The venue is set at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.

And Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Gen. Nicolas Torre III said he would be there starting 9 a.m. on Sunday, July 27, for a charity boxing match in response to the challenge posed by acting Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte.

Now the question is, will Baste show up too?

“It’s all up to him… it will be at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum. A (boxing) ring is already being set up there. There are already sponsors who committed to giving ayuda (relief goods) to those affected by the typhoon,” said Torre after his boxing practice at the PNP gym on Thursday, July 24.

“Anytime, I am ready. Now if he’s not there, we will just continue with our activity of giving ayuda to our kababayan,” he said.

So far, there is no direct confirmation yet from Duterte and his camp on whether or not he also accepts Torre's challenge. 

But it was Duterte, in one of his podcasts, who started it all by challenging Torre to a fistfight.

In the podcast, Duterte said Torre is a nobody if he is not the PNP chief and said he could take on him in a fistfight. Last year, Duterte also threatened to slap Torre after the relief of all police commanders in the area for allegedly misreporting crimes to make it appear that Davao City is a safe place.

‘Gigil?’

Torre’s practice was supposed to be at 9 a.m. on Thursday but this was cancelled after President Marcos called for a meeting at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City in relation to the government’s disaster response.

Right after the meeting, Torre immediately went back to Camp Crame in Quezon City and hit the gym for a boxing practice.

Asked about his readiness, Torre said: “I’m old and according to my trainer, my stamina is not like before and that I no longer punch hard.”

But despite some hitches, he said he is hoping that the charity boxing match will push through as he emphasized the importance of the funds that could be generated from the match.

Aside from generating funds, the 54-year old Torre emphasized the importance of manning up.

“I am no longer strong but to give our kababayan entertainment so we can have some sort of credibility in showing up, I made some refresher on what I used to do,” he stressed.

‘May tulog?’

Sources said one of Torre’s favorite sports when he was still a cadet of the PNP Academy was boxing.

But Torre would not confirm it and just joked about his experience when he was still a cadet at the PNPA.

“I am ready. When I was still a plebe (at the PNPA) I experienced being punched while my hands were tied on my back. So I am just thinking about it as part of the preparation,” said Torre.

“There was a challenge made and I just saw this as an opportunity to raise funds and help our kababayan,” he stressed.

Baste’s training

On Thursday, Sen. Ronald dela Rosa posted a video of Duterte doing boxing training on his Facebook page.

The video went viral but it is not immediately clear if the training was conducted after Torre accepted the challenge.