Cornelius Boza-Edwards pays Rolando Navarrete his due respect
By Emmanuel Rivera, RRT PhilBoxing.com Wed, 31 Aug 2022
August 29, 2022 (San Leandro, California)
“If you are here to talk about boxing, you’ve come to the right place,” stated the man with the British lilt as he offered his hand while glancing at my expired press credential and Team Pacquiao jacket.
His face, his voice, and his demeanor seemed familiar, but I just could not place him.
“I see you’ve already met Mr. Edwards. He is the big chief around here,” began Morris East who arranged for my impromptu visit at the famed TMT gym, home base of Floyd Mayweather, Sr., and his son.
Memories suddenly came rushing back to me.
This was the same gent my late father Hermie Rivera and the inimitable Smokin’ Joe Cantada were talking about as they rehearsed, San Miguel beer on hand, for their upcoming delayed telecast, in 1981.
Cornelius Boza-Edwards, once of Kampala, Uganda, then London, England and now Las Vegas Nevada, was one of the best boxer-punchers in the junior-lightweight (130 lb.) and lightweight (135 lb.) divisions from the late 1970’s up to the mid-1980’s.
Despite having an amateur record of 82-2, he could not fight for his new-found country in the 1976 Montreal Olympics because he was not an English national.
He changed his name to Boza-Edwards in honor of his adopted father Jack Edwards.
Five years after his professional debut in December 1976, he fought and lost to the great Alexis Arguello before facing Rafael ‘Bazooka Limon.
On March 8, 1981, Boza-Edwards dropped Limon in the fifth-round enroute to a 15-round decision winning WBC 130-pound title.
He defended the title via a 13th round knock-out of Bobby Chacon, on May 30, 1981.
Boza-Edwards was set for a rematch with Limon when the latter fell ill.
On August 29, 1981, in Citta dei Pini (The City of Pines) in Viareggio, Italy, Cornelius Boza-Edwards faced the late, unknown substitute Rolando Navarrete.
After a spirited battle of attrition, Navarrete announced himself to the boxing world by knocking down Boza-Edwards twice in Round 4, then a third and final time in the Round 5 with a left straight to the chest followed by a booming right hook to the chin.
Forty-one years have passed since his fateful fight with “The Bad Boy from Dadiangas”, and the classy Cornelius Boza-Edwards have nothing but praise for conqueror and the people of the Philippines.
We are honored to have Mr. Cornelius Boza-Edwards share with us his reminiscence (as recorded back in July 22, 2019, two days after Manny Pacquiao beat Keith “One Time” Thurman for the WBA 147-pound super-duper crown).
“My name is Cornelius Boza-Edwards. I’ve had some great fights including Rolando Navarrete who actually knocked me out for the WBC super-featherweight championship of the world. Apparently, Rolando Navarrete was brought in one week before the fight. And everybody says he was not prepared; he was not ready. Obviously, he walked away with the biggest trophy of them all and he became the super-featherweight champion of the world. I love Filipino people. Manny Pacquiao, specifically, has done wonders for all the followers and the little kids trying to be just like Manny Pacquiao. Great to look forward to the future, Manny being the ambassador of the fight game and I know we are going to get more from the Philippines. Thank you.”
