From a short, competition-planned training regime for the Olympics that were due last year, Bwogi had to rejig his practice calendar to stretch it for more than a year.
“It is frustrating,” Bwogi told The Observer last year. Bwogi is now engaged in intense sessions knowing that his moment of reckoning is almost here.
“The extra year allowed me more time to perfect my craft and hopefully it will count for something in my favour.”
The southpaw has built experience to understand the kind of challenge he will face in Japan as he bids to win Uganda a first boxing medal at the Olympics in more than four decades.
The last was a silver by John Mugabi at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Bwogi fought smartly in the preliminaries and was on the cusp of a medal only to run into the technically Briton, Pat McCormack, who outpointed him in the quarter-finals.
DURABLE CHIN
Bwogi has represented Uganda several times: in Tanzania in the 2014 Nyerere Cup; 2017 All Africa Championships in Congo-Brazzaville; 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2019 All-Africa Games in Rabat, Morocco. But none of those remotely compares to the Olympics, which are the world’s biggest games.
He must hold his own against the very best welterweights in the business. It won’t be any easy task, but it is one he is relishing. He has a durable chin but loves to hit and not get hit.
Bwogi is not a brawler but he will need to condition himself for the unexpected, considering that for almost every Olympic opponent in the boxing ring, you only have the opening round to figure out what type of fighter you are facing.
Still, Bwogi is not short on confidence. He has waited for the Olympics for so long and wants to make the opportunity count. Bwogi has tattooed the Olympic logo on his body and hopes that will be a good omen to help him return from Tokyo with a medal.
Only three Ugandans before – Leo Rwabogo, Eridadi Mukwanga and Mugabi – have won Olympic medals. Bwogi wants to add his name to that illustrious list.