Hun Sen refuses to pay up on Pacquiao bet

PHNOM PENH — Manny Pacquiao’s defeat by Floyd Mayweather in boxing’s “fight of the century” left a lot of sore losers — but few as intriguing as Cambodia’s Prime Minister.

Mr Hun Sen, the former Khmer Rouge commander and Premier of more than 30 years, is refusing to pay up on a US$5,000 (S$6,700) bet on the Filipino national hero, claiming that Mayweather’s points win was unfair.

Grandstanding by the loquacious Mr Hun Sen is as regular a feature of Cambodian political life as the opposition’s criticism of the autocracy, corruption and election-rigging, which they claim has flourished under his rule.

But his voluntary disclosure of the wager is nonetheless striking — especially as gambling by Cambodians is illegal, and Mr Hun Sen has claimed in the past that he has no income other than an official salary of little more than US$1,000 a month.

“A lot of things that are said by our leaders would be huge scandals in the United States or Europe,” noted Mr Virak Ou, a Phnom Penh-based activist and analyst. “The sad thing about all this is that people expect their leaders to be rich, and so become desensitised.”

The Cambodia Daily newspaper reported that Mr Hun Sen vented anger on Monday about the weekend’s US$300 million Las Vegas fight, echoing Filipino protests that Pacquiao’s aggression deserved to triumph over Mayweather’s more measured punching and nimble defence.

The Prime Minister demanded an explanation from the judges of what he saw as a home-town result, adding that he would not honour a US$5,000 bet he had laid.

Mr Hun Sen’s apparent failure to pay for the stake when he placed it was not the only factor to raise eyebrows.

While casinos have become a niche earner for the Cambodian government, only foreigners are allowed to gamble — leaving the domestic betting industry to thrive underground.

Then, there is the size of his wager. When he made a confidential asset disclosure in 2011 to the country’s new anti-corruption unit, Mr Hun Sen said his only earnings were his official salary of US$1,150 a month — not even a quarter of the Pacquiao bet. Mr Hun Sen then said his children would support him and would not let him starve if his money ran out.

A spokesman for Mr Hun Sen’s government did not immediately return a request for comment.

As for the Prime Minister, he has stuck to offering advice to Mayweather on how he should treat his moment of triumph: “If I were Floyd, I would consider (it) a draw.” THE FINANCIAL TIMES