Baste Duterte Delays Match, Questions Torre’s Use of Charity Angle
BASTE DUTERTE – Acting Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte is stepping back from a planned Sunday boxing match with PNP chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III, citing other priorities that day.
Baste Duterte has expressed his desire to reset the date of a proposed charity boxing match with Philippine National Police chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III. The fight, initially set for Sunday, July 26, has been met with scheduling conflicts on Duterte’s end.
In a Facebook video released on Saturday, Duterte clarified his unavailability, saying, “I cannot be there on Sunday. I have other things to do. But Tuesday, I’m available. Tuesday, Wednesday, but not Sunday.” He then reiterated, “Tuesday, Wednesday, or any other day.”
Aside from proposing a new schedule, Duterte offered some unsolicited boxing advice to Torre, remarking on his form. “So, I think, it’s better for you because you still have time to practice. Because your punching is a bit… when you jab, you immediately lower your hand. You need to defend your face. When you jab, you immediately return to your face. So, just a little advice, practice.”
The proposed match is being framed by Torre as a charity event to benefit victims of the recent typhoons and flooding in Metro Manila and surrounding areas. However, Duterte was quick to question Torre’s motives. “If you really just want a fight, why do you need charity? Why do you need the, do you need to use what’s happening right now with the floods in Metro Manila?”
Going further, Duterte even challenged Torre to fight outside the ring, without the frills of publicity or gear. “If you want, I’ll come to you, no cameras. Let’s fight, no gloves. Why do you need anything? Are you serious about showbiz?” He continued, “So if you really want it, it’s just the two of you. Either I’ll come to you, just the two of us, just bring your bodyguard with you so that if something happens to you, at least someone will be there to pick you through the hospital.”
Moreover, Duterte laid out a bold precondition before agreeing to any match: a hair follicle drug test for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and all elected officials.
Torre, meanwhile, remains firm that the match should push through as a charity event for flood victims.
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