Kakembo: Man on a mission
Kakembo (right) guarding himself from Vladimir Niktin’s body punch in a recent fight. Courtesy photo .
BOSTON- The image on the lock screen of Edward “The Messiah” Kakembo’s Samsung galaxy S10 serves a motivational purpose.
The image is a screenshot from boxrec displaying his boxing recordspecifically from 18, June 2018 when he suffered his first professional fight loss to 15, February 2019, the date he got his seventh defeat in succession.
In descending order, its shows all the names of the opponents he has lost to, Isaac Dogboe (World Boxing Organisation Africa featherweight title), Micheal Ogundo, Tyler McCreary, Ernesto Garza III, Vladimir Nikitin, Gabriel Flores Jr and Albert Bell.
These losses are highlighted in red with a capital L on each. They have all happened on foreign soil, two in Africa including losing WBO Africa featherweight title contention to Dogboe in Accra, Ghana. This was followed with another defeat to Ogundo in Kasarani Arena, Kenya. The other five losses have been in USA where he resides now.
For Kakembo who is in his third year without victory, the screenshot is a stark reminder.
“It hurts ofcourse because I work towards excellence. My goal when I hit the gym, is to work hard so that I can become the best but when I dont achieve that, it hurts,” said Kakembo.
Positive attitudeThis 31-year-old featherweight, boxing’s respected pride of Uganda, with a passable record of 10-7, is not about to give up. He gets motivated even more everytime he loses.
“My loses are the main inspiration to train every morning, afternoon and evening. I work harder, and keep it in mind that my goal is to surpass the losses. I am on a mission and I am sure I will complete it,” said Kakembo.
Kakembo remains positive, so positive that he was recently recruited to Top Ranks, arguably the number one boxing promoters in the USA and World over. Top rank is also home to Gennady Golovkin, Terence Crawford, Vasly Lomachenko, Anthony Joshua, Canelo Alvarez and Uganda’s other lightweight hopeful based In Mennesota Ismail “Sharp shooter” Muwendo.
“I am happy to have the deal with Top Ranks but it comes with a lot of pressure especially on my side. I gotta work even harder and start putting in results”, said Kakembo.
The one time Africa Boxing Union champion and Uganda Sports Press Association’s sports personality of December 2015, was once tipped for greatness by legendary Justine “Destroyer” Juuko, following his away
ABU title victory in Nigeria after he beat local boy Waidi Skoro. Kakembo’s current mission is to revive that vim and vigor he once had. Just like they say about USA being the land of opportunity, Kakembo at 31 years, still has big dreams and has no doubt that one day he will be a World Champion again.
