Rolando “The Incredible” Dy, 34, became the Bare Knuckle Boxing (BKB) World Super Welterweight Champion at the Vale Arena in Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom on December 5, 2025. This made him the first ever Filipino bare knuckle boxing world champion.
On May 16, 2026, Dy will defend his title for the first time. In the main event of “BKB 54: Mayhem In Manchester” at the AO Arena in Manchester, England, U.K., he will be challenged by Paul “Magic Man” Malignaggi, 45, of Brooklyn, New York, United States.
Dy holds a bare knuckle boxing record of 5-1 while Malignaggi has 1-1. In an interview at the Manila Yacht Club in Malate, Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines on April 29, 2026, the defending champion said he does not underestimate his challenger so he is working hard to damage or finish him during their title bout.
In the same interview, I asked Dy two political questions, which involved the Philippines’ incumbent vice president Sara Duterte, 47, and her father Rodrigo Roa Duterte, 81, a former president of the country. Currently, Sara is fighting an impeachment case and Rodrigo is fighting a case being tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague, Netherlands.
Rolando Dy
The road to bare knuckle boxing world championship was a long one for Dy. I learned from him that fighters cannot transition directly to bare-knuckle boxing; they must establish themselves in boxing or mixed martial arts first.
As the son of former World Boxing Council (WBC) World Super Featherweight titleholder Rolando Navarrete, 69, Dy faced immense pressure to uphold a family legacy when he entered combat sports. His journey was filled with both triumphs and trials. Dy made his professional MMA debut on October 15, 2011, and became an MMA world champion on May 4, 2019. However, he lost the title on October 18, 2019, and suffered a four-bout losing streak from 2021 to 2022 before winning his final MMA fight on February 22, 2025.
Dy made his bare-knuckle debut on December 10, 2022, and his BKB debut on September 16, 2023. On March 30, 2024, he failed to win the BKB British Featherweight Championship—his first bare-knuckle loss. After two subsequent wins, he finally claimed the gold.
Sara Duterte
Sara is facing a high-stakes trial of her own as the Senate of the Philippines prepares to convene as an impeachment court on May 18, 2026. This follows an overwhelming vote on May 11, 2026 in the House of Representatives where 257 lawmakers approved the Articles of Impeachment against her. The trials she faces are rooted in a litany of serious allegations, including the misuse of ₱612.5 million in confidential funds, unexplained wealth, and public threats made against President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., 68, and other top officials. This marks her second impeachment within a year, creating a historic political storm that threatens her hold on the vice presidency.
In Sara’s defense, she has remained characteristically defiant, dismissing the proceedings as a political circus orchestrated by her rivals. Her legal team has focused heavily on procedural challenges, having previously sought relief from the Supreme Court to block the complaints on the grounds of the one-year bar rule. While the House Committee on Justice ruled her initial Answer Ad Cautelam insufficient for failing to address the core allegations, her defense in the Senate is expected to center on the argument that the confidential fund expenditures were made in the interest of national security and that the impeachment itself is a violation of due process. With Alan Peter Cayetano, 55, presiding as the new senate president, her defense team is now bracing for a public battle to save her political career.
Dy is one of the Filipinos who believe Sara should not be impeached. He said, “We know why people want her to be impeached: they don’t want her to run for president in the next election, which she is likely to win. For me, that’s not democratic.”
Rodrigo Duterte
Following Rodrigo’s arrest on March 11, 2025, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I reached a critical milestone on April 23, 2026 by unanimously confirming all charges of crimes against humanity related to his so-called war on drugs. This decision officially committed him to a full-blown trial, making him the first Asian former head of state to face such proceedings at the ICC. Currently held in the ICC detention center, he is also grappling with trials of a physical nature; his defense team recently filed reports of his deteriorating health, citing repeated falls and cognitive decline in an effort to reconsider his continued detention.
Rodrigo’s defense strategy has recently undergone a major shift with the appointment of renowned British lawyer Peter Haynes as his lead counsel, just ahead of a crucial status conference scheduled for May 27, 2026. Haynes, known for securing high-profile acquittals at the ICC, is expected to lead a defense that challenges the very foundation of the prosecution’s case. The defense maintains that the State policy alleged by the ICC is a fiction and that the evidence provided by witnesses has zero weight. They continue to argue that the ICC lacks legitimate jurisdiction, framing the proceedings as a politically motivated attack rather than a neutral judicial process.
“If Rodrigo Roa Duterte was indeed a criminal, file a case in a Philippine court and let a Filipino judge try him,” Dy opined. “To me, having an international court try his case is a blatant disrespect to our due process and our government. Our government is functioning, regardless of the criticism it receives. We have a president, a judiciary, and a senate. We are a sovereign nation, so we should try Duterte on our own.”
For the former president, an acquittal at The Hague would not be the end of the struggle. It would lead to a final, personal battle for his legacy: if he returns to the Philippines, will he be welcomed as a hero who stood his ground against international pressure, or as a villain whose tenure left an indelible scar on the nation?
For the incumbent vice president, the trial in the Senate is merely the first gate. Should she win this impeachment case, she faces an even more grueling battle: the 2028 presidential race. Will she beat Leni Robredo, 61, or whoever is pitted against her?
CONAN Daily 