OTTAWA – Liberal MP Justin Trudeau and Conservative Sen. Patrick Brazeau took the fight to each other Saturday night in a different sort of political arena.
In a charity boxing match, Trudeau defeated Brazeau after the referee stopped the fight in the third round.
“All I know is, he had reason to be confident because he can hit like a Mack truck,” Trudeau told reporters after the match.
“He didn’t know that I could take it and keep going.”
The three-round bout was held at an Ottawa hotel as part of an event to raise money for cancer research.
Trudeau, who entered the ring wearing a red robe with silver trim to the strains of K’naan’s “Wavin’ Flag,” was heartily booed by the crowd, which consisted of Conservative Cabinet ministers Leona Aglukkaq, Rona Ambrose, James Moore and MP Pierre Poilievre.
Brazeau wore a blue robe with white trim to the ring, and entered to heavy-metal music.
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The senator was the early aggressor, hammering Trudeau up against the ropes. But midway through the first round, the pace slowed and Brazeau seemed to be tiring.
The Liberal MP came out swinging in the second round, landing head and body blows and nailing Brazeau with a flurry of punches in the corner. Trudeau kept up the assault in the third round until the referee called the fight.
“He didn’t get me down,” Brazeau said after the fight, his nose bleeding. He also challenged Trudeau to a rematch.
The brash, young senator from Maniwaki, Que., was the odds-on favourite to win. He has a martial arts background and served in the Canadian military.
Ask what hurt most, Brazeau responded “Oh, definitely the ego.”
“You know, I’m a fighter and I’m a competitive guy. Obviously I like to trash talk,” he said.
“But again, I fell short tonight. But I’m still glad that I trained for five months for this. You know, I came up short 30 seconds, so maybe I’ll try to make it up next year.”
Trudeau, 40, took up boxing in his 20s and sparred in the gym on and off over the years.
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