Duel purpose
The much-anticipated Trudeau-brazeau Rumble on the Rideau is more than a fundraising bout, it’s a matter of honour
The men have been training for months and, muscles toned, preening and posturing for the press
Pretty much since man rose up on his hind legs, he’s been using at least one of his newly liberated limbs to whack, jab, sling rocks at, stab, shoot, arm-wrestle, out-joust, out-drink or otherwise vanquish a rival.
Enter into this long, lethal — and frequently entertaining — tradition, Justin “Too-pretty” Trudeau and Patrick “Patronage Boy” Brazeau.
Trudeau, the lean and well-pedigreed Liberal MP from Montreal, and Brazeau, the sinecured and rock-jawed Conservative senator, are to face off in a charity boxing match today in Ottawa to raise funds for cancer research.
Theirs is the marquee bout in the annual Fight for the Cure. Ringside seats go for $250 and organizers hope to raise $200,000. The pair will use Olympic rules and wear headgear, mouthguards and 10-ounce gloves. The men have been training for months and, muscles toned, preening and posturing for the press in the days leading up to the Rumble on the Rideau.
“I’m tougher than people give me credit for,” Trudeau has told reporters. Not quite an Ali-like show of bravado, but not bad.
At 37, Brazeau is three years younger than Trudeau, has a black belt in karate and served in the Canadian Forces. He stepped up after a couple of Conservative MPS declined Trudeau’s challenge and he was made the early 3-1 favourite.
Now, some may see this enterprise as human devolution — a return to the era when political foes set upon one another physically, rather than being separated by parliamentary aisles, the better that they might settle differences with words not violence.
Others, of course, will recognize the honourable aspects of both the sport of boxing (“The Sweet Science”) and the echoes of the “duel” in this event.
This is, after all, no mere barroom brawl, no back-alley beat down, no outburst of temper. This is — in addition to being a fundraiser — a highly ritualized matter of honour.
Duels — from the Latin duellum, or “war between two” — became established in the 16th century in Spain, Italy and France. Initially, they were fought with rapiers and swords; later with pistols.
They were deemed preferable to other ways of securing respect, historians say, because they allowed violence and passion in an ordered and controlled form.