Chapter 9

Narrative

One Saturday in April 2005, a rowdy group of spectators gathered at a coliseum in the Cambodian city of Kâmpóng Chhnãng to cheer on the bizarre fight unfolding before their eyes – the event was so hyped that tickets sold out three weeks beforehand. Despite the enjoyment of the crowd, the outcome was tragic. Within just 28 minutes, 12 midgets were dead and 14 were severely injured, including lost limbs and broken bones.

As it turned out, the assertion of the Cambodian Midget Fighting League’s president, Yang Sihamoni, that his entire league of 42 midget fighters could in fact defeat a fully grown African lion, was incorrect.

An angry fan had taken umbrage with the league’s claim that the midgets could ‘take on anything: man, ...

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