Three out of nine national team pugilists, fondly known as The Bombers, made the country proud by winning medals at the African championships. The latest success reclaims Uganda’s place in the international boxing arena, as MOSES MUGALU & JOHN VIANNEY NSIMBE report.
Muzamir Kakande became the first Ugandan boxer to win gold at the Africa Boxing Championship since 2004 when he outpunched Mauritius’ Clair Merven in Congo-Brazaville last Sunday. Until then, welterweight Sadat Tebazalwa had been Uganda’s last gold medalist at the continental event.
David Ayiti and Geoffrey Kakeeto secured silver medals for Uganda to complete a respectable show against the odds. The trio will represent the country at the Aiba World Championships due later this year in Germany.
Deprivation has been the story of Uganda’s boxing, even in the 2015 Africa boxing championship, where five bronze medals were won. But this time, the Bombers have pulled off a major feat.
ELITE CLASS
Uganda Boxing Federation (UBF) president Kenneth Gimugu noted that this is the first time the country has had boxers in the finals of a major event since Mohammed Kayongo and Joseph Lubega achieved the feat at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England.
“All these years we have been settling for bronze consistently. We really applaud this new crop of young boxers for proving once again that we belong to the elite of African boxing,” Gimugu said.
He added that the duo of Yusuf Babu and Shadir Musa Bwogi put up great shows and was only unlucky to lose its quarterfinal bouts by split decisions.
“In the case of Babu, drawing two far more illustrious North Africans, knocking out one and losing to another by split says so much about our boxing prospects,” he charged.
Babu lost 1-2 to Egyptian Hosam Bakr in the quarters but had stopped Algeria’s Boudia Azzouz in the second round. Shadir lost on split decision (1-2) to Namibia’s Jonas Junias in the quarterfinals.
UBF spokesman Fred Kavuma said it had been difficult getting this far, with financial constraints coming in the way of their pursuit of success.
GOOD INITIATIVES
For instance, the nine pugilists and team officials had their passports withheld by the hotel authorities in Brazzaville due to an unpaid bill of $2,700 or Shs 9.6 million.
But the latest breakthrough is partly attributed to UBF’s good initiative to start a national boxing league last year. The league, which ran for close to four months, gave most of the boxers in the country the competition they needed.
Other UBF calendar tournaments such as the Novices, Intermediate and Open came in handy in keeping pugilists active to gain the necessary experience.
For example, Kakande had struggled through a couple of years ago but has come of age, thanks in large part to a competitive local schedule throughout the seasons.
mugalu@observer.ug
jovi@observer.ug
