It appears there won't be a rematch of the ‘Thrilla on the Hilla' as Liberal MP Justin Trudeau declined an offer by Tory Senator Patrick Brazeau as the latter's ponytail was cut off on Parliament Hill Monday.
"Now I feel like a lightweight," Brazeau joked as he received his "haircut of shame" as part of a bet for losing the charity boxing match against Trudeau. The bout on Saturday raised more than $230,000 for cancer research.
Brazeau, 37, was the favourite in the match with bookies placing 3-1 odds against Trudeau.
It seemed the former native activist and youngest senator had the advantage after the first round of the three-round bout, but 40-year-old Trudeau came out swinging in the next two rounds, the third one being stopped after Brazeau's nose was bloodied.
Trudeau was declared the winner and credited with a technical knock out.
‘Haircut of shame'
On Monday, a barber's chair on Parliament Hill awaited Brazeau, who must also wear a Liberal hockey jersey with Trudeau emblazoned on the back for a week after losing the bout.
Brazeau, in asking for a rematch Monday while in the chair, said he made a rookie boxer's mistake by coming out like a "raging bull" and lost his breath.
There was some mild animosity between the two that bubbled under the surface prior to the fight, with Brazeau declaring to friends and in public that he was hoping for a knockout of the Liberal prodigy.
Trudeau, of course, was having no part of a rematch Monday and appeared to savour Brazeau's public humiliation, even if it was for a good cause.
"Despite my performance on Saturday night, I am not a boxer, I'm a parliamentarian," he said in French. "I serve my community. I serve the Parliament. I was able to put a big hook on Pat . . . I will no longer do any boxing," Trudeau said with a straight face.
"I hope there will be more events like this to raise funds, but for me, you saw Saturday night my first and last boxing match," he said. "I've got work to do."
Trudeau called Brazeau a man of his word and that was something he could respect as he showed off the new Liberal jersey the senator must wear to complete the bet.
Trudeau made a ceremonial cut of Brazeau's long mop, but declined to cut off the ponytail, leaving that for a professional brought in for the job.
Trudeau and Brazeau both lost parents to cancer – Trudeau's father, former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, died from prostate cancer complications and Brazeau lost his mother to lung cancer.
