MANILA, Philippines – Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Nicholas Torre III went ahead with the charity boxing event on Sunday, July 27, at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila, despite the absence of his supposed opponent, acting Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, who failed to appear after issuing the challenge.
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| Photo courtesy: GMA Network, CM Baster Duterte (Facebook) |
The event proceeded as scheduled, with Torre entering the ring solo. In addition to the main bout, the program included five undercard fights featuring various boxing pairs.
During his remarks at the venue, Torre shared that the charity match raised more than Php 300,000 through ticket sales and received an additional Php 16 million in donations.
Because of Duterte’s no-show, Torre scores “win by default.”
A poster released by the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Saturday, July 26, indicated that all proceeds from the ticket sales of the boxing event would go toward charitable efforts, particularly to aid victims of recent flooding caused by severe weather.
The match was originally proposed by Duterte during a podcast aired on July 20, a challenge that Torre readily accepted.
In the days that followed, Duterte added a condition to the match, demanding that Torre persuade President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to implement mandatory hair follicle drug testing for all elected officials before he would agree to step into the ring.
Despite these developments and ongoing preparations, Duterte was seen departing for Singapore with his family on Friday morning, casting doubt on his intent to follow through with the fight.
— Noel Ed Richards, The Summit Express