. It was Soriya who crashed his moto into hers over a year ago and escaped quickly, leaving a paltry sum of money to cover the damage, which it didn't and left Sophoin off work for a month. He won his fight easily but we didn't clap out of principle. The main bout was a real boxing match between Vy Savuth and Filipino Pol Apolinario, which Savuth won with style. Did I enjoy it? Some air-con would've helped keep me awake but I've never been a boxing fan and this didn't convert me either. One person who did stay awake was the PM Hun Sen, who banned an advert by the OK condom sponsors after seeing it between rounds.

Meas Soksophea entered the ring a couple of times to sing two songs. She really does have a lovely voice. More Soksophea, less boxing please!