Katende hit by Rio double tragedy
Ugandans subjected Katende (R) to criticism after his loss to Buatsi. PHOTO BY SANDE BASHAIJA
What you need to know:
Ugandan boxer loses first fight at Rio Olympics and faces another battle with drug testers.
RIO DE JANEIRO. Every boxer dreads a technical knockout (TKO) in their curriculum vitae. Ugandan Kennedy Katende joined the unfortunate lot of TKO losers after he went down to Britain's Joshua Buatsi in his first and last Rio Olympics bout last night.
Just after the bitter loss, the light heavyweight boxer, fighting at his second Olympics after representing Sweden in Beijing 2008, went straight into another battle of undergoing anti-doping tests.
After a decent showing in the first round, Katende's powers started to wane in the second as he was constantly kept on the ropes by Buatsi's powerful shots. The Ugandan had his moments but clearly looked to be struggling in the latter stages of the round.
Ghanain-born Buatsi upped the pressure in the third and Katende was only hanging on.
With over a minute to fight and after conceding what appeared like a heavy blow on the back of his head, Katende dropped to his knees and Ugandan coach Sam Rukundo promptly threw in the towel.
"It seems he developed a problem with his head," Uganda's team doctor Robert Zavuga observed as he waited for his boxer to come out of the anti-doping room. He was yet to come out by press time.
Katende's loss leaves Ronald Serugo who fights on Saturday with a heavy task of redeeming Uganda's boxing fortunes. Four of the country's Olympic medals have come from boxing although the sport has been going through tumultuous times due to administrative troubles.
