EDITORIAL - Baste would have lost

A boxing ring was set up in the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila in the hopes the 12-round boxing match between acting Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte and PNP chief Nicolas Torre III would happen yesterday.

But Baste was a no-show.

We all know what led to this. A few days ago, Baste dared Torre to a fistfight. Torre accepted the challenge, but suggested to turn it into a charity boxing match with proceeds going to the people suffering from recent typhoons.

The way we see it, Baste would have lost, even if he actually won.

If Baste won the fight, which is the likelier scenario, he can claim physical superiority over someone smaller than he is, someone way older than he is, and someone past his prime, unlike Baste.

Sure, his fans and admirers will send congratulations by the ton, but is there really honor in a young man pummeling an old man already close to retirement?

And Torre, though beaten to a pulp, would be remembered as the man who sacrificed himself to raise funds for calamity victims.

If Baste lost the fight or resulted in a draw like that Pacquiao-Barrios fight, then that would mean he got walloped or beaten to a draw by someone smaller than he is, someone way older than he is, and someone past his prime, unlike Baste. He would have to eat humble pie for months. His macho man reputation would never recover.

So if he stepped into the ring and came out winner, loser, or other, he would still have been the loser.

We don’t believe he chickened out. He doesn’t have to go as far as Singapore to avoid a fight; he can just stay home. Most likely it is what some of his supporters say, that he actually planned that Singapore trip for a while now.

But then again, this doesn’t explain his conditions to accept the fight. Was he really serious? We may never know.

While many people wanted to see the fight happen, we are glad it didn’t. Imagine the spectacle of an elected official exchanging fists with the highest police official of the land? Them both being authority figures who ought to set the example of how people should behave? What a spectacle!

And the real winners in yesterday’s fight? The calamity victims who now stand to receive the ?20 million in aid generated yesterday.