Parade of champs
By Joaquin Henson
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 03 May 2026
Former world boxing champions were honored at the Pacquiao-Elorde Awards Night in the Grand Ballroom, Okada Manila last Thursday and they came with lots of stories to share.
Rolando Navarrete, Luisito Espinosa, Eric Chavez, Rene Barrientos, Tacy Macalos, Ronnie Magramo and Donnie Nietes were among the ex-titlists who joined the festivities. A touching moment was when Navarrete, 69, was reunited with his son Rolando Gabriel (known as RG), 34, after 10 years and they were called on stage with another General Santos City fighter Manny Pacquiao. Navarrete was once the WBC superfeatherweight ruler and is estranged from his wife Jennifer Dy who is RG’s mother.
“Ganda ng reunion ni Lando at RG,” recounted Liza Elorde, the Awards Night chief organizer. “RG is our inaanak sa binyag. Lando was living with us (in Sucat) when Jennifer gave birth to Laura, their first child and RG. Lando named them Laura and Gabriel (Flash Elorde) after my in-laws. The last time Lando and RG saw each other was in 2016. Alam ko sa Olivarez Hospital in Paranaque namin dinala si Jennifer noong nanganak.”
RG was cited for winning the bare knuckle world superwelterweight crown via a unanimous seven-round decision over Liam Rees in Wales last December. In May last year, RG halted Roberto Duran, Jr. in the second frame of another bare knuckle brawl in Florida. Both RG and Duran, Jr. are sons of former world boxing kings.
Barrientos, 85, flew in from Cagayan de Oro City looking fit as a fiddle. In 1969, he won the WBC superfeatherweight title on a unanimous 15-round decision over Ruben Navarro at the Araneta Coliseum. Barrientos lost the belt on a disputed split verdict to Yoshiaki Numata a year later. He retired in 1978 with a 39-7-2 record, including 14 KOs.
Chavez, 64, spoke about his life after boxing. The Cebu native settled in Balanga, Bataan where he became a traffic enforcer. Chavez said five years ago, he made a vow to mark his birthday on April 9 with a solo jog from Balanga to Calumpit, Bulacan, a distance of 108 kilometers. Calumpit is where his youngest son lives. This year, he started the trek at 10pm but called it quits in San Fernando, Pampanga, after covering 55 kilometers in 10 hours because of extreme heat. Chavez, who has three children with his first wife and five with his second, said he jogs around Balanga nearly every day over at least five kilometers.
Chavez won the IBF minimumweight title on a fifth round stoppage of Nico Thomas in Jakarta in 1989. He lost it on his first defense to Fahlan Sakkreerin in Bangkok the next year. “Parang hindi tao si Fahlan, parang kalabaw,” said Chavez whose career brought him to South Africa, Japan, Thailand, South Korea and Indonesia. He compiled a record of 40-16-4, with 25 KOs until l998.
Someone in the Okada crowd attracted a horde of selfie-seekers. He was 7-2 Galen Casida who works in Pacquiao’s staff at MannyPay. Casida, 31, played five years at Adamson University under coaches Kenneth Duremdes, Franz Pumaren and Mike Fermin. Asked what is his shoe size, Casida said it’s like Shaquille O’Neal, size 22 and Pacquiao bought him three pairs, one Nike and two Reebok, from the US. Casida is a Victor Wembanyama fan. What about another 7-footer Bol Bol? Casida said he hopes to see him in the PBA. They could compare heights.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Joaquin Henson.
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