Nyakana, Juuko last gold medal winners from CWG

It’s strange but true. Despite Uganda’s well-documented prowess in the boxing ring, the nation’s last Commonwealth Games gold medals came in 1990.
At this tournament, lightweight Godfrey Nyakana and light flyweight Justin Juuko bagged gold while the pair of light heavyweight Joseph Abdul Kaddu Sabata and middleweight Charles Matata muscled their way to bronze medals.
Most of these immensely gifted pugilists went on to build glittering careers as prize fighters. But where are they now?

Charles Lubulwa (Welterweight): The KCC BC boxer was the team captain. His first taste of the Commonwealth Games came in 1982 in Brisbane, Australia, bowing out at the quarterfinal stage. In 1990, disaster would strike when he pulled out of the tournament due to malaria.
In 1985, he won gold at the Inter-Cup Boxing Championships in Stuttgart, Germany and bronze in 1987. He also has two golds and one bronze in the Fescaba games.
Lubulwa remains the only Uganda boxer to have represented Uganda at three Olympic Games (1980, 1984, 1988). He is now the coach at Kampala City Council Boxing Club in Naguru.

Elphance Mubiru (Super Heavyweight): At the time of the tournament, he was still a student at Kololo High School. He bowed out in the first round and is currently based in the US.
Dr. James Ssekajugo: A veteran medic, Ssekajugo was the team doctor. He currently sits on various medical boards in different organisations around the world.

Godfrey Nyakana (Lightweight): He was boxing for KBC and is regarded as one of the most talented boxers of his generation with a dreaded jab.
Going into this tournament, he was on fire, having won gold in pre-games tournaments.
After Lubulwa’s withdrawal, the mantle to lead the team fell on the then 19-year-old’s shoulders and he led by example, beating Australian Justin Rowsell to clinch gold.

His professional career reads 31 wins (19 by KO), four losses and one draw. A documentary titled ‘Title Shot - The Godfrey Nyakana Story’ is in its final stages of release in the US.
Nyakana is now the Kampala Central Division Chairman and National Resistance Movement (NRM) Chairperson for Kampala Central Division. He also runs a number of private businesses.

Maj. Gen. Francis Nyangweso: Among other tournaments, he boxed at the 1960 Olympics in Rome and the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia, where he won silver.
By the time of his death in 2011, he was one of Uganda’s most distinguished sports administrators, having served at the International Olympic Committee (IOC), International Amateur Boxing Association (Aiba), Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa and Ugandan Olympic Committee (UOC).
Joseph Abdul Kaddu Sabata (Light Heavyweight): The colossal Sabata won a bronze medal at this tournament. He is currently settled in Virginia, USA.

Gen. Moses Ali: Currently the Second Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Leader of Government Business in Parliament, Ali was the minister of sports then and head of delegation.

David Agong: He was the Uganda Amateur Boxing Federation (UABF) president and team manager.

Lazarus Jimenez: He was a Cuban coach. Reports indicate that he is national team coach of Azerbaijan.

Godfrey Wakabu (Featherweight): He was boxing for Railway Boxing Club. He lost in the first round.
His only professional fight came in March 2002 when he defeated Paulo Wasaka by Technical Knockout (TKO) in Kampala. He is currently unemployed and resides in the Kisenyi slum, Kampala.

Justin Juuko (Light Flyweight): He was still a student at Kako Secondary School in Masaka. Nicknamed ‘The Ugandan Destroyer’, Juuko won gold as Light Flyweight after beating Kenya’s Abdurahaman Ramadhani.
Juuko was a very talented boxer that he could box at different weights. Like Nyakana, Juuko also turned professional and won numerous belts including WBC International Super Featherweight, WBC Fecarbox Super Featherweight, African Boxing Union (ABU) Light Welterweight, North American Boxing Federation (NABF) Super Featherweight and Commonwealth Super Featherweight titles. As a professional, Juuko faced some of the biggest names in the game including Floyd Mayweather Jr. (he lost by a ninth round KO in the WBC World Super Featherweight bout in 1999).

He fought other world champions including Diego Corrales, Michael Gomez, Rustam Nugaev and Gábor Vető. Currently, Juuko is a politician and businessman.

He also works as a freelance trainer at the Freddie Roach’s famous Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, California. He was also one of Manny Pacquiao’s trainers during his preparations for his fight against Mayweather.

Charles Matata (Middleweight): One of the little known fighters on the team, Matata was also boxing for Railway Boxing Club. He defied the odds to reach the semifinals, where he lost to Ghana’s Ashia Laryea.
The fight was stopped in the second round when Matata partially lost his sight due to excessive bleeding from a cut on top of his right eye. He currently lives in Namuwongo, a Kampala suburb.

Fred Muteweta (Bantamweight): He is Lubulwa’s younger brother and they both started boxing at an early age at the Naguru-based KCC Boxing Club. In 1988, Muteweta (17 years, 226 days) was Uganda’s youngest boxer at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.
In 1990, he failed to win a medal but managed a silver medal in the 1994 Games. Muteweta also won gold at the 1991 All Africa Games in Cairo. He made his professional debut in 1996, and retired after ten professional bouts, losing five and winning five. He is currently based in the USA.

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