Canadian Lawmakers Box Against Cancer

TORONTO—Boxing doesn’t get nearly the attention in Canada that hockey does, but that could change.
Canadian Lawmakers Box Against Cancer
Liberal MP Justin Trudeau (R) poses with former Liberal MP Rob Oliphant in this file photo. Trudeau will face off against black belt Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau on March 31 in a boxing match to raise money for cancer. (Matthew Little/The Epoch Times)
Matthew Little
3/11/2012
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img class="size-large wp-image-1786176" title="Trudeau" src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/Trudeau.jpg" alt="" width="590" height="472"/></a>

TORONTO—Boxing doesn’t get nearly the attention in Canada that hockey does, but that could change, at least for a day, when one of the country’s most photogenic politicians faces off against a black-belt senator.

Liberal member of Parliament Justin Trudeau is the son of the late Pierre Trudeau, who served as Canada’s Prime Minister for 15 years and attracted the kind of fanfare usually reserved for popular musicians, sparking what was known at the time as Trudeaumania. 

While the younger Trudeau has yet to reach those heights, his debonair good looks and almost-royal heritage have given him a much larger public profile than his relative political heft would normally warrant. 

His name has been bandied about as a possible contender in the race to lead the Liberal Party, and as a prospect for the next Prime Minister of Canada.

Trudeau has boxed since his youth, and on March 31 the 41-year-old will face off against Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau, three years Trudeau’s junior and a second-degree Karate black belt. Brazeau also served in the Canadian Armed Forces.

The fight will raise money for cancer, which the parents of both men suffered from. Trudeau’s famous father had prostate cancer and reportedly died of complications from the disease, while Brazeau’s mother died of lung cancer.

Trudeau and Brazeau will headline the event that includes other fights and a gourmet dinner. Ringside tables for the Olympic-rules fight are sold out at $3,000, as are second row tables, but single seats remain at $250.