Boxing judges take punches

Olympic boxing judges seem to be in some doubt that Thailand’s Kaew Pongprayoon won the gold medal on Saturday night. They apparently think that China’s Zou Shiming mounted sufficient resistance to be named the victor. Perhaps all the booing that coincided with their decision was about the snacks being served to the spectators.

We don’t want to see anyone labouring under misconceptions, so we invite the judges to review the appraisals posted immediately after the fight on Twitter and Facebook. They’ll notice that the terms “highway robbery” and “rip-off” recur frequently. 

They might appreciate the Thai sense of humour as well.

From @withzeey: “Cheater! I hope you got fake medal with chocolate inside.”

Someone else spotted a link between insanity and the name of a boxing association: “AIBA = ai-baa. Period.”

From a ladyboy: “I’m katoey and know nothing about boxing, and even I could figure out that Kaew won the match.”

And @dowie81 was one of many who thought Zou was doing his best to avoid Kaew’s fists in the final round. “The judges might have got mixed up and thought this was wrestling.” 

Not that the judges were Chinese, but Thais now hate Chinese. China was promptly abused for producing a fake victory to add to all the other counterfeit items for which it’s famous, not that Thailand foregoes fakes.

And then there’s Lin Ping the panda, who’s genuine but Chinese. “Just turn off the air-conditioner at Chiang Mai Zoo for a day,” someone suggested vindictively. “No bamboo today,” added another punter.

Then came the suggestion that Thailand send Lin Ping back China to “express its displeasure”, and from that serious note it was a short, shocking slide to a death threat against the panda.

Like the judges at the boxing match, people started going too far. Photoshopped pictures were posted on Facebook, one showing a bullet heading straight at the Chinese fighter. “One ‘like’ equals one bullet,” the caption prompted readers. 

Surely sharp wit finds its target just as well.