Prelude to Dela Hoya-Pacquiao Fight: Bad Boy from Dadiangas’ Rolando Navarette’s Classic Fight Video
Before Manny Pacquiao, Rolando Navarette was General Santos City’s first gift to the boxing world. Known as the “Bad Boy of Dadiangas” for his penchant to be always involved in petty fights and brawls, Rolando won the WBC Super Featherweight title from Cornelius Boza Edwards in Italy in August 29, 1981.
I remember watching the replay of that video at the old restobar of the Pasiliaos along Pioneer Avenue, downtown General Santos, named Queenies Steakhouse beside Pioneer Theater when Betamax was still the vogue.
At that time, the restaurant was jampacked and though the video quality was grainy to say the least, we all felt we were at the same ring with our then “people’s champ”.
Rolando Navarette later defended his title against Choi Chung-Il of Korea but eventually lost it to Rafael “Bazooka” Limon.
As a precursor to the Dela Hoya-Pacquiao fight this weekend and to give the younger “generals” an idea of how Navarette fought, here is the YouTube video of that classic Navarette-Edwards fight twenty-seven years ago. This is the 5th and “knockout” round.
But before that, here are their stats:
Cornelius Boza Edwards*****versus****Rolando Navarette
25 years old AGE 24 years old
5’9 feet HEIGHT 5’4 feet
129.25 lbs WEIGHT 129.75 lbs
7 REACH 6.5
And below is a recent picture of the former WBC Superfeatherweight Champion:
And now, the video of the 5th and Knockout Round of the Classic Navarette-Edwards Fight in 1981.
Tagged Bad Boy of Dadiangas, betamax, Dela Hoya-Pacquiao Fight, manny pacquiao, Navaratte's fight video, Queenie's Steakhouse, rolando navarette
m1k312/03/2008 at 9:54 AM
seventeen years ago or twenty seven years ago???
SleeplessInKL12/03/2008 at 1:57 PM
Dadiangas became well-known because of the ‘Bad Boy from Dadiangas’. Do people still call GenSan ‘Dadiangas’ these days?
bariles12/03/2008 at 2:01 PMAuthor
Only people who have moved away for quite some time, just like a former high school classmate who still called the city by that name when she was here last May 2008 for our reunion. It sounded so “old-ish” that we had to convince here that we call it GENSAN now.
bariles12/03/2008 at 2:09 PMAuthor
Ooops! Hehe! Thanks for pointing out my error. Tumatanda na..
jinky12/03/2008 at 4:26 PM
sir vel ha, nagiging obvious na age natin, ajejeje. . .
Seriously speaking, Rolando Navarette is also a legend na rin sa boxing. . . in fact, if my visitors kami from other places – isa pa rin siya sa gusto nilang makita aside from Pacman.
He did a good job naman but the odds were all against him then.
bariles12/03/2008 at 4:53 PMAuthor
@jinky -
hello. Do you remember the saying, “LIFE IS WHAT WE MAKE IT?”. Definitely, he made a lot of not-so-good choices in his life which led to his downfall. Too bad to see him in his current state really.
Tom Ramberg12/03/2008 at 9:15 PM
Hi Bariles!
It would be so exciting to be in Gen-San to watch the fight. We are still here in the US so we are doing the next best thing. We are getting together with my wife’s Filipina friends and watching it on pay per view. Yes, I know that the fight is in Vegas and not Gen-San but I think it would be more exciting to be there! Cheers!
bariles12/04/2008 at 9:58 AMAuthor
Hi Tom! You are right! The next best thing to watching it live in las vegas is to watch it here at the City Coliseum with 7,000 cheering townmates of Manny. Three words to describe it – GOOSE PIMPLES galore!
Daxi Weida12/03/2008 at 9:17 PM
Thanks, Kuya Avel, for sharing the video.
I found another video at asianboxing.com (I cant seem to find one in YouTube)of his fight vs. Mexican Bazooka Limon during his 3rd title defense in 1982 in Las Vegas.
http://asianboxing.blogspot.com/2007/07/video-of-week-rolando-navarette-vs.html
I never saw this fight as there was no PPV back then. I never realized he fought very well in this fight (way better than when he fought Boza-Edwards and Choi-Il-Chung). He was well ahead on points until that fateful 12th round (boxers fought 15 rounds in title fights back then).
Iba rin ang boxing noong araw, once you get dethroned, you really go down and you have to work your way up again. Ngayon, magtapatan lang ng milyones ang mga promoters, may rematch ka na, and a trilogy even.
Navarette surely made a lot of bad decisions in life; and the lessons we learn from his life story are his greatest legacy to us. Even Manny said he learned from the Bad Boy.
Daxi Weidas last blog post..An engineer for a moment
bariles12/04/2008 at 10:07 AMAuthor
@Daxi Weida -
thanks Daxi. So much has changed since then. And I agree with you, a lot of people learned from Navarette’s fate. If there’s one legacy he has left in this world, that would be the lessons a boxers and non-boxers have gathered from his life story.
bariles12/04/2008 at 10:10 AMAuthor
@Daxi Weida – thanks. So much has changed since then but the play for money has grown even worse. Oh well. But I agree with you – if there’s one legacy that Navarette has left, it’s the lessons that boxers and non-boxers have learned from his life story.
Kritiko12/03/2008 at 9:41 PM
akong pnaka maswerteng tao sa gensan..
ako ang naging pasahero nya sa tricyle nya heheheeh..
di ako binugbog….promise
bariles12/04/2008 at 10:18 AMAuthor
Am sure kung di ka nagbayad, kulatado ka talga nun. Hehehehe. (joke) I didn’t know that he drives a tricycle now. Last thing I heard, he worked at the Fishport.
Dave12/04/2008 at 3:03 AM
Hi sir avel please do visit my sites http://www.pacquiaovsdelahoyaupdates.blogspot.com and pinoyfearfactorupdates.blogspot.com , salamat hehe
Daves last blog post..PACQUIAO WATCH: SLAY him Manny
bariles12/04/2008 at 10:28 AMAuthor
@Dave – hello! Sure. Will check them out today. Thanks for the invitation. Happy blogging!
jinky12/04/2008 at 8:06 AM
Yeah, I agree with you, sir vel.
ark12/04/2008 at 3:43 PM
Hmmm, undersized pala si Navarette by 5 feet sa laban na un. If he can beat a bigger and taller foe, I think Manny also can!
arks last blog post..Pacquiao vs dela Hoya "The Dream Match" Bout: My Result Forecast
bariles12/04/2008 at 4:27 PMAuthor
That is correct arl! Manny will surely win this fight! “)
tanchi12/11/2008 at 11:46 AM
sayang si navarette..
tanchis last blog post..Litratong Pinoy 7: Mahalagang Regalo
Jordan Ray Quinco02/07/2009 at 4:38 PM
san na ba si navarette ngayon?… ahmmm… nanews xa before?.. medyo mentally ill daw xa?.. how true po..
Edward12/10/2009 at 11:23 AM
Sinong may alam sa current address ni navarette? How can I contact him. Gusto ko lang kasi siyang matulungan in some ways. I know naghihirap daw siya ngayon at wala ng kaibigan. Please let me know as soon as possible. Thanks in advance.