Penang man apologises after fight with taekwondo champ shopkeeper goes viral

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These screenshots show a fight breaking out inside a convenience store in Penang on June 2.

The fight broke out inside a convenience store in Penang on June 2.

PHOTOS: ARY AERY/FACEBOOK

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He allegedly picked a fight with the wrong uncle.

A man, apparently already too drunk for his own good, got the wind knocked out of him when he decided to take on a retail shop owner in Penang, Malaysia, who has a black belt in taekwondo.

A video of the fight has been viewed on Facebook more than eight million times. The incident happened in Seberang Jaya at close to midnight on June 2.

In the clip, a man in a white tank top and jeans can be seen squaring off with the shopkeeper, Mr Wu Ye Rong, 49, to settle a dispute over something.

He removes his motorcycle helmet and shoulder bag, walks towards Mr Wu and throws an awkward punch at the shopkeeper.

Mr Wu parries the blow, pulls the man down to the floor, pins him with his weight, and starts landing a series of short hooks and jabs on his face.

The man crawls while dazed and confused, but still manages to stand up.

Mr Wu then tells him to leave his store.

“Be a gentleman. Whoever loses goes out,” he is heard saying in the video.

But then the man, instead of leaving, lunges at Mr Wu, who again drops him to the floor, and proceeds to punch and kick him once more.

After that round, Mr Wu crosses his store’s threshold to tell the man to leave. The man again tries to get on his feet. But once up, he grabs his helmet and – round three – sucker punches Mr Wu with it.

Having had enough, Mr Wu unleashes his entire taekwondo repertoire on the man.

By the time the man’s burlier companion steps in, the man is already knocked unconscious, his limbs splayed on the floor.

Mr Wu, it turns out, was a taekwondo state champion in 1996, according to China Press.

Seberang Perai Tengah police chief Helmi Aris said Mr Wu apparently had an argument with the man over a liquor purchase.

He said Mr Wu and the man were brought in for questioning.

In a video posted on TikTok on June 9, the man claimed it was Mr Wu who provoked him into a fight.

He said the shopkeeper was rude, and that there had been bad blood between him and Mr Wu for years.

He also claimed that he has a black belt in karate, but was too drunk to win the fight.

The man expressed regret over the incident, and apologised to Penang’s Tamil community for his actions.

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